Scarcity of public workers at labor-related administration

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Scarcity of public workers at labor-related administration

Labor standards supervision officers receive workers' complaints and inspect business offices in order to remedy illegal labor practices. If they find a violation of the law, they can send the case to the prosecutor's office.

Last year, 2,914 labor standards inspectors nationwide gave 146,900 business offices instructions to stop their illegal labor practices. However, this accounts for only 3.6% of the total number of business offices in Japan.

The International Labor Organization calculates that the number of workers per labor law enforcement officer should be 10,000 at maximum. Based on this standard, the number of labor law enforcement officers per 10,000 workers in Germany is 1.89, 0.93 in Britain, and 0.74 in France. In Japan the figure is 0.53.

The public employment security office, called "Hellowork", is set up at about 5,000 locations across the country. Hellowork plays a role as a core organization in labor administration by providing a job placement service and unemployment benefits, and carrying out measures to create jobs.

However, because of the government policy to cut the number of full-time workers at Hellowork, the number of non-regular workers at Hellowork has reached 13,700, twice as many as the number of full-time workers of 5,700. Most of the non-regular workers receive 7,500 yen a day and worry about whether their contract will be renewed or not.

All Labor Ministry's Workers Union (Zenrodo) Vice Chair Kawamura Naoki said, "Due to heavy workloads, Hellowork staff can't give sufficient support to the unemployed. They are also forced to work overtime without pay. An increase in the number of Hellowork staff and improvement of non-regular workers' working conditions are urgently needed."

The number of employees at labor bureaus, labor standards inspection offices, and Helloworks has been reduced by 1,820 in the past 10 years. Since 2005, the government abolished 61 labor standards inspection offices and Helloworks. This causes difficulties and inconvenience for those who need the services.

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan plans to delegate the central government's responsibility for labor administration to local governments in the name of "regional sovereignty".

In order to secure freedom of choice in employment and the right to work, the national government should take responsibility for providing free job placement services. The ILO convention states that such a service should be offered by a nationwide organization run by the central government.

Kawamura said, "The labor administration is supposed to protect working people's minimum rights, and it is unacceptable that the government intends to abandon this responsibility in the midst of the increasing poverty and severe labor market conditions. In order to create a society where people can work without fear, it is necessary to set work rules and to establish an administrative system for implementing such rules properly."

- Akahata, August 17, 2010