August 19&20, 2020
Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Miyamoto Toru on August 19 at an off-session meeting of the House of Representatives labor committee said that in response to a continued deterioration of employment due to the coronavirus pandemic, the need now is for the government to keep the special arrangements made in its employment adjustment subsidy program and expand the scope of its worker support allowance scheme.
The employment adjustment subsidy program is designed to assist companies in their effort to maintain jobs. Currently, in order to deal with the corona impacts, special arrangements of the program take place under which costs of smaller businesses to avoid job cuts are subsidized by up to 100% and those of big businesses by 75%. This measure will expire at the end of September this year. The support allowance scheme aims to provide financial support to workers who are forced to take leave of absence due to the pandemic. This measure, however, does not cover workers working at large firms.
In the Lower House committee meeting, JCP Miyamoto pointed out that in order to protect workers from the worsening employment situation, the government should improve the existing support measures further. He demanded the continuation of the special arrangements made in the employment adjustment subsidy program. In addition, he said that regarding large companies in the food service, tourism, and transportation industries which experience a severe drop in sales, the government should increase the amount of employment adjustment subsidies and relax requirements for the compensation scheme so that workers at these companies can receive financial help to cover their loss of income.
Labor Minister Kato Katsunobu in reply just said that he will make an appropriate decision.
* * *
In survey results which the Labor Ministry published on August 18, the number of workers who suffered COVID-19-induced dismissals reached 45,650, up 1,520 from the previous survey a week ago. Among them, 18,762 were non-regular workers.
In terms of industries, the manufacturing industry lost 7,425 jobs, the largest figure compared with other industries, followed by the accommodations (6,908) and food services (5,777) industries.
Past related articles:
> Non-regular workers account for half of coronavirus-caused dismissals [June 4, 2020]
> Amid coronavirus crisis, number of women non-regular workers decreases by 1 million [May 31, 2020]
The employment adjustment subsidy program is designed to assist companies in their effort to maintain jobs. Currently, in order to deal with the corona impacts, special arrangements of the program take place under which costs of smaller businesses to avoid job cuts are subsidized by up to 100% and those of big businesses by 75%. This measure will expire at the end of September this year. The support allowance scheme aims to provide financial support to workers who are forced to take leave of absence due to the pandemic. This measure, however, does not cover workers working at large firms.
In the Lower House committee meeting, JCP Miyamoto pointed out that in order to protect workers from the worsening employment situation, the government should improve the existing support measures further. He demanded the continuation of the special arrangements made in the employment adjustment subsidy program. In addition, he said that regarding large companies in the food service, tourism, and transportation industries which experience a severe drop in sales, the government should increase the amount of employment adjustment subsidies and relax requirements for the compensation scheme so that workers at these companies can receive financial help to cover their loss of income.
Labor Minister Kato Katsunobu in reply just said that he will make an appropriate decision.
* * *
In survey results which the Labor Ministry published on August 18, the number of workers who suffered COVID-19-induced dismissals reached 45,650, up 1,520 from the previous survey a week ago. Among them, 18,762 were non-regular workers.
In terms of industries, the manufacturing industry lost 7,425 jobs, the largest figure compared with other industries, followed by the accommodations (6,908) and food services (5,777) industries.
Past related articles:
> Non-regular workers account for half of coronavirus-caused dismissals [June 4, 2020]
> Amid coronavirus crisis, number of women non-regular workers decreases by 1 million [May 31, 2020]
