November 13, 2020
Akahata on November 13 reported that the Labor Ministry decided to urge large corporations to pay non-regular workers an allowance for the leave forced to be taken under the COVID-19 situation by utilizing the Employment Adjustment Subsidy (EAS) program aiming to help companies maintain jobs.
This decision came out through petitioning activities by unions and the Japanese Communist Party as well as through the JCP efforts in the Diet which included a joint proposal of a bill with other opposition parties.
After the coronavirus outbreak, at many companies such as food service chains, which are categorized as “big businesses” under the government definition, non-regular workers were not entitled to receive leave allowances although they were ordered to take day offs due to the pandemic. Moreover, they were excluded from the COVID-19 leave support scheme for workers forced to take leave without pay because this measure was originally designed to cover workers at smaller businesses.
The Labor Ministry’s latest decision will enable non-regular workers working at “big businesses” to receive leave allowances by applying for the COVID-19 leave support program. According to the ministry, their application will encourage their employer to apply for the EAS program to pay leave allowances. In the decision, the ministry made an exception which allows employers to use the EAS program to pay leave allowances to non-regular workers if their order was given even after the application deadline for the EAS program. This was made clear by a Labor Ministry official in response to an inquiry by JCP lawmaker Miyamoto Toru.
The ministry in its decision warned that the payment of leave allowances only to regular workers would go counter to the “equal pay for work of equal value” principle. The ministry added that its decision also covers non-regular workers working rotating shifts.
According to Akahata, the ministry notified local labor bureaus of this decision on November 4.
Past related article:
> Opposition parties submit bill to improve gov’t subsidy program for SME workers [November 7, 2020]
This decision came out through petitioning activities by unions and the Japanese Communist Party as well as through the JCP efforts in the Diet which included a joint proposal of a bill with other opposition parties.
After the coronavirus outbreak, at many companies such as food service chains, which are categorized as “big businesses” under the government definition, non-regular workers were not entitled to receive leave allowances although they were ordered to take day offs due to the pandemic. Moreover, they were excluded from the COVID-19 leave support scheme for workers forced to take leave without pay because this measure was originally designed to cover workers at smaller businesses.
The Labor Ministry’s latest decision will enable non-regular workers working at “big businesses” to receive leave allowances by applying for the COVID-19 leave support program. According to the ministry, their application will encourage their employer to apply for the EAS program to pay leave allowances. In the decision, the ministry made an exception which allows employers to use the EAS program to pay leave allowances to non-regular workers if their order was given even after the application deadline for the EAS program. This was made clear by a Labor Ministry official in response to an inquiry by JCP lawmaker Miyamoto Toru.
The ministry in its decision warned that the payment of leave allowances only to regular workers would go counter to the “equal pay for work of equal value” principle. The ministry added that its decision also covers non-regular workers working rotating shifts.
According to Akahata, the ministry notified local labor bureaus of this decision on November 4.
Past related article:
> Opposition parties submit bill to improve gov’t subsidy program for SME workers [November 7, 2020]
