December 26, 2014
The Labor Ministry has recently announced that it ordered 1,417 companies to pay 114,880 workers a total of 12.3 billion yen in back pay for overtime work in FY 2013.
The cumulative amount from FY2001 is 216 billion yen and involves 16,734 companies. During the same period, the number of workers entitled to the payment reached 1.77 million. These corporations include Toyota and other major manufacturers, city banks, and power companies.
However, the cases that the ministry disclosed are only the tip of the iceberg.
The Japanese Communist Party last year proposed a bill to double companies’ payment for unpaid overtime work with the aim to make it disadvantageous for companies to have workers work overtime without pay.
The Abe government is working to realize a “new working hour system”, which would enable employers to force employees to work longer without extra payment.
Saying that it is a “zero-overtime system”, Japan’s major national trade union centers, the National Federation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), and the National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo) have all expressed opposition to the system. The need now is to strengthen efforts to eliminate unpaid overtime and to block Abe’s move.
The cumulative amount from FY2001 is 216 billion yen and involves 16,734 companies. During the same period, the number of workers entitled to the payment reached 1.77 million. These corporations include Toyota and other major manufacturers, city banks, and power companies.
However, the cases that the ministry disclosed are only the tip of the iceberg.
The Japanese Communist Party last year proposed a bill to double companies’ payment for unpaid overtime work with the aim to make it disadvantageous for companies to have workers work overtime without pay.
The Abe government is working to realize a “new working hour system”, which would enable employers to force employees to work longer without extra payment.
Saying that it is a “zero-overtime system”, Japan’s major national trade union centers, the National Federation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), and the National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo) have all expressed opposition to the system. The need now is to strengthen efforts to eliminate unpaid overtime and to block Abe’s move.
