Japan Press Weekly

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2010 April 14 - 20 [LABOR]

Bar association calls for protection of temporary workers

Regarding the government draft bill, the statement said, “It is questionable whether the government is sincerely responding to temporary workers’ demands,” and called on the government to amend the bill in regard to the following three points:

The first point is that the bill allows employers to use on-call temporary workers under “26 special job categories” which require expert knowledge, technical skills, or extensive experience. The statement calls for a total ban on the use of on-call temporary workers and demands that those categories be fully revised.

The second point is that the bill permits the use of temporary workers, not on-call temporary workers, in the manufacturing industry, if the temporary workers are hired by a staffing agency. The statement criticized the government bill for leaving a loophole to enable employers to use workers as temporary workers. Under the bill, if a worker repeatedly renews his/her contract with a staffing agency, even it is a short-term contract, he/she is recognized that he/she is employed by a staffing agency, and, thus, recognized as temporary workers not as on-call temporary workers or quick-fix temporary workers.

The third point is that the bill includes no provision which clearly states that a company using temporary workers is required to fulfill employer’s legal responsibilities, including a responsibility to accept a worker’s proposal to hold a collective bargaining meeting. The statement states, “Any company using temporary workers should accept the responsibility for improving those workers’ working conditions as much as possible.”

The statement urges the government to make changes on the bill based on the actual situation of temporary workers in order to contribute to an effective protection of temporary workers and an improvement of the overall employment situation.
- Akahata, April 16, 2010