Japan Press Weekly

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2013 July 3 - 9 [LABOR]

Unfairly fired workers can take paid holidays after return to work: Labor Ministry

Workers who are unfairly dismissed will be entitled to take paid holidays immediately after they get their dismissals withdrawn and return to work.

In Japan, workers can take up to 20 paid-days off a year in proportion to working days. The Labor Ministry issued a circular notice more than half a century ago that unfairly fired workers are not allowed to take paid holidays shortly after they return to work because their “out-of-work” period is considered absence from work.

Regarding this issue, when the All-Japan Federation of Automobile Transport Workers’ Unions (Jiko-soren) recently made a representation to the ministry, ministry officials indicated that they will revise the notice in accordance with a top court decision acknowledging a worker’s right to claim paid leave after being reinstated.

In May 2007, a taxi driver in Saitama Prefecture, who is a member of the Yachiyo Transportation Company Union affiliated with the Jiko-soren, was wrongfully discharged by his employer. The driver went back to work in July 2009 after winning a decision nullifying his dismissal. When the worker submitted a paid leave application to the management, they rejected it by using the half century old official notice as justification.

The union member filed a lawsuit against the firm seeking a claim for paid holidays after returning to work. The Supreme Court ruled last month that the unemployed period of the plaintiff is counted as working days, and so he has a right to take paid vacation.