The government will raise the eligibility age for a corporate, defined contribution pension plan from the current 60 to 65, chiefly in response to an increase in the number of employees working past the standard retirement age of 60, sources said.
Should the eligibility age be raised for the plan–a Japanese version of the U.S. 401K corporate pension plan–the accumulation period for financial contributions would be extended, thereby increasing the amount that pensioners could receive during retirement.
To raise the eligibility age, the government will submit a bill to revise the Defined Contribution Pension Law during the ongoing ordinary Diet session, according to the sources.
There has been an increase in companies that employ workers past 60, by extending the retirement age ceiling or rehiring retired employees.
The trend is attributable to the fiscal 2006 enactment of the revised Older Persons’ Employment Stabilization Law, which requires companies to extend, in stages, the employment age of workers up to 65.
However, under the current corporate pension plan, employees who turn 60 must leave the plan. This has prompted calls to raise the eligibility age for making financial contributions to 65.
The government plans to implement the age hike in April 2012. The qualified retirement annuity system, which has been adopted mainly by small and midsize companies, is to be abolished at the end of March the same year, making it necessary to improve the corporate pension plan to accept those workers covered by the system.
The revised plan also will make it possible for workers themselves to financially contribute to the plan. Under the current system, only companies can contribute.
TozenAdmin
Foreigners win ¥17 million for trainee abuses
The Kumamoto District Court awarded more than ¥17 million in damages Friday to four Chinese interns who were forced to work long hours for low wages in Kumamoto Prefecture.
The court ordered that the union Plaspa Apparel, which arranged the trainee work for the four, to pay ¥4.4 million and that the actual employer, a sewing agency, pay ¥12.8 million in unpaid wages.
It is the first ruling that held a job broker for foreign trainees liable for their hardships, according to lawyers representing the four interns.
The four female Chinese trainees, aged 22 to 25, engaged in sewing from early morning to late evening with only two or three days off a month after arriving in Japan in 2006, according to the court.
Big gap as Coast’s language school shuts
MORE than 250 foreign students receiving tuition on the Gold Coast have been left without a school and, for some, a place to live after their English language school was closed suddenly yesterday.
Eight schools operated in Australia by the GEOS group, including one in Surfers Paradise, shut their doors in the afternoon after receivers were appointed when the group went into voluntary liquidation.
Nationally, the closure affects about 2300 students from countries such as Japan, China, Switzerland, Argentina and Brazil.
Jean-Baptiste Fouroux, 29, from France who had been studying at the Queensland College of English in Surfers for two months, said he was shocked.
“We have been told nothing,” he said last night. “I went to class today (Friday) and they said nothing to us.
“If this is true, I want my money back. I’ve paid $320 a week for my course which runs for 12 weeks.
“I don’t know what I will do.”
Mr Fouroux’s host father in Mermaid Waters, Christian Ulrichsen, also was unaware of the administrators moving in.
“I have two students staying with me,” said Mr Ulrichsen.
“I haven’t been informed — I haven’t even gotten an email.
“I will assist them as best I can but I’m limited in my resources.”
Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins of Ernst & Young are administrators to nine companies operating the schools in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Cairns.
Bill Egerton, who is contracted by GEOS to pick up foreign students for the Surfers Paradise school in his Koala Blue bus, said: “The receivers walked in and told everyone to leave. They have closed the doors. I’m owed about $4000 from them.”
Mr Egerton said there were about 260 students at the school.
He said 15 students were due to arrive this weekend but would have nowhere to go.
“These kids pay $10,000 to $15,000 each for tuition.”
The administrators said a better understanding of the financial situation and a decision on future operations should be known by the close of business on February 1.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/01/30/183565_gold-coast-news.html
Shock as St Mark’s International College shuts doors
EMOTIONAL scenes erupted outside a Perth language school today after it closed unexpectedly due to financial problems.
Dozens of foreign students, who have already paid thousands of dollars for courses, were still arriving for night English classes at St Mark’s International College in Perth tonight.
The school is one of eight language schools across Australia, owned by the GEOS group, that went into voluntary administration this afternoon.
About 2300 foreign students are currently enrolled across the nation, facing an uncertain future.
Some students could be forced to return home if the terms of their visas have been breached because they are unable to take part in full-time study.
Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins of Ernst & Young have been appointed administrators to nine companies operating the schools in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Cairns. They have about 390 employees and international students from a number of different countries.
“The financial position of the companies is such that the directors appointed voluntary administrators,” Mr Walsh and Mr Nikitins said in a statement on Friday.
“School operations have been temporarily suspended while the financial situation of the companies and ability to fund future operations of the schools is assessed over the next few days.”
The companies under administration are GEOS Melbourne Pty Ltd, GEOS Adelaide Pty Ltd, GEOS Sydney Pty Ltd, GEOS Cairns Pty Ltd, GEOS Gold Coast Pty Ltd, GEOS Perth Pty Ltd, GEOS Brisbane Pty Ltd, GEOS Management Services Pty Ltd and GEOS National English Academy Pty Ltd.
The administrators said a decision on future operations should be known by the close of business on Monday, February 1. Students have been told to return for a meeting at 2pm.
“Employees, students and creditors will be advised as soon as possible,” the administrators said.
One student said she had paid $3000 for a three-month English course, while another stood to lose $11,000 for a 12-month course.
Students huddled together outside the college tonight, unsure of what the future held for them.
Eight English language schools in limbo
Eight English language schools operated in Australia by the GEOS group have gone into voluntary administration, leaving about 2300 foreign students unsure of their future.
Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins of Ernst & Young have been appointed administrators to nine companies operating the schools in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Cairns.
They have about 390 employees and international students from a number of different countries.
“The financial position of the companies is such that the directors appointed voluntary administrators,” Mr Walsh and Mr Nikitins said in a statement on Friday.
“School operations have been temporarily suspended while the financial situation of the companies and ability to fund future operations of the schools is assessed over the next few days.”
The companies under administration are: GEOS Melbourne Pty Ltd, GEOS Adelaide Pty Ltd, GEOS Sydney Pty Ltd, GEOS Cairns Pty Ltd, GEOS Gold Coast Pty Ltd, GEOS Perth Pty Ltd, GEOS Brisbane Pty Ltd, GEOS Management Services Pty Ltd and GEOS National English Academy Pty Ltd.
The administrators said a better understanding of the financial situation and a decision on future operations should be known by the close of business on February 1.
“Employees, students and creditors will be advised as soon as possible,” they said.
Administrators called to Perth school
Ernst and Young has been appointed voluntary administrators to private English language school GEOS Perth and eight other affiliated companies, affecting a total of 2,300 students from a number of countries.
Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins from E&Y will be administrators of the nine companies that operate eight schools in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Cairns, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Perth.
The schools have about 390 employees.
The pair will also be administrators of GEOS Management Services Pty Ltd and GEOS National English Academy Pty Ltd.
“The financial position of the companies is such that the directors appointed voluntary administrators,” E&Y said.
“School operations have been temporarily suspended while the financial situation of the companies and ability to fund future operations of the schools is assessed over the next few days.”
In 2006, GEOS Perth, which at the time was affiliated with St Mark’s International College, was a finalist in the education export category for the WA Industry and Export Awards.
http://www.wabusinessnews.com.au/en-story/1/78178/Administrators-called-to-Perth-school
Rebuked ex-teachers lose ‘Kimigayo’ suit
The Tokyo High Court on Thursday rejected a demand for compensation by former teachers who argued they were refused postretirement re-employment because they had remained seated during the national anthem at school ceremonies in defiance of their principals’ orders.
The ruling overturned a February 2008 decision by the Tokyo District Court that awarded a total of around ¥27.5 million in compensation to 12 former teachers and a clerk at high schools run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Several lawsuits have been filed, mainly by teachers who have been reprimanded, seeking nullification of the disciplinary measures and a court confirmation that the orders are unconstitutional.
The Tokyo District Court ruled in September 2006 that the board of education cannot force teachers to sing the anthem in front of the national flag or reprimand them for refusing to do so, as such practices infringe on the Constitution.
Guiding hand for Indonesian nurses
Program helps hospital ease assimilation for newcomers
Cultural barriers faced by Indonesian nurses who come to this country to work are gradually being lowered, but the government has yet to help the Japanese hospital staff adapt, according to Keio University professors who recently launched an in-house training program to teach the employees how best to welcome the new additions.
Staff at Saiseikai Yokohamashi Tobu Hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture received training earlier this month from Naomi Sugimoto, a professor of communications studies in Keio’s faculty of nursing and medical care, prior to the arrival of two Indonesian nurses last week.
“The government runs training courses for the Indonesian nurses, but I saw that there was no training for the Japanese staff who are taking them in,” Sugimoto said. “The fact that hospitals are accepting foreign employees for the first time means that their staff have never worked with foreigners, so they are very nervous.”
McDonald’s told to pay overtime to manager
The Tokyo District Court ordered McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) Ltd. Monday to pay ¥7.55 million in overtime allowance and “additional pay” to a manager at one of its outlets.
Presiding Judge Iwao Saito ruled that Hiroshi Takano, 46, who manages a McDonald’s outlet in Saitama Prefecture, does not qualify as a manager under the Labor Standards Law and thus deserves overtime pay.
The law stipulates that employers must pay overtime allowances to employees who work more than eight hours a day and 40 hours a week. However, the regulation does not apply to people in managerial positions.
Saito said employees in management positions must be able to wield significant authority and receive privileged treatment, including higher pay. Takano neither played such an important role for the company nor received better pay, he said.
According to the court, the average annual salary of McDonald’s shop managers stood at ¥7.07 million in 2005. But the salaries varied, with some 10 percent of managers receiving only ¥5.79 million, a level lower than the average annual salary of assistant shop managers, based on evaluations. Assistant shop managers meanwhile qualify for overtime pay.
After Takano was promoted to shop manager in October 1999, his salary dropped because he was not allowed to claim overtime allowances. As a result, his annual wage fell by 17 percent in 2005, compared with the ¥7.59 million he earned in 1999.
The court ordered the company to pay Takano ¥7.55 million — ¥5.03 million in overtime pay and ¥2.52 million in additional pay.
“I was confident that I could win this suit, but I wonder why it took two years,” Takano said after the ruling. “I want the company to take today’s ruling sincerely. I also hope this decision will have a positive effect on other shop managers.”
The ruling could deal a major blow to McDonald’s Japan, which has some 1,700 managers at its outlets directly run by the firm, like Takano, said Ichiro Natsume, one of his lawyers.
McDonald’s issued a statement saying that it was regrettable the court did not accept its arguments and that it is considering filing an appeal.
Takano, who was hired in 1987, filed a suit in December 2005 with the district court, claiming the company should pay him about ¥5.17 million in overtime allowances and the same amount as “additional pay” to cover between December 2003 and November 2005.
The additional pay is regarded as a punitive fine to employers who break the law. During the period, he worked 60 to 80 hours of overtime a month, and he could not take any paid holidays for 63 days from Nov. 24, 2004, through Jan. 25, 2005. He also sought ¥3 million in compensation for mental suffering — a claim rejected by the court.
McDonald’s argued that Takano should be regarded as a manager because he oversaw dozens of employees and received wages commensurate with his responsibilities.
Momoyo Kamo, chairwoman of the Japan Community Union Federation, said the ruling will have an influence not only on McDonald’s shop managers but also other workers in similar situations.
“This ruling will encourage them to raise their voices,” she said.
40% of school boards test English of new recruits
Focusing on efforts to employ [Japanese] teachers with a high degree of English proficiency, the Saitama prefectural government set up a special application category on its academic 2009 recruitment exam for prospective [Japanese] teachers with English qualifications– such as a Grade Pre-1 on the Eiken English proficiency test. Applicants in the category are exempted from a portion of the recruitment exam.
Last year, 17 applicants passed in the category–with this figure accounting for only 2 percent of more than 700 successful examinees.
Commenting on the current situation, a prefectural education official in charge of the exams said it was a problem that “many [Japanese] primary school teachers aren’t familiar with English.” The official added, “It’s an urgent task for us to hire [Japanese] teachers who could play a leading role [in English teaching at each school].”
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20100128TDY12002.htm