US State Department Lauds Tozen for Pension Activism

“A Pension Agency enforcement directive continues to make it explicitly easier for employers to avoid paying pension and insurance contributions on behalf of their foreign employees who teach languages as compared with Japanese employees in similar positions. It also does not establish penalties for employers who illegally fail to enroll foreign teachers in the system. Employers may use different contracts for foreigners than for nationals, and courts have generally upheld this distinction as nondiscriminatory.

During the year Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union continued a campaign to encourage public schools to directly hire foreign-national assistant English language teachers rather than employ outsourcing firms to staff these positions. The union maintained that these firms refused to enroll foreign teachers in required health and pension schemes and violated labor laws by employing foreign national teachers in schools at which they are legally prohibited from taking guidance from other teachers or staff.”

Explanations on the problems with health and pension enrollment can be found here:
English:

Japanese:

– See more of the article at:
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper