The number of temporary dispatch workers in Japan has hit a record high of about 3.84 million people, a report released Friday by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has shown.

The ministry’s fiscal 2007 report on temporary work services found that there were 741,644 temporary workers on long or short-term contracts, and 2,795,999 registered for short-term jobs, including day workers. Another 303,192 were designated for “specified dispatching,” which includes specialist jobs.

The average fee paid by client companies to job agencies for a general dispatch worker on an eight-hour shift was 14,032 yen, down 9.9 percent from the previous year. The average amount the workers received fell 9.8 percent to 9,534 yen. For specified dispatch workers, average wages were 13,044 yen — down 7.9 percent.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20081227p2a00m0na006000c.html

The number of non-regular employees to have their employment terminated during the current half of the financial year is expected to surpass 85,000, a government survey has found.

The figure, announced by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Friday, is about 2.8 times higher than the figure of 30,067 that was announced on Nov. 28 after an initial survey.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20081226p2a00m0na013000c.html

One of the biggest [problems that temp workers face] is what experts have dubbed “The Year 2009 Problem.”

The three-year contracts many temps signed in 2006 will run out next year.

After media reports exposed the unfair hiring practices of such major manufacturers as Panasonic Corp. and Canon Inc., many workers signed three-year contracts in 2006.

Under normal contracting practices, a smaller contractor independently manufactures parts for larger manufacturers. But by disguising the terms of their contracting, major manufacturers were avoiding paying higher salaries and administrative costs by having temps work directly at their facilities.

Although manufacturers are obliged to directly employ temp workers after three years, it is unlikely they will hire them as full-timers to avoid a payroll increase.

The current massive layoffs, however, are taking place even before the contracts run out due to the economic downturn triggered by the global financial crisis.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081225f3.html

The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau has come under attack for allegedly giving orders to contract employees at its dormitories who are not directly under its control — an act that allegedly constitutes disguised contract labor, which is prohibited under the Employment Security Law.

The custodians of the bureau’s 27 dormitories for single employees in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Yamanashi prefectures formed a labor union in late November and have demanded the bureau and the private companies employing them improve their working conditions. Some of the companies have reportedly complied with their request.

Technically, the custodians are supposed to work under the instructions of their employers — the four private companies — and not under the direct instructions of the Tokyo tax bureau.

However, several custodians have disclosed that they mostly get instructions from the tax bureau and virtually no instructions from the companies that employ them.

“The tax bureau gives us such minute instructions as when to go on patrols, how to do the cleaning, as well as on how to handle the moving-in and moving-out of dorm residents on weekends and fire drills,” said a custodian in his 60s.

A representative from the Tokyo tax bureau was defensive about the matter.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20081224p2a00m0na005000c.html

Question: About how much are the unemployment benefit payments?

Answer: The amount of compensation one can get through the employment insurance system depends on several factors. First, the system looks at a person’s income, minus bonuses and other benefits, over the six months before the person lost their job. This figure is divided by 180 to determine the person’s approximate daily wage. About 50-80 percent of this figure (those with low incomes receive a higher percentage) is set as the person’s daily insurance benefit, which the person can receive for a set number of days.

Q: How is the length of coverage decided?

A: The basic benefit period depends on how long a person has been a part of the employment insurance system. For example, if a person has been making contributions to the system for less than 10 years, then he or she can receive payment for up to 90 days. For those who have been part of the system for 20 years or more, insurance payments last for 150 days. For those who have some special difficulty in finding a new job, such as a physical disability, then insurance payments may last as long as 360 days. If someone finds themselves suddenly unemployed due to company bankruptcy or layoffs, and had no time to prepare to search for a job, then the rules allow for 90 days of unemployment benefits even if the worker has been part of the insurance system for less than a year. Benefits in these cases are typically greater than for those who leave their jobs voluntarily or because of mandatory retirement.

Q: Can temporary workers receive benefits?

A: The requirements for joining the employment insurance system are the worker must work 20 hours or more per week, and the worker can expect to be employed for a year or more. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry does not have exact statistics, but it is estimated that up to 10.06 million temporary workers are currently not registered with the employment insurance system. Calls for a revision of the requirements are getting louder. At present, the Diet is considering reducing the required time of expected employment from a year or more to a half-year or more as a way to help temporary workers.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20081224p2a00m0na007000c.html

An unemployment crisis is blowing violently through the Japanese archipelago. Many temporary workers have lost their jobs, their contracts suddenly terminated. Worse still, many have been thrown out into the cold with no place to live. The alarming scramble for personnel cuts by automakers and other large corporations who in the past had been Japanese economic leaders is unprecedented.

In addition to a response to the immediate employment crisis, there’s an urgent need for a fundamental re-examination of the Worker Dispatch Law. Most of the recent payroll cuts have taken place in the manufacturing industry, where a ban on temporary workers was lifted in 2004, leading to a shift of its workforce from full-time employees to temporary workers. As a result, when the economy suffers, temporary workers are dismissed without a second thought. Anyone can see now that non-full-time employees are considered disposable labor.

There have been increasing calls to ban temporary workers in manufacturing. Although an amendment to the Worker Dispatch Law banning daily hires has been submitted to the Diet, this is not enough. It is time for a comprehensive reassessment of the Worker Dispatch Law, including the possibility of prohibiting temporary workers in the manufacturing industry and a discussion of the pros and cons of the registration-based worker dispatch system.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20081220p2a00m0na022000c.html