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The year in labor: the Top 5 pains of 2013
By Hifumi Okunuki Illustrations by Time O’Bree Japan’s old calendar called December shiwasu (師走). These two kanji mean “teacher” and “run.” The idea was that the last month of the year is so busy that even a staid, starch-shirted professor finds him or herself scurrying around like a rabbit, trying to get everything done on time. As…
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Real ‘labor cops’ also deserve to get the star treatment
By Hifumi Okunuki Television meant little to me until this autumn. Now, every Wednesday at 10 p.m., I sit squarely in front of the tube, glued to the set for the next hour of the new comedy “Dandarin.” In the show, Yuko Takeuchi plays a stubborn, by-the-book labor standards inspector named Rin Danda who loathes…
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Is Sulejman Brkic no longer a member of the ICC Family?
Tozen member Sulejman Brkic was bloody illegally fired. ICC Language Schools is a language school that has six branches in the Kanto area, with its headquarters in Yokohama. Sulejman Brkic has been teaching English and French courses at this school for twenty years. He has always been very popular among his students, not only because…
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スレイマン・ブルキッチ組合員は、もう「ICC Family」じゃないの？！
株式会社ICC（本社：横浜市）は、関東地域に６つのスクールをもつ語学学校です。スレイマン・ブルキッチ組合員は、20年間にわたり、ICCで英語とフランス語の講師として仕事をしてきました。ちょっぴり皮肉やさんながらとてもチャーミングな彼は、教え方にとても定評があり、生徒たちからの人気も抜群でした。彼はやりがいと情熱をもって20年間働いてきました。
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Shakai Hoken Seminar
Everything you always wanted to know about Shakai Hoken. Learn all the facts about Japan’s Shakai Hoken health and pension system and let us disabuse you of some persistent myths. Questions will be answered after the seminar.
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The Special Dismissal Zone: where legal protections no longer apply
I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard about the government’s recent proposal to set up a Special Dismissal Zone on Japanese territory. “A what?” I hear you cry. The Shinzo Abe government wants to make Japan “the most business-friendly climate in the world.” In May, he set up a National Strategy Special Zone Working Group,…
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Matahara: turning the clock back on women’s rights
Matahara: turning the clock back on women’s rights ‘Maternity harassment‘ concept coined amid reports of bullying over pregnancy at work BY HIFUMI OKUNUKI “When I told my company I was pregnant, they fired me.” “I was delighted to be hired by a company I loved. Then my boss made me promise not to get pregnant…
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Union, business concerns put limits on freedom of speech by Hifumi Okunuki
Hot on the heels of their romp to victory in the race for control of the House of Councilors, the Liberal Democratic Party is chomping at the bit to overhaul the Constitution, which has not been amended since it was signed into law in 1946. The ruling party proposes gutting Article 9, which forever bans…
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Changes to Japan’s employment law effective from 1 April 2013
Changes to Japan’s employment law effective from 1 April 2013 As of 1 April 2013, Japan’s minimum retirement age will increase to 65 years, with further restriction on scope to refuse re-employment after an earlier company retirement age. New amendments to Japan’s Labour Contracts Act (“LCA”) will also come into effect, concerning fixed term employees…
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Mazda temp-staff practice ruled illegal
Mazda temp-staff practice ruled illegal Yamaguchi court: Displaced 13 should be regular employees http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/03/14/national/mazda-temp-staff-practice-ruled-illegal/#.UVFDtL8WZZJ YAMAGUCHI – The Yamaguchi District Court ruled Wednesday that Mazda Motor Corp.’s temp-staff employment practice is illegal and recognized regular employee status for 13 former temp-staff workers displaced by the automaker. The rare recognition that displaced temporary workers should be regular employees…