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Pensions body faces tough test
Japan Pension Service, an organization set up to take over the work of the Social Insurance Agency, will start operations Friday. Though the new entity will attempt to regain trust of the public by tackling problems such as the pension records fiasco, it faces many hurdles. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama met the 13 people chosen…
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‘Pension falsification rampant’ in Ibaraki Pref.
Some social insurance offices in Ibaraki Prefecture falsified company managers’ average monthly earnings that will be used as the basis for calculating their pensions, and deleted 10 percent of companies’ delinquent accounts from official records, according to sources close to the office. The sources said some of the offices falsified data to make their pension…
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Brace for a possible spring shock
When spring approaches next year, many foreigners in Japan could be in for a rude awakening: From April 1, all those who apply to extend their visa in Japan will be asked to show proof of enrollment in one or other of Japan’s main national health systems, the shakai hoken (social health insurance and pension)…
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NTT fails to pay pension premiums
The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group [a company one third owned by the Japanese government] failed to pay to the state a portion of pension premiums of about 4,000 employees over more than six years to August 2003 despite deducting the money from the workers’ salaries. Sources attributed the failure to clerical errors. The…
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Social Insurance Agency reprimands collection chief over altered records
The Social Insurance Agency has taken disciplinary action against a Tokyo social insurance office worker for altering records to understate people’s standard monthly earnings, which form the basis for calculating pension insurance premiums. It is the only case in which the agency has admitted alteration of records by a worker, and the first time for…
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New law: no dues, no visa
On a drab, rainy Sunday in June, a group of foreign workers gathered at the office of the National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu in Shimbashi to discuss an equally drab topic: social insurance. According to a new immigration law passed by the Diet earlier this month, foreign residents will be required to show…
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30,000 people in Japan unaware they are qualified to receive pensions: survey
An estimated 30,000 people in Japan without pensions are unaware that they are qualified to receive them, a survey by the Social Insurance Agency has indicated. In many cases pension premium payment records exist while the beneficiaries remain unknown, and there have also been cases in which social insurance offices have told people they are…
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Japan: Birthrate report shows it’s not getting any younger
A report says Japan’s ratio of children is now down to 13%, boding ill for the labor pool and pension funds. Japan, which designates every May 5 as Children’s Day, had fewer children to celebrate the holiday for the 28th straight year, underscoring a demographic shift that could eventually wreak havoc on the world’s second-largest…
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Berlitz strike grows despite naysayers
Historic six-month action is starting to reap dividends Despite scabs, naysayers and second-guessing pundits in the English-language media, Berlitz teachers are making history. With more than 100 teachers striking at dozens of schools around the Kanto region for over six months, the industrial action at Berlitz is now the largest sustained strike in Japan’s language…
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Employers told to scam pensions
SIA worker admits having firms low-ball required premium levels The scandal-hit Social Insurance Agency admitted Tuesday that a staff member had instructed companies falling short on premiums for the government-run pension program to falsely claim their employees’ monthly incomes were lower so the firms could pay less. Corporate subscribers to the pension scheme must pay…