Category Archives: Wages

Average winter bonus for gov’t employees goes up 4.1%

December 19, 2011 in ALT, News, Wages

The government’s rank-and-file employees received on average of about 617,100 yen in winter bonuses, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier. The average bonus for a government employee is equivalent to 2.02 months pay.

Occupy Wall Street resonates within Japan

December 16, 2011 in News, Wages

According to business consultant Masao Kitami, during 1997-2007, total wages declined by ¥20 trillion. “When people say Japan is becoming a society with a widening income gap,” he writes, “I tell them, we’ve descended into a ‘low-wage society.’”

74 percent of fixed contract workers earn below 2 million yen annually

September 16, 2011 in News, Wages

Seventy-four percent of fixed-contract workers such as part-time and temporary employees earned less than 2 million yen a year, according to a recent survey, up 16.7 percentage points from the last survey in 2009, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Sept. 14.

Japan’s ratio of education spending to GDP lowest among OECD nations

September 14, 2011 in ALT, Eikaiwa, News, Wages

Japan’s expenditure on education as a percentage of gross domestic product in 2008 remained the lowest among 31 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development…[and] pointed out that “other factors that influence the quality of education need to be taken into account,” such as improving teachers’ salaries and working conditions in Japan.

Scant legal justification for unpaid overtime

August 15, 2011 in News, Overtime, Wages

In principle, a work week is supposed to total 40 hours, divided into eight hours per day. Any work beyond this limit is only possible with prior agreement between the employer and employees, and is subject to overtime payment. If overtime work is done with the understanding of the employer but without an explicit request, the employee can still file a request for unpaid overtime wages.

Men born in late 1970s tend to stay in nonregular jobs: gov’t paper

July 8, 2011 in Dispatch, News, Wages

Men born in the latter half of the 1970s tend to be mired in nonregular jobs compared with those of other generations as work status such as temporary employment has spread since the 1990s, the labor ministry said in an annual report on labor economy released Friday.

Summer Bonuses Going Up 4.17% At Big Firms

May 20, 2011 in News, Wages

Summer bonuses at large companies are set to grow for a second straight year, according to the results of a first-round survey published Wednesday by the Japan Business Federation, or Nippon Keidanren. The average agreed-on bonus was up 4.17% from last year to 809,604 yen, reflecting the economic recovery up until the March 11 earthquake. [...]

Japan football players to form union

March 11, 2011 in News, Wages

Japanese football players are to form a union to demand better working conditions, including bigger rewards for international duty, their association said Wednesday. The Japan Pro-Footballers Association (JPFA), currently representing some 960 players at home and abroad as a fraternal body, said it had decided to register itself as a labour union with the right [...]

Record number of public school teachers on fixed-term contracts, only working part time

March 9, 2011 in ALT, News, Wages

A record 15 percent of public elementary and junior high school teachers across the country are full-time instructors with a fixed-term employment contract, or are only working part time, a government survey has found.

Hays Japan Survey Reveals a New Employment Landscape in Japan

March 7, 2011 in News, Wages

Almost one third (31 per cent) of all employers expect to increase salaries between three and six per cent in their next review. This and other key findings from the fourth annual Hays Salary Guide signify the emergence of a new employment landscape in Japan.