Shortchanged? Part-time Workers in Japan | Asia Pacific Dispute Resolution

ID:	HARP-654
Title:	Shortchanged? Part-time Workers in Japan
Source:	Japanese Studies, Vol. 21, No.3, 2001
Parties:
Dispute Resolution Organ:
Year:	2001
Pages:	0
Author(s):
Keywords:	decision making, economic, social, and cultural rights, employment, gender equality, human rights, Japan, labor management, social security, woman, labor market, union, standard of living, industrial relations
Abstract:	The categories of ‘regular’ and ‘part-time’ in Japan are statuses which define and determine employment conditions and benefits. Part-time workers are denied opportunities for training, promotion and consequently access to better employment conditions and benefits. The policies of enterprise unions (and other levels of union organisation) are instrumental in institutionalising and systematising the sexual division of labour which assumes part-time work is ‘women’s work’. The gendered and ageist construction of part-time work in Japan has serious implications for those employed as part-time workers. Legislation has not been an avenue of assistance, but acts instead to further segregate ‘women’s and men’s work’. By not being represented in enterprise or national union bodies, the majority of part-time workers are denied access to power in negotiating and decision-making structures within the company, and the union movement. Alternative unions exist in Japan, including community, general and women-only unions, and there is an active women’s movement which, theoretically at least, non-unionised part-time workers can join. The growth in part-time work in Japan has serious implications for workers, particularly women workers, but whether or not this phenomenon is ‘Japanese’ requires comparison. With Japan’s economy still affected by recession, indications are that growth in part-time jobs is continuing, particularly for middle-aged male workers. Anecdotal evidence suggests there is a strengthening of the gender hierarchy in part-time employment, resembling that which exists in ‘lifetime employment’. The impact and implications of continued recession on part-time employment require further analysis.
Secured:	False
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