The phenomenon of “working without a job” is gaining pace around the world, showing no signs of slowing down. But what does working without a job mean? Many readers may have no idea what I’m talking about. This phrase refers to working without employment; meaning that one has zero rights as workers under labor laws.
On March 27, 2023, the Tokyo District Court handed down a mixed ruling in the latest case of what is called academic harassment, or akahara. Courts increasingly handle such cases, and this one caused quite a stir in the public mind since the defendant was none other than celebrated art critic Michio Hayashi.
Traditionally, shunto was only for full-time regular workers, but this year unions are coming together to expand this custom to include workers on non-standard, irregular, casual, and contingent contracts.
On October 19, 2020, the Osaka District Court ruled against a cabaret owner suing a bar hostess for ¥2 million (US$15,200) for dating a coworker. The plaintiff had made male and female employees sign a contract prohibiting any romance between employees, stipulating that they pay that amount if they failed to observe the ban.
The Tokyo Labor Relations Commission provided us a bright day in labor history with the first ever ruling extending union rights to those engaged in work via an online platform.
Japanese employers have often used “taps on the shoulder” to induce unwanted employees to resign, but the courts have made clear that workers have no need to agree to give up their jobs.
A 68-year-old woman died of a heart attack at her workplace, the home of a bed-ridden elderly resident, in 2015. She worked as a housekeeper and nurse. Immediately before her death, she had worked in the home on a nearly 24-hour basis for a full week straight.
Many people glamorize gig jobs. Freelancing conjures images of being free from corporate shackles, free to be one’s true self and to work on one’s own terms. But it is a trap.
In the weeks since Nara resident Tetsuya Yamagami used a homemade gun to shoot and kill former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in front of his city’s Kintetsu Yamatosaidaiji Station, the nation and the world have been grappling with the question of why the assassination occurred.
The Tokyo District Court has ruled that Seven-Eleven store owners have no collective bargaining rights.
