| | Your Rights in Your Workplaces
Japan Federation of Medical Workers' Unions
(Nihon Iroren)
Checklist of the rights that should be guaranteed to you in
your workplace
Article 1 of the Labor Standards Law (Principle of working
conditions)
Working conditions shall be those which meet the needs
of workers who live normal lives. <-> Articles 25 and 27
of the Constitution
2. The standards for working conditions fixed by this
Law are minimum standards. Accordingly, parties to
labour relations shall not reduce working conditions with
these standards as an excuse and, instead, should
endeavour to raise the working conditions.
Article 3 of the Labor Standards Law (Equal treatment)
An employer shall not engage in discriminatory treatment
with respect to wages, working hours, or other working
conditions based on the race, creed, or social status of
any worker.
1. Conditions of work are to be determined by the workers
and employers on an equal footing
Article 2 of the Labor Standards Law (Determination of
working conditions)
Working conditions shall be determined by the workers
and employers on an equal basis.
The workers and employers abide by labour agreements,
rules of employment, and labour contracts, and shall
undertake their respective duties faithfully.
2. Conditions of work must be specified at the signing of
labour contract.
Article 15 of the Labor Standards Law (Clear statement of
working conditions)
In concluding a labour contract, the employer shall clearly
state the wages, working hours, and other working
conditions to the worker. In this case, matters concerning
wages shall be clearly stated in the manner prescribed by
ordinance (of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).
In the event that the working conditions as clearly stated
under the provisions of the preceding paragraph differ
from the actual working conditions, the worker may
immediately cancel the labour contract.
Conditions of work to be clearly specified to worker by
any establishment (to be clearly stated in a document and
distributed to workers)
1) Term of the labour contract;
2) Place and contents of work;
3) Hours of work including the time to start and end the
work, rest time, holidays and long-time leave etc;
4) Pay level: methods of determination, calculation and
payment, period of payment etc.
5) Resignation
6) Pay rise
(to be clearly stated if there is any internal regulation
in the establishment)
7) Resignation allowance: scope of application, methods
of determination of the amount, of calculation and
payment, period of payment etc.;
8) Other wages to be paid exceptionally;
9) Meals, working shoes and other items for work to be
paid for by worker;
10) Occupational health and safety regulations;
11) Training programs;
12) Compensation schemes for occupational accidents
and assistance for injuries sustained while off-duty;
13) Awards and disciplinary measures;
14) Long-term leave or lay-off.
3. Daily work time must be limited to eight hours.
Article 32 of the Labor Standards Law (Working hours)
An employer shall not have a worker work more than
forty hours per week, excluding recesses.
An employer shall not have a worker work more than
eight hours per day for each day of the week, excluding
recesses. Employer must not make worker work
more than forty hours a week excluding rest time.
*Work time means the "period of time during which a
worker provides his work under the command and
supervision of the employer".
4.Recess time is determined according to time
of work.
Article 34 of the Labor Standards Law (Recess)
An employer shall provide a recess for at least forty-five
minutes during working hours if the working hours exceed
six hours, or a recess for at least one hour during
working hours if the working hours exceed eight hours.
The recess under the preceding paragraph shall be
provided to all workers at the same time. Provided that,
this shall not apply in cases where there exists a written
agreement with a trade union organized by a majority of
the workers at the workplace, where such a union exists,
or with a person representing a majority of the workers,
where no such union exists.
5. A day off in every week is mandatory.
Article 35 of the Labor Standards Law (Rest days)
An employer shall provide workers at least one rest day
per week.
A rest day is a day where there is no obligation to work
for worker. According to the Labor Standards Law, at
least one rest day is guaranteed for each week and is
called "legal rest day".
Difference between legal rest day and non-legal rest
dayAll the rest days determined by your company can
be classified in two groups: legal rest days and non
legal rest days. A legal rest is a day off in each week
and corresponds to Sunday in five-day workweek
scheme (it cannot necessarily be a Sunday). A non
legal rest day (day off determined by work regulations
in effect at workplace level) corresponds to a Saturday
in five-day workweek scheme (it cannot necessarily be
a Saturday). It can also be a national holiday or a New
Year holiday or summer holiday or corporate
anniversary day etc.
6. Overtime work and work on rest days need
"Agreement 36".
Article 36 of the Labor Standards Law stipulates that an
employer has to conclude a written agreement with
unions or people representing a majority of workers to
make them work overtime or on legal holidays, i.e. beyond
the legal limit of 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week and a day
off in each week (or 4 days in 4 consecutive weeks).
The agreement is called "Agreement 36"
(Saburoku kyotei in Japanese) and must cover: 1)
concrete reasons for which overtime work or work on
rest days is required; 2) the types of work to be
performed; 3) number of workers concerned;
4) extension of time allowed; 5) rest days to
be worked, 6) term of the agreement.
7. Workers can in principle take paid leave anytime
they like.
Article 39 of the Labor Standards Law (Annual leave
with pay)
An employer shall grant annual leave with pay of ten
working days either consecutively or dividedly to workers
who have been employed continuously for six months
calculated from the day of their being hired and who
worked for at least eighty percent of the total working
days.
The Labor Standards Law defines separately the number
of rest days to be accorded as paid annual leave by an
employer to workers who have worked for six months or
more (see tables 1 and 2 below)
Table 1:
Legal number of days accorded as annual leave with pay
Year of service: Days off:
6 months 10
1.5 yrs 11
2.5 yrs 12
3.5 yrs 14
4.5 yrs 16
5.5 yrs 18
6.5 yrs 20
Table 2: Annual paid leave for part-time workers
You work 30 or more hours a week in the present
establishment:
You have worked for: Paid annual leave:
6 months 10
1.5 yrs 11
2.5yrs 12
3.5yrs 14
4.5yrs 16
5.5yrs 18
+6.5yrs 20
You work less
than 30 hours:
6months 1.5yrs 2.5yrs 3.5yrs
5days a week 10 11 12 14
4days 7 8 9 10
3days 5 6 6 8
2days 3 4 4 5
1day 1 2 2 2
4.5 yrs 5.5yrs +6.5yrs
5days a week 16 18 20
4days 12 13 15
3days 9 10 11
2days 6 6 7
1day 3 3 3
Freedom to take paid annual leave:
employer's permission is not required
Paid annual leave is a guarantee that does not require the
employer's permission: workers
are allowed to take whenever they likes.
Annual leave can be carried forward to the following
year: the right to annual leave expires after 2 years
There is no legal provision as to whether paid annual
leave that are not taken within a year can be carried
forward to the following year. According to the
interpretation of the Ministry of Labor (ordinance issued
on December 15, 1947), it can be carried forward but the
right to take annual leave that has not been taken expires
after 2 years (Art. 115 of the Labor Standards Law).
8. The Salary must be paid directly and in full to worker.
Article 24 of the Labor Standards Law (Payment of
wages)
Wages must be paid in cash and in full directly to the
workers. (...) Wages must be paid at least once a
month at a definite date. Provided that, this shall not apply
to extraordinary wages, bonuses and the like which will
be defined by ordinance (referred to as "extraordinary
wages, etc." in Article 89).
In principle, salary must be paid in cash and directly to
worker. Bank transfer is also authorized if the following
three requirements are met: 1) workers concerned agree
to be paid by bank transfer; 2) money is sent to the
account indicated by workers; 3) it is possible for
workers to withdraw in full the money sent from the
indicated account by 10 a.m. of the definite payday.
9. Worker is entitled to suspension allowance if
suspension is at the convenience of employer
Article 26 of the Labor Standards Law (Allowance for
business suspension)
In the event of business suspension for reasons
attributable to the employer, the employer shall pay an
allowance equal to at least 60 percent of the worker's
average wage to the worker concerned during the period
of business suspension. (suspension allowance)
A hospital can be suspended at the convenience of the
employer when it is ordered to suspend its services as a
result of an incident or when a machine trouble prevents it
from providing services. In that event, workers must be
paid a business suspension allowance whose amount
must be more than 60% of his or her average salary (total
3 month salary divided by number of days).
10. Pay Increment for overtime work and work on rest
days
In the event that an employer extends working hours the
employer shall pay the increased wages for work during
such hours or on such days at the rate of at least 25
percent and no more than 50 percent over the normal
wages per working hour or working day.
When a worker works late night (from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. of
the next day), his wage must also be increased by 25
percent. If he works on rest days, his wage must be
incremented by 35 percent. (Article 37 of the Labor
Standards Law).
The normal wage used to compute the incremented wage
is obtained by dividing monthly salary by legal hours of
work. Monthly salary does not include family allowance,
commuting allowance, separate living allowance, children
education allowance, extraordinary pay, bonus and
housing allowance.
11. Labour contract for less than minimum wage is invalid.
It is illegal to employ a worker for less than the minimum
wage determined by each prefecture. Even if the worker
concerned has accepted that wage, the passage of the
labour contract related to wage is not valid and the
employer must pay the difference with the minimum wage
(Article 28 of the Labor Standards Law).
The minimum wage is applied not only to full-time worker
but also to part-time and contract workers.
12. Menstrual leave
Article 68 of the Labor Standards Law (measure for
women who have considerable difficulty in working when
they have periods)
When a woman for whose work during menstrual periods
would be especially difficult has requested leave, the
employer shall not have the said woman work on days of
the menstrual period.
Regarding this question, the ministerial ordinance sets out
the following: "when a female worker applies for
menstrual leave, the employer shall in principle give the
leave as requested. If employer asks worker to provide
any proof, it should be simple such as
coworker's testimony and does not need to be a medical
certificate (ordinance 151, issued on March 30, 1988).
There is no provision in the Labor Standards Law as to
how many days off a woman can take, but in the light of
the aim of Article 68, it can be different for every woman
and every woman worker must be given as many days
off as she needs for menstrual leave.
13. Maternity leave
Article 65 of the Labor Standards Law (Before and after
childbirth)
In the event that a woman who is expected to give birth
within 6 weeks (or within 14 weeks in the case of multiple
fetuses) requests rest days, the employer shall not make
such a person work.
2. An employer shall not have a woman work within 8
weeks after childbirth; however, this shall not prevent an
employer from having such a woman work, if she has so
requested, after 6 weeks have passed since childbirth, in
duties which a doctor has approved as having no
adverse effect on her.
3. In the event that a pregnant woman has so requested,
an employer shall transfer her to other light duties.
It is up to a woman worker to exercise the right to
maternity leave before childbirth. However, the leave
after childbirth is mandatory: she is not allowed to work
during the six weeks following the childbirth.
The period of maternity leave before childbirth is computed
on the basis of expected date of birth while that after
childbirth is computed ob the basis of the actual date of
birth.
According to the Ministerial ordinance (issued April 2,
1951), the scope of childbirth as provided in Article 65
starts at the fourth month of pregnancy and includes
miscarriage, still birth and abortion: post-birth leave can be
granted to a woman who has miscarriage or abortion if
she is four or more months pregnant.
The Labor Standards Law does not say anything about
wages during maternity leave. By virtue of Article 50-2 of
the Health Insurance Law, 60 percent of wages are
granted as childbirth allowance during six weeks before
childbirth (14 weeks in the case of multiple fetuses). In
addition, a lump-sum money of 300,000 yen per child is
provided by social insurance. Maternity leave is regarded
as worked period in computing the paid annual leave
(Art.39-7 of the Labor Standards Law).
14. Time for childcare
Article 67 of the Labor Standards Law (Time for Childcare)
A woman raising an infant under the age of one full year
may request time to care for the infant of at least 30
minutes twice a day, in addition to the rest periods
stipulated in Article 34.
2. The employer shall not have the said woman work
during the childcare time stipulated in the preceding
paragraph.
Initially, this provision was meant for time allowed to
women for breast-feed babies. As the employer cannot
refuse a request for it at the beginning or end of working
hours, time for childcare is tantamount to reduction of
working hours on workdays. Women working on part-
time or contract basis can also ask for it. It is also
possible to take it twice in a row if it is absolutely
necessary. However, in the case of worker whose daily
working time is less than four hours, it is limited to once a
day (ordinance of January 9, 1961).
Major legal provisions related to pregnancy and childbirth
(Recap)
*Expectant and nursing mothers: women in pregnancy or
within one year after childbirth.
Menstrual leave (Article 68, Labor Standards Law): When
a woman for whose work during menstrual periods would
be especially difficult has requested leave, the employer
shall not have the said woman work on days of the
menstrual period.
* Leave granted upon request by worker
Maternity leave (Article 65, Labor Standards Law):
-Before childbirth, six weeks (or 14 weeks in the case of
multiple fetuses) starting from the expectant birthday
(excluding the expectant birthday).
Leave granted upon worker's request
-After childbirth, 8 weeks from one day after childbirth
day (6 weeks are mandatory)
Leave granted without request
Limitations on dangerous and injurious work for expectant
and nursing mothers (Article 64-3, Labor Standards Law):
limiting the handling of 1) heavy materials, 2) work in
places where harmful gas is generated, 3) other work
injurious to pregnancy, childbirth, nursing and the like.
Transfer to light duties (Article 65-3, Labor Standards
Law): In the event that a pregnant woman has so
requested, an employer shall transfer her to other light
duties.
Transfer obtained upon worker's request
Ban on atypical work schedules: It is prohibited to have
expectant and nursing mothers work atypical work
schedules of more than forty hours a week and eight
hours a day.
Limitations on overtime work and work on rest days
(Article 66, labor Standards Law): it is prohibited to have
expectant and nursing mothers work overtime, on rest
days and in late night.
Medical check leave (Article 12, Equal Opportunity Law):
expectant and nursing mothers can take a leave to ensure
the time needed to obtain health guidance and medical
examinations:
up to 23rd week of pregnancy ->once every four weeks
from 24th to 35th weeks of pregnancy -> once every two
weeks
from 36th week to childbirth -> once every week
within one year after childbirth ->as often as doctor or
midwife indicates
*The employer must give a leave to worker if doctor or
midwife judges it necessary.
Leave obtained upon worker's request
Leave for alleviating commuting and pregnancy difficulties
(Article 13, Equal Opportunity Law)
Employers shall take necessary measures when they are
instructed by midwife or doctor. In the event a worker
makes a request for this leave, employers shall ask doctor
for advice and implement necessary measures to:
1) enable worker to avoid commuting in rush hours which
might lead to worsening of morning sickness or premature
birth;
2) extend recess time or increase recess frequency
3) limit workload, reduce working hours or grant
suspension according to symptoms.
Leave obtained upon worker's request based on
medical guidance.
About Childcare Leave (Leave for childcare and long-term
nursing care)
Beneficiaries: Childcare leave is granted upon request by
a worker (father or mother) who has and rears a child
under one year old. In exceptional cases (such as no
place available in nursery, death, injury or sickness of the
spouse, the leave can be extended until the child is one
and a half years old.
Duration: from the childbirth till one day before the child is
one year old or one and a half years old in exceptional
cases. To fully benefit this scheme, it is necessary to
apply one month in advance from the day it starts for one
year leave, or two weeks in advance for extending it from
one year to one and a half years.
Leave for care of sick child: A worker (man or woman)
who has children under school age can upon request
obtain up to five days off a year to take care of a sick or
injured child.
Limitation on overtime work: Overtime work for workers
with young children under school age is limited to twenty-
four hours a month or one hundred fifty hours a year if
they so request.
Limitation on late night work: Workers with young children
under school age do not have to work late night, if they so
request. The request can be repeated as many times as
they like and a request can cover more than one month up
to six months.
Reduction of working hours: Workers with children under
three years of age can benefit from this scheme. It can
be used to extend the childcare time granted by virtue of
the Labor Standards Law.
Childcare time (Labor Standards Law): Women with a
baby under one year old can apply for more than 30
minutes of childcare time twice a day or 60 minutes once
a day.
Reduction of working hours for childcare
Alternative measures
Education and training for returning to workplace
Childcare leave allowance: Unemployment insurance fund
provides forty percent of the wage earned by a worker
before suspension (ten percent after return to workplace,
twenty percent until end March 2010), if he or she has a
baby under one year old or one and a half years old for
exceptional cases. There is however an upper limit on
this allowance and workers must be insured by the
insurance and meet certain requirements.
Social security fees during suspension: Both employer
and workers are exempted from the payment of
contributions for health insurance and pension funds. No
obligation to pay unemployment insurance fees is wages
are not paid. The amount of premiums is computed as if
the fees were paid during suspension.
Long-term Nursing Care Leave
Beneficiaries: Workers (men and women) who have their
family members needing long-term nursing care can take
this leave upon request. Workers with fixed term labor
contract can also benefit from this leave. It is possible
that two workers or more can simultaneously or
separately take this leave for one of the following family
members: the spouse, parents, children, parents of the
spouse as well as grand-parents, brothers and sisters
grand-children provided that they live with and are in
charge of the workers.
Frequency and duration: Leave granted when a family
member loses his/her autonomy and needs constant
nursing. Its total duration is limited to 93 days. Application
using the special form must be made two weeks prior to
taking the leave.
Limitation on overtime work: Overtime work is limited to
twenty-four hours a month or one hundred fifty hours a
year.
Limitation on late night work: Employers must not have
workers who have family members in loss of autonomy
work late night. Workers can apply for exemption from
late night work for a period more than one month and less
than 6 months. During this period, application can be
renewed as many times as needed.
Reduction of working hours: Working hours can be
reduced within the limit of 93 days including long-term
nursing care leave. Working hour's reduction and
long-term nursing care leave can be combined provided
the total working hours do not exceed 93 days.
Long-term nursing care leave allowance: 40 percent of
the monthly wage just before taking the leave is granted
for each leave period for up to 93 days (Employment
Insurance Law). There is an upper limit to this allowance.
Social insurances fees during the leave: No exemption of
payment either for workers or employers. However, no
payment of unemployment insurance and
workmen's insurance fees is required if a worker
receives no wage.
Temporary and Part-Time Workers
(Part-time Work Law)
Article 3: (Employers' obligation)
The employers shall take into consideration, regarding
short-time workers they hire, their actual employment
status and balance with regular workers, take necessary
measures for ensuring appropriate working conditions,
providing them education and training, according them
better fringe benefits and improving personnel
management and make effort to enable the short-time
workers to give full play to their abilities.
The rights of part-time workers are guaranteed
Whether you work time on part-time basis or temporary
basis, anyone who works and earns a wage is subject to
the application of the Labor Standards Law. The Law
related to the improvement of personnel management of
short-time workers (called Part-time Work Law) was first
enacted in December 1994 to secure and improve the
working conditions of part-time workers who were rapidly
increasing then. It was revised in 2003 and today, laws
protecting workers including the Labor Standards Law,
Minimum Wage Law, Occupational Health and Safety Law,
Occupational Accident Law, Equal opportunity Law,
Childcare and Long-term nursing care law and
Employment Insurance Law are applied to part-time
workers.
The Part-time Work Law has recently been revised (April
2008)
1) At hiring, the employer must clearly state in a
written form whether there is regular wage hike,
resignation allowance, bonuses etc. In the event of
violation of this provision, the employer must pay a fine
of less than three hundred thousands yen.
2) After hiring, the employer must explain about
the considerations made in determining the treatment if
a worker so requests.
3) The employer must also take measures to
establish equality in treatment between full-time and
part-time workers according to differences in their
working patterns.
4) Regarding part-time workers who can be
regarded as identical with ordinary workers in terms
of job contents, mechanism of human resource
utilization and its management as well as term of labour
contract, it is prohibited to discriminate them in wage,
education and training and fringe benefits in general.
Loss of job
A full-time worker who loses his/her job can receive
unemployment allowance for a certain period of time. A
part-time worker is also entitled to this allowance if he/she
meets the following two requirements:
(Requirements for qualifying to short-time
workers' employment insurance)
1) Fixed weekly working time is 20 hours or more.
2) It is reasonably likely that the worker will continue to
be hired for more than one year.
Wage increase for overtime work
A worker working more than eight hours a day is paid an
increased wage over the normal rate. However, the
employer has to make effort not to have part-time workers
work overtime.
The "eight-hour workday principle" established by the
Labor Standards Law is applied to part-time workers as
well. For example, a part-time worker usually working six
hours a day must be paid normal wage for two hours and
a wage increased by 25 percent over the normal wage
for the hours exceeding eight hours. Employers must pay
a wage increased by at least twenty five percent for late
night work (from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.), or by at least thirty
five percent for work on rest day (legal rest day, once a
week). However, it is at the discretion of the employer to
pay increased wage for work executed during two hours
exceeding normal daily six working hours. It is important
therefore to negotiate an increase in wage for these two
additional hours wherever there is a union.
In addition to equal treatment in wage and working
conditions, it is also necessary to negotiate continued
education and training programs to be accorded to part-
time workers to improve their skills and abilities.
Part-time workers cannot be dismissed arbitrarily
Part-time workers are workers who are protected by the
Labor Standards Law and the Labour Contract Law.
Indefinite-term labour contract
It is a contract of lifetime employment, similar to that for
regular full-time workers. To terminate this type of
employment needs and termination must be notified to
workers concerned more than thirty days in advance.
Notification less than thirty days in advance results in
payment of :dismissal notification allowance" that is
equivalent to wage for more than 30 days.
In some establishments, "reasonable grounds" are
specified in internal regulations, but more generally, they
can be that the worker concerned has caused serious
damage to the company or acted against social moral. For
dismissals aimed at company restructuring, they are
considered in the light of "four requirements" for
dismissal for economic reasons.
Fixed-term labour contract
If the term of labour contract is fixed to three months or
six months, employment is secured for that period and the
contract is terminated if it is not renewed after that period
has elapsed. If the contract term is extended or contract
is renewed repeatedly, the labour contract is regarded
as "indefinite-term labour contract": "reasonable grounds"
and "notification more than thirty days in advance or an "in
advance notification allowance" are necessary for
dismissing workers with this type of contract.
Four requirements for dismissal for economic reasons
Enterprises cannot arbitrarily dismiss workers on the
ground that their management in the red or they suffer
from an economic recession. Judicial precedents have
set strict conditions on employers when they dismiss their
employees: 1) impelling necessity for management, 2)
obligation of making all efforts for avoiding dismissal; 3)
rationality of criteria for selection of workers to dismiss as
well as of selection itself;
4) rationality in procedures leading to dismissal including
consultations with unions.
Paid annual leave
Number of days off with pay you can take every year
If you work 30 or more hours a week:
Years (months) you have worked in your present
establishment
6 months 1.5 y 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5
10 11 12 14 16 18 20
If you work less than 30 hours a week:
Years (months) you have worked in your present
establishment
you work 5 days or +:
6 months 1.5y 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5
10 11 12 14 16 18 20
4days: 7 8 9 10 11 12 15
3days: 5 6 6 8 9 10 11
2days: 3 4 4 5 6 6 7
1day: 1 2 2 2 3 3 3
Health Insurance and pension
If your working hours account for more than three
quarters of the working hours of full-time worker and you
have been employed more than 2 months, your employer
has the obligation to have you covered by a social
insurance to which both worker and employer contribute
on equal basis. Social insurance benefits are generally
more advantageous than those of the national insurance
or national pension.
Unemployment and Occupational Accident Insurances
If your fixed weekly working hours are twenty hours or
more and you expect to be hired without interruption for a
year or more, you can have the unemployment
insurance.
Occupational accident insurance provides you treatment
fees for injuries and sicknesses caused by your work as
well as compensation for damages you incur for work
suspension.
Sexual Harassment
Article 11, Equal Opportunity Law
Employers shall give necessary consideration from the
viewpoint of employment management so that women
workers they employ do not suffer any disadvantage in
their working conditions by reason of said women
workers' responses to sexual speech and behavior in the
workplace and their working environments do not suffer
any harm due to said sexual speech and behavior.
What is sexual speech or behavior?
It consists of asking facts about sexual matters,
intentionally circulating information of sexual contents,
compelling sexual relations, unnecessary body-touching,
circulating pornographic pictures or drawings etc.
Concrete examples of sexual harassment
--You are dismissed or suffer disadvantageous transfer
because you have refused your employer or
superior's demand for sexual relations or you have
resisted their touching you body;
--Your moral to work is affected by sexual speech or
behavior of your employer or superior.
The revised Equal Opportunity Law enforced in April 2007
is applied entirely to both men and women. Therefore,
sexual harassment provision is applied equally to men and
women. The term "worker" used in the law
includes not only regular workers but all workers, regular
and non-regular, hired by employers.
Power Harassment
What is power harassment (pawahara in Japanese)
Power harassment consists of violating continuously and
through speech and behavior the personality and dignity
of somebody else beyond the normal scope of work using
one's authority and power and thus aggravating
workers' working environment or giving them feeling of job
insecurity.
More concretely, with varying extent and degree, it can
take the forms such as repeated moralizing, constant
surveillance, snapping in a fit of anger, false accusation,
favoritism, neglecting, bullying, forcing the participation to
an informal drinking party etc.
Maybe you are concerned
In addition to the fact that it is hardly identifiable because
hidden or disguised in the form of guidance or training or
work order, power harassment is often not recognized by
both those who harass and others who are harassed.
As is the case of sexual harassment, what matters is
how the victim feels even if you think that you have
inadvertently used nasty words, that you do not mean it or
you just wanted encourage the victim.
It is also very difficult to oppose those who are your
superiors or seniors or decline their offers. Speech and
behavior of those who have power can become
dangerous weapons. If you are a supervisor or a senior,
you need not to forget that those who are your
subordinates or junior than you are in weaker positions
and treat them with due respect.
If you suffer power harassment
Do not keep it for yourself. Go to see your superior or
coworker or union representatives. Be conscious of the
fact that you are victim of power harassment and try to
ease your mental pain. Although awareness about this
issue is growing, legal regulations are falling behind. You
must demand the implementation of protective measures
against sexual and power harassments.
(tentative translation: 2009/01/07)
Japan Federation of Medical Workers' Unions
1-8-3 Kita-Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo,110-0014 Japan
TEL: 03-3875-5871
FAX: 03-3875-6270
E-mail: n-ask@irouren.or.jp
URL: http://www.irouren.or.jp
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