“Coming to the farm is your job”: Workers with Disabilities in Japan Harassed, Given Little Work to Make Up Employment Numbers

By Barrier Free Japan, extract from NHK

May 3 2024

CHIBA – As the employment rate for people with disabilities was raised last month, the number of businesses providing work opportunities to people with disabilities on behalf of companies is expanding.

While these programs have helped to secure employment opportunities for people with disabilities, there have been cases where they have not led to the growth or independence of those with disabilities. As a result, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is instructing companies not to use these programs carelessly with the sole aim of achieving the employment rate.

Some people who have used this welfare program say that much of the time was spent on breaks and it did not lead to personal growth or career advancement.

One man in his 50s with a developmental disability worked on a farm in Chiba Prefecture until about seven years ago, when he signed an employment contract with a machinery manufacturer introduced by a different business operator than Nokyo Kanko.

According to the man, there were about 100 disabled people working in four agricultural greenhouses, with one employee assigned to every three disabled people to provide guidance and manage their health.

“The work was far from professional agriculture, and most of the time was spent on breaks. If there was a harvest, I would do it, but there were days when I just watered the crop. In those cases, it only took about 30 minutes, and I had five or six hours of free time. Some people were on their cell phones or listening to music, and had a lot of free time. They told me that ‘coming to the farm is your job.'”

“Compared to the employment support facility, my salary was several tens of thousands of yen higher, but it didn’t lead to my personal growth or career advancement. I was harassed by the management staff, and in the end, I had to quit after six months.”

“I was happy that someone from the company I had an employment contract with would come to see me once a month, but I only went to the office once to complete the joining procedure, and the head office and the farm were separate. In the end, I feel like I was just a staff member to achieve the employment rate.”