“Ultra-short-time employment” becoming Widespread in Japan, Popular with People with Disabilities

From The Tokyo Shimbun

October 14 2024

GIFU – “Ultra-short-time employment” is becoming more widespread, where people who have difficulty working long hours due to disabilities or illness are given limited duties for a short time. The system is characterized by the fact that social welfare corporations commissioned by local governments provide support as intermediate support businesses. Local governments are very interested in this system, saying it is “one of the ways to realize a society where no one is left behind.” (Sahashi Dai)

By having employees take charge of cleaning, staff can focus on care

Yumi Hayashi (33) from Gifu City will be working two and a half hours a week at Yamauchi Hospital Nursing Home in the city from March. She will be in charge of cleaning stretchers and other items used in the “mechanical bath” where facility users bathe while lying down. “I’m happy when the staff say ‘thank you all the time,'” says Hayashi. The facility’s general manager, Hidehito Yoshii, says, “It’s really helpful to have the work that was previously done by care staff. Instead, staff can focus on caring for the elderly.”

Hayashi used to work as a cashier at a retail store. At the time, she was forced to quit due to mental illness. Even now, she is not confident that she can work full-time or close to full-time. However, she applied to the “Ultra-Short Work Support Center” run by a social welfare corporation commissioned by the city, thinking that she could work “ultra-short hours.” The center staff were able to utilize Hayashi’s desire to “be useful to people,” and connected her to her current job, which she felt she could handle.

“This job in a short time” instead of “long hours, this and that”

About 130 people who wish to work part-time due to disabilities or serious illnesses have registered with the center. Of these, 33 are responsible for tasks such as disinfecting toys at kindergartens, returning books to shelves at libraries, and stripping sheets at hotels. The work is not “long hours at the workplace, doing this and that,” but rather the duties are clearly defined and the working hours are short, ranging from one hour to a few hours. This makes it easier for people who are not confident about working long hours, while also helping small and medium-sized businesses that are struggling with labor shortages.

The city opened the center in fiscal 2022. Center staff visited companies in the city to “develop” such employment opportunities and connect them with people looking for ultra-short-time work. Many of the companies that post job openings are small and medium-sized businesses that are not legally required to employ people with disabilities. By employing people with disabilities, who have not had contact with them until now, the aim is to promote understanding of disabilities in the community.

Professor Takeo Kondo of the University of Tokyo proposes “The challenge for the future is to secure the budget”

This system was proposed by Professor Takeo Kondo of the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology. Currently, seven municipalities, including Kawasaki City and Kobe City, are working on it. Professor Kondo says, “We have received voices from three or four municipalities that want to start the business,” and that it is likely to spread further.

Some people who work extremely short hours have been using Type B establishments, which are one of the welfare services for people with disabilities, for many years. One such person is a 38-year-old man who cleans the salon “E Collection Home” in Gifu City for one hour a day a week. “The work is fun and rewarding,” he said. Although he has a mental disability, he goes to a Type B establishment where he has built a relationship of trust with the staff, and works at the salon while maintaining a place to belong.

For many years, it was unclear how to handle the use of both regular employment and Type B establishments, where workers receive “wages” in return for work. However, in March, the national government indicated for the first time that it would be acceptable to use both establishments at the same time as long as the hours worked at the company are less than 10 hours a week. Professor Kondo said, “It is now clear that it is possible to try out extremely short-term employment while working at a Type B establishment,” which he said is a tailwind for the business.

The challenge is to secure the budget for local governments to provide support. “The local governments currently working on this are core cities or above that are enthusiastic and can allocate budgets. We need a system where prefectures and the national government can support small and medium-sized municipalities that want to commercialize this,” Professor Kondo says.