Many companies in Japan are finding it hard to maintain the legally mandated employment rate for people with disabilities as those hired during the 1970s and 1980s begin to reach retirement age, a Mainichi Shimbun survey has revealed.
In November 2020, a man in his late 30s who worked at a short-term facility for people with disabilities in Nagoya died. He collapsed while working the night shift alone and was found in the morning. The cause of death was subarachnoid hemorrhage
According to the Okayama Labor Bureau, there were 1,904 cases of persons with disabilities finding employment through Hello Work in the prefecture last fiscal year, an increase of 149 cases, or 8.5%, from the previous fiscal year, the first increase in two years.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) is planning to allow mentally disabled people who work 10-20 hours per week to be included in the employment rate for disabled people, which companies are obliged to employ. The aim is to encourage people with disabilities who have difficulty working long hours to take up employment.
The coffee, roasted at a welfare workshop Ryoke Green Gables in Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, is labeled “We roast with our ears” on the package, and has gained popularity by word of mouth.
The average monthly wage in FY2020 for persons with disabilities working at employment support facilities in Tochigi prefecture was 16,405 yen, down 5.3% (912 yen) from the previous year and the first decrease in 11 years, according to a report by the prefectural disability welfare department on 30 November.
The Osaka-based school corporation ‘Heisei Healthcare Academy’ had previously filed three lawsuits across the country, in Sendai, Tokyo and one other in Osaka, arguing that a law that regulates the establishment of anma massage shiatsu teacher training schools for visually impaired people, violates the “freedom of choice of occupation” guaranteed by the Japanese Constitution.
The Mainichi Shimbun has reported that the Hakodate City Election Commission revealed that it had rejected an application from an 18-year-old male university student in Hakodate for a part-time job as a poll worker in the October lower house election because of his hearing impairment.
Due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the facilities where people with disabilities work in Okayama Prefecture are under pressure. Events were cancelled one after another due to infection prevention measures, and opportunities to sell products such as handmade bread and handicrafts, which were sources of income, decreased sharply. This is because the number of orders from business partners has decreased significantly at business establishments that process parts as a subcontractor. Each facility is trying to find a way to develop sales channels and develop new products in order to support the lives of people with disabilities.
On July 8, an attempt to use virtual reality (VR) in training for people with developmental or cognitive disabilities to find employment or return to work was held at ‘Work Support Suginami’, an employment transition support office in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward.
Barrier Free Japan