Category: Employment

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 3, 2025 Number of comments0
developmental disabilities Disability Discrimination Employment Japan Podcast

Chiba civil engineering company settles lawsuit over “insufficient understanding” of disability [Podcast Episode]

A lawsuit filed by a man in his 30s from Chiba Prefecture against his former civil engineering company in Abiko City, Chiba Prefecture for damages, alleging that he was discriminated against and forced to resign from the civil engineering company where he was employed as a disabled person through Hello Work because the company did not take his developmental disability into consideration, has been settled in the Chiba District Court. The former employer will pay the man approximately 300,000 yen in settlement money. According to the man’s attorney, the settlement was reached in October last year. The settlement terms stated that the former employer apologized to the man for not fully understanding the characteristics of his developmental disability and would pay him the settlement money. 

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 1, 2025 Number of comments0
developmental disabilities Disability Discrimination Employment Japan

Chiba civil engineering company pays former employee settlement over “insufficient understanding of developmental disorders”

A lawsuit filed by a man in his 30s from Chiba Prefecture against his former civil engineering company in Abiko City, Chiba Prefecture for damages, alleging that he was discriminated against and forced to resign from the civil engineering company where he was employed as a disabled person through Hello Work because the company did not take his developmental disability into consideration, has been settled in the Chiba District Court. The former employer will pay the man approximately 300,000 yen in settlement money. According to the man’s attorney, the settlement was reached in October last year. The settlement terms stated that the former employer apologized to the man for not fully understanding the characteristics of his developmental disability and would pay him the settlement money. 

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 31, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Employment Japan

Lost Earnings Due to Accident: Make Ruling a Step to Change Convention of Cutting Funds for Those with Disabilities [Yomiuri Editorial]

The ruling at the Osaka High Court indicated that the reduction of lost earnings for children, including those with disabilities, should only occur in exceptional cases. This is a significant change in the conventional thinking that reducing amounts for those who are disabled is inevitable. It can be said that this has had an impact on what compensation for damages should be like for people who are disabled.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 29, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Education Employment Japan Mental Health

Record Number of Teachers in Japan Took Leave for Mental Illness in Fiscal Year 2023 [Podcast Episode]

A record number of public school educators took leave due to mental disorders in fiscal 2023, the third straight year of increase, according to a ministry survey. A record 7,119 educators, or 0.77 percent of the total, temporarily stepped away from their positions under the official leave system for mental illnesses in fiscal 2023, up 580 individuals, or 0.06 percentage point, from the previous year.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 25, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan

Farm-welfare links for disabled employment expand in Japan

Agriculture-welfare partnerships, in which individuals with disabilities actively participate in farming activities, have been steadily gaining momentum in Japan following a government 2019 policy vision aimed at promoting such collaborations.
The number of such partnership initiatives launched by agricultural corporations and employment facilities has significantly grown, reaching about 7,100 by fiscal 2023, which ended in March last year. Such initiatives have not only welcomed disabled individuals, but also extended opportunities to former prison inmates and others in need of support.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 24, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan

41% of companies fail to meet legal employment rate for people with disabilities in Wakayama

As of June last year (2024), the employment rate of people with disabilities at companies in the prefecture was 2.78% on average, the highest ever, while 41% of the target companies did not meet the statutory employment rate set by the national government. The Wakayama Labor Bureau stated, “There are companies that do not fully understand or prepare for the system, and we would like to continue to support them.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 14, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Employment Japan

Number of People with Disabilities Employed in Yamaguchi Prefecture Reaches Record High

According to the Yamaguchi Labor Bureau, as of June 1st of last year, the number of disabled people employed by companies with their headquarters in the prefecture was 4,911.5, up 84 from the previous year. This is the highest number since statistics began being collected in 1977. The Disabled Employment Promotion Act requires private companies to employ a certain percentage of disabled people, such as 2.5 percent. This year’s employment rate in private companies was 2.77 percent, with particularly high rates in the service industry and medical and welfare industries.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 4, 2025 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan Railway Company

As Employment of Disabled Reaches Record High in Japan, JR Subsidiary Seeks to Ensure Disabled have Contact with Customers

As JR East promoted the employment of people with disabilities, they realized that many workplaces had no contact with the outside world. So, starting in the summer of 2023, JR East decided to have people with disabilities serve customers in a food truck. In December 2024, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s Tokyo Labor Bureau released the results of a survey on the employment status of people with disabilities. The number of people with disabilities employed by private companies reached a record high of 251,901 (a 5.3% increase from the previous year). Meanwhile, 17,369 companies in Tokyo have not met the legal employment rate, and of these, 9,785 companies do not employ any people with disabilities.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 23, 2024 Number of comments0
Disability Employment Japan

300 disabled workers laid off, retired or closed employment offices, a record high for single job provider

The number of office closures will be at least 16 in total in six prefectures, and the number of disabled people fired or retired is expected to reach about 300. This is an unusual scale for a single business operator, and in some cases, users have rebelled against the sudden closures. The company in question is “MOON” in Tokai City, Aichi Prefecture.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 20, 2024 Number of comments0
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan Podcast

Large Number of People with Disabilities in Japan ‘let go’ from Workplaces as Government-aided Employers Close Down [Podcast Episode]

large number of people with disabilities are being let go from workplaces in Japan as government-aided employers which offered them chances to gain skills and knowledge while working have been closing down. Formerly, there were about 4,600 such facilities nationwide. Between March and July this year, this was reduced by more than 160, and around 4,300 people lost their jobs. Usually, between around 1,000 and 3,000 people with disabilities are fired each year.