Category: Employment

by Michael Gillan Peckitt May 2, 2024 2
Disability Employment Japan Welfare

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

“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.'”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt April 1, 2024 1
Barrier Free Disability Employment Japan

Japan raises ratio of employees with disabilities to 2.5% in private sector

The Japanese government has raised the legally required ratio of employees with disabilities in the private sector to 2.5 percent or higher starting on April 1.

The labor and welfare ministry says the number of people with disabilities working at private firms has been on an upward trend. It estimates the figure to be more than 1.1 million as of June 2023.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 14, 2024 3
Abuse Disability Employment Hokkaido Intellectual disabilities Japan

Hokkaido ranch operator in abuse suit admits to paying disabled workers in snacks, juice

A ranch operator in northern Japan’s Hokkaido admitted in court on March 12 that they had not paid intellectually disabled workers for decades, giving them only “snacks and juice.”

Three mentally disabled men in their 60s, all living in Hokkaido, have filed suit in the Sapporo District Court against the operators of the Endo ranch in Eniwa, Hokkaido, plus the municipal government there for some 94 million yen (about $635,000), alleging decades of abuse and poor working conditions.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt March 13, 2024 1
Disability Employment Japan

Saitama Employment Support Business Closed Over Non-Payment of Wages to People with Disabilities

It has been discovered that a business that provides employment support for people with disabilities closed down because it did not pay wages to people with disabilities.

A woman who used the company’s office in Koshigaya City, Saitama spoke in an interview.

She said, “The hardest part is not being paid for the work I do. It’s frustrating. I feel like I have no choice but to give up.”

by Michael Gillan Peckitt February 14, 2024 Number of comments0
Disability Elderly Employment Hospitals Japan Medical

Japan to Hike Outpatient Visit Fees to Increase Hospital Worker Pay

A Japanese government advisory panel Wednesday proposed hikes in hospital visit fees paid by outpatients for their initial and follow-up medical examinations, in order to increase salaries of health care workers.

For the year starting in April, Japan will revise fees for the three care-related services covered by public insurance–the medical and elderly care services and the welfare service for people with disabilities–together for the first time in six years.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt January 7, 2024 Number of comments0
Abilympics Disability Employment Japan

“Hiroshima Abilympics” to Promote Employment of People with Disabilities Held

The Hiroshima Abilympics has been held in Hiroshima Prefecture and other countries since 2003 with the aim of promoting employment for people with disabilities.At the venue in Naka Ward, Hiroshima City, 55 people, including students from special needs schools in the prefecture and people working at companies, participated. The participants were divided into eight events and competed.

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 16, 2023 Number of comments0
Disability Employment Japan

For “Disability Employment Support Month”, Event Held in Mie Prefecture Shopping Center with People with Disabilities Selling Sweets

In conjunction with “Disability Employment Support Month” in September, an event was held at a shopping center in Tsu City, where cafes where people with disabilities work gathered to sell handmade sweets and other items.

The event was organized by Mie Prefecture and other organizations to expand understanding of employment of people with disabilities, and six cafes where people with disabilities work in the prefecture participated.