Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Japan (Ratification: 1967)

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The Committee notes the observations of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC–RENGO) and the Japan Business Federation (NIPPON KEIDANREN) communicated with the Government’s report. It further notes the observations of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (ZENROREN) received on 11 September 2023. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.

Articles 1 and 2. Indirect discrimination in remuneration. Non-regular employment. Fixed term and part-time employment. The Committee recalls that, sections 8 and 9 of the Act on improvement of Personnel Management and Conversion of Employment Status for Part-Time Workers and Fixed-Term Workers (Act No. 76 of 1993, hereinafter “the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Labour Act), as amended by Act No.71 of 2018, prohibit differences, found to be unreasonable, between the base pay, bonuses, and other benefits received by non-regular workers (part-time/fixed term workers) and those received by workers with standard employment status. The Committee welcomes the information that, in October 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that failure to pay family allowance and other benefits (e.g., summer paid leave, paid sick leave) to non-regular employees constituted unreasonable discrimination based on sections 8 and 9 of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Labour Act. Regarding the application of the “Guidelines on the Prohibition against Unreasonable Treatment of Part-Time Workers, Fixed-Term Workers, and Dispatched Workers” (Public Notice No. 430 of 2018) in the private and public sectors, the Committee also welcomes the Government’s indication that: (1) the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has developed a website and distributed leaflets for guidance; and (2) the 2022 Survey on Labour Economy Trends found that 90 per cent of workplaces “have worked towards the realization of fair treatment, including equal pay for equal work regardless of employment status.” The Government also stresses that the remuneration of national public service employees is determined according to the principle of remuneration based on the duties prescribed in section 62 of the National Public Service Act. This principle is applied regardless of whether they are fixed-term employees. In this respect, the Committee takes note that, according to the JTUC-RENGO, about 54 per cent of women working in Japan work in non-regular employment status. The trade-union underlines the importance of applying sections 8 and 9 of the Part-time and Fixed-term Workers Act to reduce unreasonable wage differentials within the same enterprise. The Committee takes note of the Government’s indications that: (1) in 2023, the Local Autonomy Act, which regulates the work of local government officials, was partially revised to provide bonuses and term-end allowances to non-regular workers (to come into force 1 April 2024); and (2) it will continue to make efforts to ensure necessary treatment in accordance with the content of their duties of temporary and part-time employees and take necessary initiatives for the enforcement of the revised Act. The Committee further notes that, in its observations, ZENROREN refers to a Survey conducted by the ZENROREN-affiliated Japan Federation of Prefectural and Municipal Workers’ Unions (Jichiroren) on local government fixed-term workers. The Survey found that 59 per cent of women earn less than 2 million yen a year. The ZENROREN also adds that, although women’s labour force participation is increasing, many of them are contingent workers, whose participation in the employees’ pension insurance is limited, and that their wages fall short of ensuring their economic independence or a pension programme to support their life without worry. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on: (i) the application of sections 8 and 9 of the Part-time and Fixed-term Workers Act to reduce unreasonable wage differentials within the same enterprise; (ii) the results achieved in terms of narrowing the gender pay gap between regular and non-regular employees, in both the public and private sectors; and (ii)the number of part-time men and women workers whose treatment and wage rates have been modified as a result of the revision of the Local Autonomy Act in 2023.

Career-track systems. Regarding the application of the two-career track system, (which in practice leads to lower levels of women in management positions and therefore caused wage disparity), the Committee notes the Government reiterated statement that: (1) the Equal Employment Opportunity Act provides that employers should give their employees equal opportunities irrespective of their sex; and (2) the Women’s Advancement Promotion Act, as amended by Law No.24 of 2019, requires employers – with more than 300 employees – to collect and analyse data on the ratio of women and men within the enterprise in areas such as new hires, hours worked, years of service and classification levels. The Committee also notes with regret the Government’s indication that, no statistical information exists on the distribution of men and women in the career-tracking systems. TheCommittee reiterate its request to the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that career-track systems are not either directly or indirectly discriminatory to women. It also requests the Government to urge employers not only to collect and analyse statistical information on the distribution of men and women in the different tracks, but also to measure the impact of the career track system on the level of earnings of women, with a view to addressing existing wage discrimination.

Articles 3 and 4. Objective job evaluation and cooperation with the social partners. The Committee welcomes the Government’s indication that the “Guidelines for Job Evaluation through the Grading Method by Element” (hereafter also called “Manual for Inspection and Consideration”) has introduced job evaluation methods as one way to eliminate the “unreasonable difference in treatment” in basic salary between part-time/fixed term workers and workers with standard employment statuses. It takes note that the job evaluation method adopted is the “factor-based point method”, based on the following eight factors: (1) suitability of human resources; (2) innovation; (3) competence; (4) discretion; (5) complexity of interpersonal relationship outside office, (6) complexities of interpersonal relationship inside the office; (7) problems solving; and (8) impact on management. The Committee recalls the Government’s acknowledgement that job evaluation in the country is mainly based on workers’ individual characteristics rather than the value of the positions held. The Committee thus asks the Government to indicate how it is ensured that the selection of factors used for comparison, the weighting of such factors and the actual comparison carried out are free from gender bias. It also asks the Government to provide information on any awareness-raising activities undertaken on the concept of “work of equal value” and the promotion of the use of objective job evaluation methods. The Committee further asks the Government to provide information on any specific steps taken to ensure the general use of objective job evaluation methods in the public sector.

Enforcement. The Government indicates, inter alia, that: (1) from 2018 to 2021, the Labour Standards Inspection Authority conducted 509,633 regular inspections nationwide and provided guidance for correction in 10 cases of violation of section 4 of the Labour Standards Act which states that an employer shall not engage in discriminatory treatment of a woman as compared with a man with respect to wages by reason of the worker being a woman; and (2) training programmes have been provided for labour standards inspectors on the application of section 4 of the Labour Standards Act. The Committee notes that, regarding the provision of equal pay for equal work, the Employment Environment and Equal Employment Departments of the Prefectural Labour Bureau provide consultation, guidance, and support for settlement of disputes, and that, with regard to the seafarers, no violation of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value was found in 14,928 inspections conducted from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2022 at ships and workplaces by Mariners’ Labour Inspectors (Maritime Safety and Environment Department and Maritime Promotion Department, the District Transport Bureau, MLIT). Finally, the Committee notes the Government statement that ‘detailed’ information on the nature of the violations detected, content of the guidance provided, and the correctional action ordered by labour standards inspectors, or the courts cannot be provided because it involves information on individual cases. The Committee asks the Government to continue providing information on the number of inspections conducted and indicate the type of violations treated by both labour inspectors and the courts.