The death last May of a man who had engaged in work at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after the nuclear crisis erupted there in March was recognized Friday as caused by overwork, according to a lawyer representing the man's bereaved family.
The ratio of nonregular workers in the labor force in 2011 hit a record average high of 35.2 percent according to data compiled by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
"Parent companies send us requests for a certain number of workers, and we submit a list of people who then go and work under those parent companies at nuclear power plants. We give the workers their wages after deducting our share."
A government panel studying measures to combat bullying at work recommended Monday that harassment by peers and subordinates be included in definitions of power harassment in the workplace.
Various temporary agencies have been suspected of siphoning off workers' wages and crime syndicates are suspected of playing a part in dispatching such temporary workers.
More than half of 104 Indonesian nurses who came to Japan in 2008 through a bilateral economic partnership agreement to obtain nursing licenses have returned home, due mainly to difficulties meeting Japanese language requirements.
Under the new system, the government will classify professions into three categories -- academic research, work requiring highly specialized skills, and management and administration.
Documented foreigners will have their maximum period of stay extended to five years instead of the current three years. Re-entry to Japan will also be allowed without applying for a permit as long as the time away is less than a year.
The instructor describes the current Nova management as “extremely poor,” and while it was not especially good at the old Nova, he feels that the people running the branches now are “much worse.”