What is Japanese labour law ?

Such a regular employee normally does not have special skills when he/she enters but tends to be trained within the company by being rotated between different jobs and departments.

However, this tradition does not meet the needs of all employers and employees. In the year 2000, the regular staff was 74% of all employees and the number is decreasing (Source: Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunication; Report on the Special Survey of the Labour Force Survey).

Specially skilled workers are often additionally needed or small and medium sized enterprises may, for economic reasons, not entirely ensure lifetime employment.

Elderly employees often have the necessity to work after their retirement age, because firstly they are not entitled to receive pension before reaching a certain age and secondly the amount of the pension is often not enough to live on.

the varied body of law applied to such matters as employment, remuneration, conditions of work, trade unions, and industrial relations.

Other workers also may prefer not to stay with one company.

Fixed term contracts are therefore permitted under the restriction of Art. 14 of the LSL. No objective reason for the limitation is necessary, but the legal period of validity must not be extended.

In its most comprehensive sense, the term includes social security and disability insurance as well. Unlike the laws of contract, tort, or property, the elements of labour law are somewhat less homogeneous than the rules governing a particular legal relationship.

In general, labour contracts of a fixed term must not be longer than one year.

Labour law has won recognition as a distinctive branch of the law within the academic legal community,

t the extent to which it is recognized as a separate branch of legal practice varies widely depending partly on the extent to which there is a labour code or other distinctive body of labour legislation in the country concerned, partly on the extent to which there are separate labour courts or tribunals, and partly on the extent to which an influential group within the legal profession practice specifically as labour lawyers.

In some exceptional cases, the maximum period is three years.

In the early phases of development the scope of labour law is often limited to the most developed and important industries, to undertakings above a certain size, and to wage earners; as a general rule, these limitations are gradually eliminated and the scope of the law extended to include handicrafts, rural industries and agriculture, small undertakings, office workers, and, in some countries, public employees.

Such cases are labour contracts with highly skilled or experienced workers who are necessary for either the development of new products or temporary need of the business.

, a body of law originally intended for the protection of manual workers in industrial enterprises is gradually transformed into a broader body of legal principles and standards, which have basically two functions

the protection of the worker as the weaker party in the employment relationship, and the regulation of the relations between organized interest groups (industrial relations).

The employment of workers who are at least 60 years can also be limited up to three years.

Japan's employment system played a central role in the strong economic growth that the country achieved in the second half of the 20th century.

Equal treatment of fixed term and permanent contractors is not legally mandated. Nevertheless, Art. 2 of the LSL provides for a determination of working conditions by workers and employers on an equal basis.

De facto, such determination is strongly influenced by trade unions through collective agreements and work rules, but most of the fixed term contractors are not trade union members and therefore not necessarily covered.

The system was supported by three pillars: lifetime employment, seniority-based wages, and enterprise-based unionism.

Thus, also the unlawful prolongation of the fixed term contract by repeated renewals does not establish an indefinite-term contract as of a regular employee.

a fourth pillar was later added: community consciousness within the company, one based on vertical relationships, reciprocal obligations, and decision-making by consensus

The traditional system described in the first section below is still considered the ideal by many people. In the difficult economic environment that exists in Japan today, however, employment patterns are undergoing significant chang

Any labour contract may specify a probation period at the beginning of the employment contract.