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Bandai Namco reportedly tries to bore staff into quitting, skirting Japan’s labor laws
(www.theregister.com)
this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
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- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
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so don't make your quota.
what are they going to do, fire you?
Exactly! You accidentally hit the nail on the head here.
The goal of the company is to get rid of employees. But they have permanent hire, so the bosses can't simply fire them without cause (and the bar for cause is very high in Japan). They want employees to quit, or they want employees to clearly fail to perform their duties.
What the employees want is to keep doing decent work at that company, probably until they retire at age 65. Permanent hire is highly treasured, for good reason. The reason permanent hire exists, and is so widespread as required by law, is that Japan values employee well-being more than it values the bosses' well-being. It's hard to get a big loan (for a house or apartment) if you don't have permanent hire. It's hard to get a high-paying job that doesn't have permanent hire. Many companies will not give you good positions if you're over the age of 35, too, which makes changing employers in your 40s-60s very challenging.
not an accident.
Responded before but if you don't hit the quota, they can probably fire you for cause (removing the severance, maybe pension etc.)
It's why all the back to office mandates sorta work (in terms of reducing headcount) you can't just show up and do nothing. If thr company can prove you're doing nothing, you can probably be terminated for cause. Happened to guys I know in a public, govt funded job with the reason as, iirc "time theft" and the union didn't really fight for them because the evidence was pretty damning that they hadn't done fuck all most mornings.
At most companies in Japan, them firing you would not eliminate your severance or pension. Those are typically mostly paid based on years worked, and not on how your employment terminates.
There tend to be extra payouts if you die on the job, at many companies, so it's not true to say that your termination status has zero impact, but typically it's a small adjustment.