2020 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Evaluating Work Style Reform: A Workplace-centered Study of Policy Outcomes
| Project/Area Number |
19H01561
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| Research Institution | Osaka University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
児島 真爾 立命館アジア太平洋大学, アジア太平洋学部, 准教授 (30734941)
Charles Weathers 大阪市立大学, 大学院経済学研究科, 名誉教授 (50305611)
大谷 順子 大阪大学, 人間科学研究科, 教授 (90403930)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | Labor regulation, Japan / work style reform / work hours / equal pay for equal work / labor law reform |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The researchers worked in three areas identified by the project as key indicators of the progress of the work style reforms: work hours reductions (for teachers, drivers, and doctors), promotion of equal pay for equal work for irregular workers, and the working conditions of non-regular civil servants. Based on our research in these areas, we wrote three papers on these themes and presented them at the International Conference of Asia Scholars (Kyoto, August 24-27, 2021). Each of the three papers points out how reforms hamstring work conditions improvements they proport to deliver, suggesting that the future of work in Japan, and the social problems it creates, may not be very different from the present. Subsequently, we produced a joint paper for journal submission.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
COVID19が今なうつづいているため、フィルド研究の部分が安全にできず文献（労働裁判の判決文、学術論文、政府の統計など）に限って順調に進んでいる。そして、分担研究者の一人が事故にあい、撤退せざるを得ませんということもあり思うように実行できない状況です。最後に代表者が新職につきましたことによる遅れもあります。
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In the coming year, our hope is that COVID restrictions will ease enough to permit the field observations and interviews outlined in our initial proposal as the primary research method. The jointly written paper on the topic of Supreme Court decisions about Article 20 of the Labour Contracts Law, which provided a final interpretation of the meaning of "unreasonable differentials" in pay and benefits between regular and irregular workers, will receive revision and be published. Additional papers are also planned on work hours in selected occupations and union activism in response to work style changes and labour law reforms. The stage of the project in which we clarify the baselines against which to measure reforms' effectiveness will conclude.
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