Yomiuri: Limits sought on 'registered' temp workers
A labor ministry draft of a bill to revise the Temporary Staffing Services Law was submitted Friday at a meeting of a subcommittee of the Labor Policy Council--an advisory body to the health, labor and welfare minister--a draft that would make significant changes in the kind of temporary workers who can be sent to different industries. The draft would ban in principle the dispatch of temporary workers in the manufacturing sector, allowing only permanent dispatch workers to be sent to such firms. Permanent dispatch workers are employed by temporary staffing agencies as their permanent employees. They maintain this status even when they are not being dispatched to another company, therefore they are guaranteed to receive a salary at all times. In contrast, registered temporary dispatch workers register with staffing agencies and their employment contracts with the agencies expire when there is no work for them at other companies. As a result, they receive no wages until their next dispatch assignment is found. The draft would essentially ban the use of registered dispatch workers, in principle...more...