The Possible Implementation of 'Certification of Contracts' in the Japanese Legal System

Abstract

In Japan, as in many other countries, there is a growing sector of people engaged in work with contracts other than a standard employment contract. There is often a lack of awareness of employment-related obligations, perhaps also due to the asymmetry of information. This scenario concerns not only relations between those who benefit from the work and those who perform it, but also tripartite relations where there is more than one employer or where the person who employs the workers is different from the person who exercises direction and control over the work performance. This uncertainty entails an increase in employment disputes due to the need to establish employers’ liability or workers’ rights. In order to prevent court action, to increase the level of certainty in these relationships, and to promote fair labour relations as a way of enhancing work productivity, in 2003 Italian lawmakers have introduced the “certification of contracts” through the so-called “Biagi Law”. The certification of contracts is a procedure which verifies whether or not a contract complies with the law by establishing the nature of the relationship and the applicable law. This certification is also used as a tool for the qualification of companies who perform high-risk work in order to guarantee compliance with health and safety regulations. Certification may be seen as a special kind of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) aimed at a fair management of human resources, as well as conferring a competitive edge on certain companies over those which have not obtained certification. Certification could also be useful to public finance, as it could permit a reduction in the cost of inspections without threat to the labour market.