Non-regular Workers Research Articles

Evaluation of the impact of Korea’s employment protection legislation on vocational training discrimination against non-regular workers

This longitudinal study evaluated the effectiveness of Korea’s 2007 employment protection legislation (EPL), aimed at mitigating labor discrimination against non-regular workers (NRW). Specifically, we use the Korean Workplace Panel Survey data from 2005 to 2013 and adopt a difference-in-difference methodology (DD) to explore whether establishment reduces the gap in training opportunities between NRW and regular workers (RW). Results show that compliance with government regulations depends on how business establishments react to the rules and the characteristics of these stakeholders. Overall, the 2007 reform partially improved the training opportunities in NRW. However, this positive outcome was mostly concentrated in companies with affluent resources or stronger bargaining power of NRW. Policymakers should consider in what context the policy works well and what factors may hinder its operation at the policy design stage.

노인일자리사업 비정규직 담당자의 직무스트레스와 직무소진, 이직의도의 관계

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of job burnout on therelationship between job stress and turnover intention among non-regular workers in elderlyemployment programs. A survey was conducted on 300 elderly employment program workersin Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province. Among the 285 responses received, the responses of 216 non-regular workers were analyzed using Model 4 in SPSS 25.0 and ProcessMacro v4.2 to verify the mediating effect. The analysis revealed the following: Firstly, jobstress of non-regular workers in elderly employment programs positively influences turnoverintention. Secondly, job stress of non-regular workers in elderly employment programspositively influences job burnout. Thirdly, job burnout of non-regular workers in elderlyemployment programs positively influences turnover intention. Fourthly, job burnout ofnon-regular workers in elderly employment programs was found to partially mediate therelationship between job stress and turnover intention. Based on these results, practical andpolicy suggestions such as developing job stress relief and burnout prevention programs wereproposed.

Impact of Long Working Hours on Mental Health Status in Japan: Evidence from a National Representative Survey.

Using the 2010-2019 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions (CSLC) conducted in Japan, we examined the impact of long working hours on mental health in Japan while addressing the endogeneity issue arising from non-random selection bias. We assessed the variations in the effects of long working hours on mental health across different groups. The results show that first, individuals working longer hours (55 h or more per week) exhibited a higher likelihood of developing mental illness than those working regular hours or fewer hours. Second, the negative effect of long working hours on mental health is more pronounced among non-regular workers than among regular workers. Third, the effect of long working hours on mental health varies among different demographic groups, with a greater impact observed among women, managers, non-regular workers, employees in small- or large-sized firms, and those in smaller cities compared to their counterparts. Thus, to enhance worker productivity, the Japanese government should address the issue of long working hours to improve employees' mental well-being. Initiatives aimed at promoting work-life balance, family-friendly policies, and measures to ameliorate working conditions are expected to help mitigate the challenges associated with long working hours and mental health issues, especially among non-regular workers.

The Japanese Myth: A Middle‑Class Society or a Reality Overwhelmed by Global Social Polarisation?

Japan has historically considered itself immune to social polarisation dynamics. The Japanese have also traditionally self-perceived as a homogenous middle-class society. Contemporary Japanese social reality is however quite different. The last 25 years have seen several structural changes, like the increase in inequality between regular and non-regular workers. Along with growing disparities, Japanese society’s self-perception as a homogeneous middle class has started to be challenged. Nowadays, inequalities generate an exploitative relationship involving five distinct social classes. This paper attempts to analyse the social polarisation issue in Japan while taking into account the serious structural-demographic transformations that it has been experiencing over the last 40 years.

Flexible labor, innovation regimes and the erosion of the Japanese model: Evidence from the Basic Survey on Wage Structure

Due to labor market reforms around 2003–4, Japan has a growing group of ‘non-regular’ workers who are easy to fire, and have poor carrier perspectives. This marks a break with the traditional Japanese model of life-time employment that allowed for intensive in-company training and commitment of personnel. Drawing from a national wage structure survey, we find indications that employment of non-regular workers has a negative impact on productivity (proxied by wages), this negative impact being largest under innovation regimes that require a high cumulativeness of knowledge. Our findings are consistent with neo-Schumpeterian research in Europe which concluded that certain labor market rigidities, while being undesirable from a neoclassical perspective, can be useful to innovation. Our paper confirms the impression from earlier research that structural reforms of labor markets along supply-side lines are likely to be one of the reasons for a substantial decline of productivity growth in major OECD countries since about 2004/05.

Has Japan’s work style reform had the intended effect?

ABSTRACT Since 2016, the Japanese government has promoted the reform of work styles to reduce working hours, facilitate flexible working arrangements, and ensure the fair treatment of nonregular workers while improving productivity. Policies such as flexible work styles that leave the time and place of work to the worker’s autonomy and efforts to enhance work efficiency through the use of IT have rapidly penetrated both large companies and medium-sized companies since 2016. We use an original retrospective survey of 847 Japanese firms combined with financial data from 2009 to 2019 to examine how Japan’s work style reforms have affected overtime hours, turnover rates, sales per person, and corporate profits. By estimating fixed effect models, we find that (1) the policies for business prioritization to improve efficiency by outsourcing noncore businesses and taking on more selective orders have had positive effects on sales per employee and profits, (2) flexible work styles have reduced overtime and raised profits, and (3) the effects are heterogeneous: flexible work styles have reduced overtime hours, increased ROA and sales per employee in the service sector, and had significantly negative effects on sales per capita in the nonservice sector. Potential estimation biases are also examined in additional analyses.

The impact of labor market reforms on firm training for nonregular and regular workers

AbstractNonstandard employment is typically associated with reduced opportunities for workers to accumulate human capital via job training. One policy response is to require equal access to training for nonstandard employees. In this study, we investigate the impact of a 2007 Korean labor‐market reform that required such access for nonstandard employees. Using a difference‐in‐difference methodology, we find that, overall, the reform reduced the incidence of employer‐provided training for both regular and nonregular workers. At the employer level, the negative effect for regular workers attenuates over time, implying some type of adaptation or evasion by employers that preserves differential rates of training. Although the main effects on training were negative, we find considerable heterogeneity in outcomes. Specifically, the presence of a union is associated with a significantly greater probability of postreform training for nonregular workers, while the presence of performance‐pay systems is associated with a significantly lower probability for nonregular workers and a higher probability for regular workers. Ultimately, these results imply that the success of labor‐market reforms that seek to improve nonstandard job quality depends upon employer and labor‐market characteristics. Such reforms may be most successful in situations where unions can help assure compliance with legislative intent.

비정규직 상담사의 재직 경험 및 타 직종으로의 경력 전환 계기에 대한 사례 연구

Objectives This study is a qualitative case study conducted to explore the employment experience of non-regular contract counselors and the catalyst for career transition to other occupations
 Methods To achieve this, in-depth interviews and additional data collection were conducted from October 2022 to November 2023 with four cases who hold a master's degree or higher in counseling from graduate school, possess counseling qualifications of grade 2 or higher, and have been employed as non-regular contract counselors
 Results Through this, the employment experience of non-regular contract counselors and the catalyst for career transition to other occupations were derived as follows: First, it emerged as a desire for a job that could fulfill basic needs. Second, it appeared as difficulties in a work environment where one had to figure things out alone. Third, it manifested as a decision to give up counseling as a career. Fourth, it surfaced as a realization of the need to quit exhausting tasks
 Conclusions This study examines the factors influencing non-regular contract counselors' employment experiences and their transition to other occupations. By doing so, it identifies the challenges faced by counselors who enter the labor market as non-regular workers and the reasons for their departure from the labor market. The significance lies in proposing the need for efforts at the individual, institutional, and organizational levels to address these issues and derive solutions

Exploring the association between non-regular employment and adverse birth outcomes: an analysis of national data in Japan.

As few studies have explored the association between non-regular or precarious employment in parents and adverse birth outcomes, this study aimed to investigate this association using national data in Japan. This study utilized the census data from 2020 and birth data from the vital statistics in 2021 and 2022 in the analysis. Adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth, term low birth weight (TLBW), and small-for-gestational-age, were examined. Data linkage was conducted between birth data and census data to link parental employment statuses and educational attainments with birth data. Rates of adverse birth outcomes were calculated for each parental employment status. Additionally, regression analysis was used to determine adjusted risk ratios (RRs) of parental employment statuses for each birth outcome. After data linkage, 334,110 birth records were included in the statistical analysis. Rates for non-regular workers were consistently higher than those for regular workers across all adverse birth outcomes for maternal employment status. Results of regression analyses indicated that the risks of preterm birth for non-regular workers were statistically significantly higher than those for regular workers, both in mothers and fathers with a RR (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of 1.053 (1.004-1.104) and 1.142 (1.032-1.264), respectively. Furthermore, the risk of TLBW birth for non-regular workers was statistically significantly higher than that for regular workers in fathers (RR [95% CI]: 1.092 [1.043-1.143]). Our findings demonstrate that non-regular workers have a higher risk of some adverse birth outcomes compared to regular workers.

Exploring the Reform of Japanese Labor Practices

In order to revitalize the Japanese economy, the second Abe Cabinet implemented an economic reform plan known as the "Three Arrows," with labor practice reform being an important component. To improve the relatively poor working conditions of employees, uphold their dignity and legal rights, and promote a positive cycle of economic and social development, Japan has undertaken labor practice reforms with legislative prioritization, government leadership, and cooperation between the public and private sectors. The core policies of these reforms focus on improving long working hours, reducing disparities between regular and non-regular workers to ensure fair employment, and achieving diverse and flexible labor practices. Through these reforms, Japan has enhanced its ability to cope with global economic competition, increased worker motivation and creativity, and partially achieved the integration of economic and social benefits. Some workers have experienced improved working environments, increased income, and the preservation of their dignity. However, challenges remain, such as the differential treatment of regular and non-regular workers and the need for optimization in the labor market structure. The experience of labor practice reform in Japan has certain reference significance for China's transition from relying on demographic dividends to talent dividends and achieving high-quality population development.

The Impact of Daycare Closures Owing to COVID-19 on Parental Stress: The Case of Japan

The purpose of this study is to quantify the effect of the closure of daycare facilities during the early stage of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the stress of parents with preschool children. Using household panel data collected before and after the pandemic, we estimated difference-in-differences models and their extensions. Our empirical results show that the closure of daycare facilities significantly worsened parental stress as measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. The negative effects of daycare closures on parental stress levels were greater for mothers, non-regular workers, and households with relatively older children. In contrast, on parents in metropolitan areas or those with younger children, no significant effects of daycare closures were observed. We discuss the two conflicting pathways—the increased childcare burden and the decreased risk of children’s infection—through which daycare closures affected parental distress, interpret the heterogeneous effects accordingly, and provide policy implications. Our results suggest that a risk-based, local closure policy could have been effective in reducing parental stress during the emergency.

성희롱 금지 및 예방에 관한 법제 고찰

In accordance with Article 3 in 「Fundamental Law on Equality between Women and Men」, “sexual harassment” implies an act of causing the other party to feel sexual humiliation or disgust by sexual behavior or sexual demands, etc. and an act of penalizing the other person for not complying with sexual behavior or sexual demands or of expressing one’s intention to give a profit on condition of compliance in relation to one's position or work, etc. by the employee, employer, or worker of a state agency, a local government, or a public organization prescribed by the Presidential Decree, in terms of work, employment, and other relations.
 To prevent sexual abuse, the employer shall set conditions so that employees can work under the safe and peaceful working conditions. The employers of all workplaces with one or more full-time workers must carry out the education on the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace, which is a statutory compulsory education, more than once a year targeting all employees.
 Despite the legislation of the preventive education in this way, it is the real situation of being difficult to be easily saved in light of social structure given the issue of sexual abuse that occurred in non-regular workers or temporary workers and dispatched workers.
 Especially, a yardstick for judging sexual harassment in the event of a sexual abuse case is not clear, thereby causing confusion in applying this. The punishment for sexual harassment is consistently facing the lukewarm attitude such as disciplinary action or separation from the victim within the organization to which the assailant belongs, not mostly criminal charges, thereby having a problem dubbed not the direct relief for victims through criminal penalty.
 To prevent this sexual harassment, the application of the law should be embodied by unifying a law on sexual harassment, which is stipulated now in 「Gender Equality Law」, 「Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work- Family Reconciliation」, 「National Human Right Committee Act」, and by clarifying the criteria for judging sexual harassment. Also, even with regard to the relief step for sexual harassment, there is a need to ensure the expertise in sexual harassment relief through the centralization rather than the decentralization of the responsible department. There will be a need to develop and expand the Integrated Education Services aiming at boosting the expertise of complaint handling professionals and at preventing sexual abuse.
 And to secure the effectiveness of sexual-harassment prevention education that is legal compulsory education, the execution of the tailored education in line with subjects’ characteristics along with the development in diverse education programs will lead not only to being possibly uprooted the problem of sexual harassment in our society but also to preventing sexual abuse and relieving victims. Thus, it will result in being capable of realizing the national welfare promotion as well as in what these victims lead a life worthy of human dignity.

노인일자리전담기관 사회복지사의 조직공정성과 이직의도의 관계에서 직무만족과 직무소진의 매개효과

The study purpose is analyzing the relationship between organizational justice and turnover intention and the mediating effect
 of job satisfaction and job burnout of social workers in senior employment agencies. A survey was conducted on 248 social workers of
 26 agencies in Daejeon and Chungcheong provinces. The main analysis methods are confirmatory factor analysis/structural equation modeling.
 The analysis results are as follows: Firstly, all the paths between the main variables of this study are significant. Secondly, it is analyzed
 that the mediating effect of job satisfaction and job burnout is significant in the relationship between organizational justice and turnover
 intention of social workers in the agency. Based on the analysis results, practical measures to reduce social workers’ turnover intention
 and to effectively promote the senior employment and social activity support programme are as follows: Firstly, to increase organizational
 justice, it is necessary to reduce the ratio of non-regular workers, involve social workers in organizational decision-making, and form
 organizational culture of smooth communication. Secondly, for improving job satisfaction, it is desirable to strengthen ethical awareness,
 support for self-development, and support for emotional labor. Thirdly, it is important to provide appropriate supervision and operate a
 family-friendly institution to alleviate job burnout. I hope that researches on field measures to decrease the turnover intention of the workforce
 of the senior employment agency will continue.

한국 고용 구조의 변화 (2000∼2021년)

This study analyzes changes in the employment structure from 2000 to 2021 according to the job-based methodology. The results show that Employment in higher-paid jobs increased between 2000 and 2009. Employment polarization, on the other hand, emerged between 2009 and 2019. This study quantitatively identifies the labor demand and supply shocks using sign restrictions. The results show that the demand for high-income ICT and science and technology experts has increased significantly since 2000 suggesting that technology changes have had a significant impact. Deindustrialization, trade growth, and population aging had a significant impact on employment changes for low- and middle-income jobs. As the population ages rapidly in the 2010s, employment in health and social work services is increasing rapidly. In addition, changes in government policies related to non-regular workers and the expansion of the welfare system affected changes in employment type.

Legitimation of earnings inequality between regular and non-regular workers: A comparison of Japan, South Korea, and the United States

This study explores functions of labor market institutions in perpetuating earnings gap between different categories of workers with focusing on people’s views of earnings gap between regular and non-regular workers in Japan, South Korea, and the United States. An original cross-national factorial survey was conducted to measure the extent to which respondents admit earnings gap among workers with different characteristics. We found that Japanese and South Korean respondents tended to justify the earnings gap between regular and non-regular workers. In Japan, non-regular-worker respondents accepted the wide earnings gap against their economic interests, which was explained by assumed difference in responsibilities and on-the-job training opportunities. Specific institutional arrangements contribute to legitimating earnings gap between different categories of workers by attaching status value to the categories.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Empowering Women in the Korean Labor Market after COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant damage to women’s labor. This study analyzes the situation of the Korean labor market from various angles using available national statistical data. While the employment rate fell and the unemployment rate rose due to COVID-19, the unemployment rate among young people in their 20s and the elderly in their 50s and older rose. Gender segregation in occupations and industries, a chronic problem in the Korean labor market, has intensified and also increased the gender wage gap. It was found that the gender wage gap was large in jobs where many women were engaged. Overall, the number of non-regular workers increased in jobs where women were concentrated, and the number of employed people among vulnerable groups decreased. Online classes and telecommuting due to social distancing have increased women’s housework and childcare burden. As a result, the employment rate of working women with young children fell. In this situation, the mismatch between job seekers and job openings also intensified, showing that the social employment system was not working properly. COVID-19 has adversely affected women in the labor market in Korea, especially elderly women with low education levels and non-regular female workers. The damage caused by the 1997 and 2008 economic crises was also concentrated on women’s labor, yet Korean society did not learn from those experiences. Although many efforts have been made over the past 10 years to resolve discrimination in the labor market and prevailing gender norms in Korean society, their effect has been insignificant. This study emphasizes the need for a more detailed and active women’s labor policy. It also presents the need for a social system that properly responds to pandemic situations like COVID-19.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Psychological Distress Among Single Fathers in Japan.

In Japan, ten percent of single-parent households are led by fathers. Taking care of children as a single father is very stressful and could put a strain on their health. It is very important to prevent and identify psychological distress among fathers for both their own health and to avoid negative impacts on children. This study aims to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with psychological distress among single fathers and understand how it is different from partnered fathers. We used data from the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions 2016. Psychological distress, assessed using the K6 scale, was analyzed among 868 single and 43,880 partnered fathers. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the risk factors for psychological distress, such as employment type, sleep hours, and smoking and drinking habits. Single fathers had a higher proportion (8.5%) of psychological distress compared to partnered fathers (5.0%). A larger percentage of single fathers had a lower educational level and were more likely to be non-regular workers, self-employed, or unemployed than partnered fathers. Among single fathers, the crude and adjusted odds ratio for employment type and sleep hours were significantly associated with psychological distress. As single parents who are self-employed or directors are likely to have significantly reduced psychological distress than those with regular jobs, measures are needed to improve the work-family balance for non-self-employed fathers. There is a need to provide greater financial assistance and other social welfare support to single parents to ensure their and their children's good health.

Digital work across the divide: Japan’s platform economy and labour market dualisation

ABSTRACT While the platform economy in Japan has expanded rapidly, we have limited understanding of digital platform work at the crossroads of labour market dualisation, and how this impacts workers’ experiences. Guided by political economy and critical sociological approaches to dualisms, the paper investigates how platform work intersects with the increasing employment divide in Japan. Drawing upon secondary evidence and a qualitative study, the analysis reveals that the platform economy reinforces labour divides through inter- and intra-dualisation—a pattern that refers to practices and discourses promoting higher levels of work segmentation within and beyond the platform ecosystem. The study finds that the platform economy in Japan is strongly associated with a divide in skills, working conditions, employability, and experience portability that characterise workers’ experiences according to their profile. The study contributes to the literature on the platform economy and labour market dualisation by problematising platformisation as a promoter of dualisation, which widens the disjuncture in working conditions and labour rights between Japan’s regular (core) and non-regular (peripheral) workers.

비정규직 노동자의 심리적 어려움에 대한 질적 연구: 근로계약 체결 반복 경험을 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to examine the phenomenon that non-regular workers experience subjectively in the process of repeatedly signing contracts of ‘termination and renewal of contracts’ in order to maintain employment, and to derive the essence and meaning of this experience. To this end, in-depth interviews were conducted with 6 non-regular workers who had repeatedly experienced the conclusion of labor contracts while working as non-regular workers, and the collected interview data were analyzed using the descriptive phenomenology research method of Giorgi (2009). As a result of the study, the experience of psychological difficulties of non-regular workers who repeatedly signed labor contracts was derived with 6 components and 14 sub-components. The six components are ‘hope torture begins’, ‘struggling in the snare of renewal contract’, ‘relative deprivation spreads through life’, ‘employment contract shapes the meaning of work’, and ‘the responsibility of the head of the family is strict’, appeared as ‘The union becomes a support and creates tomorrow’. This study seeks to expand the understanding of the psychological difficulties of non-regular workers and their awareness of job insecurity by exploring the experiences of non-regular workers repeatedly signing labor contracts, and to provide a basis for in-depth discussions on their experiences to provide a professional solution for them. It is meaningful in that it presents the implications of assistance and intervention measures.

비정규직의 일자리 이동성 분석

This study examines the changes in the economic activity status of non-regular workers, especially the transition to regular employment. Empirical analysis is carried out with Economically Active Population Survey data between 2006 and 2021. As a result of the analysis through the transition matrix, the conversion between wage and non-wage workers and the conversion between regular and non-regular workers among wage workers has decreased significantly over the past 15 years. In particular, the conversion ratio of non-regular workers to regular workers declined significantly from 18.9% in 2006-07 to 10.1% in 2020-21. The conversion of non-regular workers to regular workers has a higher proportion by turnover than by tenure, and the conversion to regular workers by tenure has decreased significantly. And the decline in the conversion ratio to regular workers is greater for non-fixed term contract workers and temporary agency workers. These results are generally consistent with the results of previous studies. However, this study does not provide an explanation of the reason for the decrease in the conversion to regular workers. Considering the empirical results and the trend of the proportion of non-regular workers among wage workers, additional studies of the cause of segmentation is needed.