Court rules robot maker's dismissal of two part-timers illegal and void

A court ruled on May 11 that the dismissal of two part-time workers by Kyushu-based industrial robot maker Yasukawa Electric is illegal. "It amounts to the employer's abuse of the right to dismissal," the judge said.

The Fukuoka District Court concluded that the company did not have compelling reasons for the dismissals, and ordered the company to pay the fired part-timers wages in back pay for the period between their dismissal and the court ruling, and pay 500,000 thousand yen in compensation to each.

This is a landmark ruling in that it obliges a company to comply with the four requirements for dismissals established by judicial precedents for the purpose of protecting worker rights, even when it dismisses part-timers.

Hayashi Midori, one of the plaintiffs, said after the trial, "I'm happy that our court struggle has won and showed that part-timers are not a valve to adjust to changing employment needs."

The two women part time workers had long been in service, one for 17 years and the other for 14 years. Their labor contracts had been renewed every three months. In July 2001, the company terminated their contracts without giving specific reasons. At the Yawata plant where the two worked, 31 workers were dismissed. (end)