 Court: Dismissing part-timers in order to outsource is illegal The Osaka District Court on March 30 ruled dismissals of five part-time workers as null and void because the aim was to use them as personal contractors instead of employees. Nestl?Confectionery, a Nestl?Japan group company , was ordered to pay wages for the five women part-time workers and give them back their part time jobs. The system of personal contract that the company wanted to introduce is a system in which the company has no employment relation with a worker but has a contract with one in person. The company is acquitted of obligations to pay employment insurance premiums and other costs for social services. A worker on contract, even doing the same work as fulltime employees, is excluded from legal protection for workers. This tricky system is becoming a social problem. The ruling said that the dismissals are invalid because there was no objective circumstance requiring a dismissal amid the contract term. On the discontinuation of the contract, the court said that the plaintiffs had good reason to expect that the contract be renewed. The court said that the dismissal order was the company's abuse of rights and therefore null and void. The lawyers group for the plaintiffs said, "The ruling is significant in that it denies the dismissal of part-time workers without satisfying the necessary requirements for dismissals. It will put a brake on the moves to turn workers into outsourced personal contractors instead of employees." The five middle-aged plaintiffs joined the company between 1991 to 2002 as employees on contract. They worked in the sales promotion department, renewing their contracts every year. In June 2003, the company dismissed these part-time workers in an attempt to make them outsourced personal contractors. (end) |