Toyota decides to review payments of QC allowance

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Toyota decides to review payments of QC allowance

Toyota Motor Corp. has decided to amend its rule of payments regarding allowance for employees participation in QC (quality control) activities, raising the upper limit to two hours a month.

This can be taken as a response to Toyota workers’ demand for the elimination of long working hours without pay.

The Japanese Communist Party has taken up the workers’ demand in the Diet.

However, Toyota still refuses to count hours used to participate in QC and other informal circle activities.

Toyota does not designate an upper limit in the number of hours taken by “voluntary” activities, leaving room for allowing the company to force workers to take part in “voluntary” informal activities without pay.

Although Toyota pays the allowance for up to two hours a month for participation in QC activities in order to encourage workers to make efforts to improve the quality of products and increase productivity, it insists that participation in the QC-Circle will not be counted as working hours.

Toyota has had to promise to amend the limit of payment for allowance for participation in the QC-Circle because its policy of forcing workers to work without pay for participation in informal circle activities has proven to be untenable.

- Akahata, May 23, 2008