"派遣は「出勤者７割」にカウントされない？ 正社員の分まで働かされる理不尽さ", 13 Jan 2020

[Japanese-to-English translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.]

On 8 January 2021, state of emergencies were issued for one city and three prefectures. Since then, we [at NPO POSSE and its affiliate General Support Union] have received calls from workers about telework. Many of them say they are not allowed to work from home…

In reality, irregular workers may not be counted towards the government’s goal to reduce the number of people who are commuting to work by 70%. This situation highlights that temporary employees are shouldering jobs that require workers to go to the office…

After 8 January 2021, we [at NPO POSSE and its affiliate General Support Union] have received over 60 calls from workers seeking advice on telework. The majority of these calls are made by irregular workers, such as temporary and part-time employees.

“Temporary employees have to commute to work as usual because regular employees are now working from home”...

Some employers appear to claim that they met their goal of reducing commuters by 70% by excluding irregular workers…

…Workers are also reporting that employers are forcing workers to commute to the office even if the individual has pre-existing conditions or is living with an older family member. In some cases, the employer will tell employees “if they don’t want to commute”…

Some employers say that irregular workers are tasked with responsibilities that are unsuitable for telework. However, many of these employees point out that they share the same responsibilities as regular employees…

The calls that we have received highlight how some companies are pushing work that requires commuting onto irregular employees, rather than regular employees…