The only relief is that they can take paid holidays”… “Non-regular civil servants” suffer from the hardship of being terminated after a maximum of three years of employment.

Hello Work counselors fear annual “hiring freeze” at the end of the fiscal year

Many of the “fiscal year appointment employees,” non-regular local government employees working for local governments nationwide, may have been “terminated” at the end of March of this year. This is because the appointment system was introduced in April 2008 and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has indicated in its manual that “in principle, non-regular employees may be reappointed no more than twice” and many local governments have set the maximum employment period at three years.

For example, according to the Hokkaido Shimbun, there are more than 1,000 fiscal-year appointees in Sapporo City, whose term of appointment expired at the end of March. Combined with other major cities in Hokkaido, the number is estimated to exceed 4,000.

The National Network for Non-regular Women in Public Service “Hamnet” conducted a questionnaire survey of fiscal-year appointees nationwide to find out what had happened to local governments, and received more than 500 responses by June 18.

However, it is not known how many fiscal year appointment employees have been hired by local governments nationwide, and it is not easy to hear the voices of those involved.

The term of office for fiscal year appointees is one year, and it is up to the local government to decide whether or not the contract will be renewed. It may be difficult for those who are in a situation where there is always the fear that they will not be hired in the future to raise their voices as a party to the situation.

Kota Hirai, an attorney who works on labor issues on the side of the workers, said this. Since January of this year, the Japan Labor Defense Lawyers Association (JLLAA) has been conducting a petition drive on its online petition site under the slogan “Stop Hiring Non-Regular Civil Servants.

In addition to the signature drive, the lawyers held a rally titled “STOP Hiring Non-regular Public Workers” in February. The meeting was broadcast on YouTube.

At the rally, we asked non-regular civil servants to talk about their actual situation online. However, to prevent individuals and workplaces from being identified, they spoke anonymously or only in audio.

A female Hello Work counselor who has been working as a non-regular employee for more than 10 years said at the meeting organized by the lawyers: “About 80% of the workers are non-regulars.

About 80% of the workers at Hello Work are non-regular counselors, and the remaining 20% are regular employees.

Every year, as a matter of course, at the beginning of the new year, the number of positions for the next fiscal year is announced, and it is decided who will be laid off and who will have their contracts renewed.

On the day this is announced at the site, you can hear the joyful voices of those whose contracts have been renewed right next to those who have been terminated. It is very cruel, and it is really painful to witness that scene every year, and it brings tears to my eyes because it is so unbearable. (Speaker at the rally)

Lawyer Hirai said.

The irregular workers at Hello Work are responsible for introducing quality jobs to the public, but their own jobs are very precarious. I think it’s just too unreasonable.”