Yonatan Reshef
School of Business
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2R6 CANADA

F It is often said that only 30%-33% of all employees in Japan enjoy LTE

F The Japanese workforce consists of well-protected regular employees (about 70% of the workforce), and less-protected non-regular employees

F The legal protection against arbitrary discharge is offered to all employees with indefinite period contracts irrespective of the size of the company or union membership

F The jurisprudence governing dismissals is based not upon collective agreements but on a general principle of the Civil Code

• This principle reflects the social norm that employment relations, once established, should not be unilaterally broken by the employer; employment should be secured at all cost and dismissal should be the last resort

HRM/IR Flexibility Based on 
Employment Security

• Decentralized (firm-level) collective bargaining provides flexibility in adjusting working conditions and work rules
• Seniority-based pay system is being transformed into a system of compensation based on job performance
• Shunto/company unions - the unique system of annual pay negotiations enables the parties to quickly respond to changing market conditions
• Employee deployment