Japan Firms Pad Numbers of Workers with Disabilities in Job Placement Agency’s Scheme
Some companies were found to have padded the number of full-time employees with disabilities in their report to the government by including those hired through a job placement agency’s training program, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Recent revelations have emerged that several Japanese companies have allegedly inflated their employment figures for individuals with disabilities by using a job placement agency's training program. The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that Naha-based Thankslab Inc. was responsible for this scheme, which involved including workers on one-year contracts in their count.
The central government requires companies to meet a 2.7% disability employment quota, with penalties of ¥50,000 per person per month for non-compliance. Under the current system, employees must have worked for the employer for more than a year to be counted. Thankslab operated a job placement program for individuals with disabilities, offering a one-year training program where individuals would be replaced if they left.
Despite the fact that employees on one-year contracts did not meet the full-time requirements, several companies admitted to The Yomiuri Shimbun that they included them in their reports to the government. Companies have acknowledged using Thankslab's training-type program, which was explained as lasting a year at most, after which a new person with a disability would be referred.
While some companies claimed they did not intentionally manipulate their employment figures, they still reported the workers as full-time employees. Thankslab has stated that they do not comment on individual business operations, citing concerns over false reporting.
Written by urgent.news from The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
