On the 14th, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's council set a guideline for the largest increase ever in terms of the national average minimum wage of 902 yen per hour.
As the effects of the new coronavirus continue, the focus will be on what kind of judgments will be made in the discussions conducted by prefecture based on the guidelines.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's council has set a guideline for raising the minimum wage this year by 28 yen in all prefectures, from the current national average of 902 yen to 930 yen per hour.
The government has set a goal of raising the national average to 1,000 yen per hour sooner, and this increase has been the largest since 2002, when the hourly wage was shown.
The council said that it considered that vaccination is progressing, that some economic indicators are recovering, and that support measures are being considered for companies with difficult management.
In the future, the council established for each prefecture based on this guideline will be discussed by representatives of labor and management, and the amount to be raised will be decided.
On the other hand, the "Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry" opposes the drastic increase, saying that "I do not understand the plight of small and medium-sized enterprises and the pain of the restaurant and accommodation industries and I am not convinced."
As the effects of the new coronavirus continue, future discussions by prefecture will focus on what decisions will be made regarding the increase.