Long-sought full-time employee, but "cheap" August 24, 20:49

Have you ever worked as a full-time employee and calculated how much you work per hour?

"Oh, this is almost the minimum wage ..." A

25-year-old woman working in Tokyo was shocked to calculate her salary again.

It is said that the number of people who

"cannot lead an independent life even if they are full-time employees"

is increasing in Japan.

(Social Department reporter Haruo Ueda Yuka Onishi)

Becoming a full-time employee seeking "stability"

25-year-old Mari (pseudonym) started working at a pastry maker as a full-time employee in January this year.

The shift of work at an izakaya, which has been working as a part-time job for more than four years, has been greatly reduced due to the influence of the new Corona, and he thought that he wanted to get a stable life, so he was particular about regular employees and searched for a job.

The job offer on the Internet that Mari confirmed before joining the company stated as follows.

"8 hours of actual work per day. Monthly salary of 240,000 yen or more on 2 days a week. However, fixed overtime and 50 hours are included."

Unlike part-time jobs at izakaya, where salaries are paid according to the hours worked, full-time employees can earn 240,000 yen every month.

Before applying, Mari was worried about the unfamiliar word "fixed overtime pay".

However, as the infection continued to spread, there were not many job offers that could work as full-time employees.

Mari:

"I'm glad that my part-time job has a certain amount of freedom in my vacation, but I knew that I couldn't keep my shift so easily with Corona. If I'm a full-time employee, I can live a stable life with a good prospect of income. And I thought that I would be able to get married and have children and think about the future. "

Doesn't my salary go up even if I work overtime?

Mari is assigned to a department store in Tokyo and is in charge of selling Western confectionery.

As a full-time employee, he found it rewarding to be assigned responsible tasks such as product management and display ideas, but he gradually became uncomfortable with the difference between his working style and the salary paid.

This is the work record of July 2021 that Mari showed me.

It is natural to work more than 10 hours a day.

There were many sudden holiday commute, and the working hours of this month reached 208 hours.

And the salary transferred was 246,324 yen.

When I started working, I realized that even if I worked overtime, my monthly salary was about 240,000 yen, which was the same.

Why.

As I investigated, I found that it was due to the mechanism called "fixed overtime pay" written in the job offer.

"Fixed overtime pay" is a system in which a fixed amount of overtime pay is included in the basic salary in advance.

In the case of Mali, the contract states that "50 hours of overtime is already included in the monthly salary of 240,000 yen, so even if you work overtime for 50 hours, that amount of overtime will not be added." It was.

Full-time employees "below the minimum wage"

Mali wanted to find out more about her salary in July and calculated how much she worked per hour.

Then ...

The hourly wage is 1184 yen.

It is about 170 yen higher than the minimum wage of 1013 yen in Tokyo, but I noticed that the hourly wage of the izakaya that worked as a part-time job was 1270 yen, which was nearly 100 yen lower than at that time.

Mali also decided to calculate with "actual working hours".

It is said that there were many days when even after pressing the time card at the workplace, there was no choice but to deal with tasks such as complaint handling and paperwork that "only regular employees can handle".

Mali says that she recorded the time for such a response by herself, and the total time was 250 hours a month.

When I calculate it, the hourly wage is 985 yen.

It was even below the minimum wage of 1013 yen in Tokyo.

Mari:

"I was shocked that I was working at such a low wage. When I was working part-time, I wasn't very responsible and I was able to return according to the roster, so even if my salary was low, I was able to reopen, but now I'm working long hours. I was taken responsibility, but my salary wasn't worth it, and every time I saw the amount transferred, I asked, "Why?"

Permanent employees were only "stable"

It's been about half a year since I became a full-time employee.

At first, Mari was thinking of starting living alone once she got used to work.

If you look for a property within an hour of getting to work, the monthly rent is about 80,000 yen.

Even considering utilities, food, and repayment of a monthly scholarship of 15,000 yen, he says that he can live alone.

However, Mari still lives in her parents' house.

Mari:

"It's true that my income has been more stable than when I became a full-time employee. However, I wonder how long I will be able to continue working in such an unreasonable way. Now I want to cling to a full-time employee just because I can't cut the shift, but what if the world calms down ... I wonder if a full-time employee or a part-time job is good, how can I become independent? I don't know if I can live a comfortable life. "

Mari thought that when she became a full-time employee, she would go to a beauty salon once a month and become a little more particular about cosmetics and clothes.

However, what I was waiting for was a life where I couldn't afford to spend money or time, even hesitating to choose a set meal of 500 yen at the employee cafeteria, and sometimes working without having lunch.

Mari says that the only luxury is to freely choose products at the supermarket just before the store closes.

Mari, who lives in her parents' house, covers all living expenses other than rent.

When I arrive at the nearest station to my house, I don't have the motivation to cook for myself at around 10:30 pm, and dinner is always a side dish with a discount sticker sold at the supermarket just before the store closes.

Increasing "cheap regular employees"

How many full-time employees like Mali work with an hourly salary at or near the minimum wage?

We asked Professor Emeritus Michio Goto of Tsuru University, who is studying Japanese wages, to make an independent estimate.

Professor Emeritus Goto analyzed the "Basic Survey on Wage Structure" conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare every year.

Using the national average of the minimum wage of 902 yen per hour, the income from working for one month at this hourly wage was set at 149,732 yen.

We calculated based on this amount, and calculated the percentage of regular employees who work at the minimum wage or an amount close to it, using the data on the number of regular employees by monthly income.

Overtime charges are not included in the estimation.

According to the calculation,

3.8% work at 1.1 times or less of the minimum wage,

and 11.7%

work at

1.3 times or less.

In 2007, the same calculation was made

.

▽

1.5% or less of the minimum wage is 1.5%, and

▽ 1.3 times or less is 4.1%.

Although it is not possible to simply compare these figures, Professor Emeritus Goto analyzes that the number of full-time employees working at an amount close to the minimum wage has increased significantly.

Reduction of "Japanese-style employment"

Why is the number of full-time employees working at an amount close to the minimum wage increasing?

Professor Emeritus Goto cites "changes in the industrial structure" and "reduction of Japanese-style employment" as reasons.

As a result of manufacturers moving their bases overseas due to the progress of globalization, it is said that the number of people working in the service industry, where wages tended to be low in Japan, has increased.

In addition, companies have increased the number of non-regular employees in order to reduce labor costs due to uncertainties about the future, and pointed out that there were a number of cases where even regular employees reviewed so-called "Japanese-style employment" such as "seniority-based wages" and "lifetime employment." I am.

Professor Emeritus Goto points out that if employment and salary are not stable, more and more people will think that they cannot afford to raise children and that it is useless to do their best.

In that case, I was worried that the problems of declining birthrate and disparity could become even more serious.

Professor Emeritus Goto

"In the past, Japan had the image that if you become a full-time employee, your life will be guaranteed, but that model has already collapsed. The word" working poor "is no longer a non-regular employment. This is a problem that applies not only to working people but also to regular employees. While continuing efforts to make profits so that companies can increase labor costs, employees can live the minimum necessary lives regardless of whether they are regular or non-regular employees. I think it's time for labor and management to seriously consider a sustainable wage system. "

What does the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare see?

The person in charge said as follows.

"For the past 10 years, the increase in the minimum wage has been large compared to the increase in wages for general workers (= regular employees), and as a result, the number of workers working at a level close to the minimum wage has increased. I think we have done so. We would like to promote measures that will lead to the improvement of the environment for wage increases, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, such as disseminating subsidies to improve productivity. "

Is a full-time employee good or a part-time job good?

In order to improve the treatment of non-regular employees, the conditions for companies to take out employment insurance, welfare pension, health insurance, etc., which bear insurance premiums, have been relaxed in the last 10 years or so.

While the national policy to eliminate the difference in social security between regular employees and non-regular employees is being promoted, the overall level of wages has not risen.

"What is good good to either Time Full Time, How send living can afford to independence if, know not to ..."

along with the feel heavy was Mr. Mali of the word interview, it is not possible to live in peace even worked hard reality Isn't it spreading?

I felt that way after the interview.

Reporter of the Social Affairs Department

Haruo Ueda

Joined the

station in

2009

After working as a newspaper reporter, worked at the Kochi, Tottori, and Osaka stations. The

Social Affairs Department covered incidents, medical care, and labor.

Reporter of the Social Affairs Department

Yuka Onishi

Joined the

station in

2011

After working at the Matsuyama Broadcasting Station, since 2016, she has

been interviewing mainly on labor issues such as various working styles.