Reform of the temporary staffing system must lead to stable employment conditions for temporary workers.

An advisory panel of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has compiled a report permitting companies to employ temporary workers indefinitely if certain conditions are met.

Currently, the employment period for temp staffers at companies to which they are dispatched is set, in principle, at a maximum of three years. The system will be changed to make it possible for firms to employ temp staffers continuously in any type of job if they are replaced every three years.

As part of the growth strategy promoted by the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the reform is aimed at making it easier for companies to hire temp workers when they expand production and undertake new projects.

The labor ministry will work out a basic plan and submit to the current Diet session a bill to revise the Worker Dispatching Law, with implementation of the new system targeted for the spring of 2015.

Lengthening the term of employment for temp staffers is the right thing to do. What is important in working out a basic plan is to devise measures that will lead to better labor conditions for temp workers.

The dispatch law was amended by the Democratic Party of Japan-led administration in March 2012 to prevent the practice of laying off temp workers, which was rampant in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The revision resulted in tougher regulations such as banning, in principle, the short-term dispatch of workers for up to 30 days. The revision was aimed at protecting dispatched workers.

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Contrary to the DPJ-led government’s effort to secure stable employment for temp workers, the reform did not lead to improved labor conditions for these staffers. The situation remains unchanged as dispatched workers can be hired for relatively low salaries and no annual pay hikes, which are set according to the number of years of work experience.

If only the employment of temp workers expands without the system being reformed, the hiring of regular workers may be restricted.

Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), hailed the panel’s report, saying it will “help change the system into a more understandable one.”

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), on the other hand, criticized the proposed reform, arguing it may lead to “backpedaling on the protection of workers.”

The report’s call for balancing the treatment for dispatched workers and regular employees probably reflected labor’s concern. To improve conditions, it may be necessary for the government to help establish a permanent framework for talks between firms dispatching and hiring temp workers.

It also will be indispensable for temp staffers to acquire skills in keeping with improved labor conditions. The report is praiseworthy for its demand to make temp agencies carry out vocational training programs for the workers they dispatch.

It is also crucial to expand the possibility of hiring temp workers with many years of experience as regular workers. The government has decided to start providing subsidies to job placement firms if temp workers are dispatched on the premise that they will become regular workers and gain that status eventually. Implementation of this policy must be accelerated.