A survey conducted by the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training (JILPT) of lawyers specializing in labor issues, including the Japan Labor Defense Lawyers Association and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations for Management, as well as other lawyers with expertise in labor issues, revealed the following.

◆Ratio of reinstated employees after invalidation of dismissal, etc.

The percentage of reinstatement in cases where dismissal, etc. is declared invalid in a judgment in a dismissal/end of employment contract lawsuit is as follows:

Returned to work 37.4% (of which 30.3% continued working after returning to work and 7.1% resigned involuntarily after returning to work)

Did not return to work 54.5%

Unknown 8.1%

As for reasons for not returning to work, the largest percentage (38.9%) cited concerns about human relations after returning to work. The most common reason given by workers who resigned involuntarily after returning to work was “harassment by employer” (16.2%).

◆Rejection of settlement offers in many cases

On the other hand, 86.5% of the cases that ended in judgment rejected the settlement offer presented by the court in the process leading up to the judgment, as follows:

Workers rejected 45.0%

Rejection by the employer 21.3%

Rejection by both labor and management 33.8%

Reasons for rejection on the part of workers were “agreed severance settlement, but the worker wanted to return to work” (34.7%), “agreed severance settlement, but the settlement amount was low” (30.6%), and “agreed severance settlement, but the worker was convinced that the dismissal was invalid” (22.3%).

The reasons for rejection on the employer side were: “The settlement was an agreed severance settlement, but the employer did not want to pay money” (19.4%), “The settlement was an offer of status confirmation, but the employer did not want to reinstate the employee” (15.3%), and “The settlement was an agreed severance settlement, but the amount was too high” (13.9%).

Currently, the Labor Policy Council of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has been discussing a monetary relief system for invalid dismissals for some time, but it seems to have stalled a bit. It seems that the future of the issue is still up in the air.