For months, we’ve been reporting an unusual situation at the Canadian Embassy in Japan. The story took a significant turn on 4 March 2024 when news broke across various media outlets, “Canadian Embassy Ordered to Enroll Staff on to Employment Insurance by the Public Employment Security Office”; the Embassy would now be required to provide employment insurance for its staff.
This wasn’t just a minor administrative change. On 1 April 2024, the Canadian Embassy appeared on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s “Labour Insurance Applied Workplace Search” website. This listing marked a crucial shift – the Embassy had become subject to Japanese labour laws, specifically regarding employment insurance and workers’ compensation.
But how did we get here? Let’s rewind to where it all began.
The Beginning
In 2022, a pregnant woman working at the Embassy of Canada approached the General Union for advice. She said, “I’m not enrolled in employment insurance, which means I won’t be able to receive childcare leave benefits. Isn’t this unusual?”
The union promptly reviewed the consultees contract and confirmed her eligibility for employment insurance. She immediately joined the union, and we requested that the Embassy of Canada, as her employer, enrol her in employment insurance. It seemed the issue would be swiftly resolved.
However…
The reality proved different. The Embassy of Canada was unresponsive. The union demanded collective bargaining. In response, the Embassy invoked sovereign immunity, claiming autonomy in decision-making despite respecting Japanese law.
The union filed a complaint with the Osaka Labour Commission for unfair labour practices regarding this refusal of collective bargaining. The Osaka Labour Commission dismissed the complaint without holding any deliberations involving the parties. The union was effectively turned away at the door due to the invocation of “sovereign immunity”.
Moving Forward Nonetheless
We didn’t give up. With the union’s support, the member went to Hello Work (Public Employment Security Office) to file an employment insurance eligibility confirmation request.
As previously reported, the union member was retroactively enrolled in employment insurance, received childcare leave benefits, and as mentioned above, the entire Embassy of Canada became a “workplace subject to labour insurance” from 1 April 2024.
Key Takeaways
1. Even rights guaranteed on paper sometimes require significant effort to realise.
2. Joining a labour union provides a solid foundation for workers to cooperate and take action.
3. It’s crucial to “take action” and not give up. In this case, it was critically important that the union member, with our assistance, went to Hello Work to file an employment insurance eligibility confirmation request.