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Workplace harassment



Topic overview:

In 2019, Japan built the workplace harassment law. This law applies when there is bullying, an excessive workload, or when the work environment causes harmful conditions inside the community. Until this law was established in Japan, many workers had experienced harassment, with about 70% being affected. However, people in Japan often do not report harassment to their workplace because many workers feel that the workplace would not help or listen to their voices. Because the workplace harassment law has been established, when a workplace does not take action or does not support workers, some kind of damage or legal consequences may occur. In order to avoid a lawsuit or not be sued by employees, experts advise employers not to raise their voices or scold workers in front of others, to give clear examples or guidance when mistakes happen, to recognize the personality of each worker, not to show hatred toward them, and to interact with them as they would with business partners. At the very least, it is important to understand what workplace harassment is.

My personal view:

Personally, I was surprised that legal action regarding workplace harassment was taken so late in Japan. I researched when other countries established their workplace harassment laws, and it turned out that Japan was one of the last to do so. Countries such as Norway and Canada introduced similar laws as early as 2004.In particular, workplace harassment in Japan is often associated with heavy workloads and harsh working environments, at least in my interpretation and I believe many of you may feel the same. Therefore, I want to see this new law as the first step toward positive change in Japan.


Why I Decided to Focus on This Issue:


Workplace harassment is often not seen as a serious issue compared to crime, especially in Japan. By writing this blog, I wanted to highlight that any kind of harassment is serious and can push victims to withdraw from society. By bringing attention to this problem, I hope that companies and the government will take harassment more seriously and work toward creating safer environments for everyone. 


Power harassment in Japan – What you need to know | British Chamber of Commerce in Japan. (n.d.). https://bccjapan.com/news/power-harassment-japan-what-you-need-know



International Laws on workplace bullying. (n.d.). WHEN THE ABUSER GOES TO WORK. https://www.abusergoestowork.com/legislation/international-laws/


Pope, J. (2024, August 26). Workplace Bullying and Harassment: What’s the Difference? Work Shield. https://workshield.com/workplace-bullying-and-harassment-whats-the-difference/







Comments

  1. jodias3 December 2025 at 07:19

    Since you will, presumably, soon be in the workforce as a full-time worker the timing of these legal protections from workplace harassment couldn't be better for you... even if they did come late. The faculty at Aogaku has to take workshops on academic, power, and sexual harassment once a year at one of our faculty meetings. Videos are shown and we have to demonstrate that we understand what constitutes harassment. I imagine large companies are compelled to carry out such trainings as well. Sometimes I feel this is mainly done to tick off boxes rather than to genuinely teach us how to avoid harassment or how to deal with it when it happens.

    Do you think that some workers might abuse the laws and claim harassment when they were actually just scolded harshly for doing poor work? I suppose it depends on one's definition of "harshly."

    ReplyDelete

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