User:Hwebber/sandbox

from [ [japanese work environment] ]

The general Japanese health insurance system resembles a dualist one. The National Health Insurance, or the Kokumin-Kenkō-Hoken, is directed regionally, and provides mandatory health insurance to the non-employed citizenry .Until age 70, those covered by the National Health Insurance must self-finance 30% of their medical costs. Firms are required to provide mandatory health insurance to employees under Employees Health and Pension Insurance, or Shakai Hoken. For the employed, maintaining this access to healthcare is greatly tied to their employment security. As a result, the cost of losing a job also includes the cost of losing access to the expansive benefits of employer-provided healthcare insurance. Leaving the workforce due to dismissal, family complications, or health related issues can potentially diminish access to welfare benefits. Due to the high mandated costs on firms imposed by the Employees Health Insurance scheme, the incentive to provide increased non-mandatory welfare provisions is undermined.

Declining health conditions in the Japanese labor force and the issue of overtime work has led to policy expansion and reform on the behalf of the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. As of March 2018, the Labour Standards Act states that an employer should not exceed a 40 hour work week for employees. Exceeding this work week requires an exclusive worker-management agreement, and overtime and this work is to be compensated for with a corresponding wage increase. For example, overtime and night work both require an increase by a rate of 25% at the minimum. The increasing cases of Karōshi, or health and workplace accidents resulting from overtime work have led to reforms in the Industrial Health and Safety Law as well. Although non-binding, these reforms mandate employers to arrange for overtime workers to be provided with health guidance. Hwebber (talk) 22:49, 7 December 2018 (UTC)Hwebberucsd