Black Kigyō

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A Black Kigyō ( Japanese ブ ラ ッ ク 企業 burakku kigyō ), also Black Gaisha ( ブ ラ ッ ク 会 社 , burakku gaisha , English black company ), describes in the narrower sense an exploitative employment system.

Origin of the term

The term “black company” was coined by young IT workers in the early 2000s and is now used in many industries.

method

The exploitation in black companies takes place in three phases. First of all, the company hires a large number of young workers, mostly graduates. However, the number of hires exceeds the number of jobs available, as companies assume that many applicants will not withstand the working conditions and will quit. In order to be able to employ as many graduates as possible, black companies lure them by simulating false working conditions, for example in terms of pay or working hours. In some cases, applicants are promised full-time employment, but they are then presented with fixed-term employment contracts to sign.

In the second phase, workers can expect a tough trial period. In this, they have to prove that they have a strong will to work by working a lot of, mostly unpaid, overtime. In some cases, employees are told that this overtime is already included in their wages and that they can further increase their wages through good performance. Furthermore, employees in black companies are often confronted with power harassment . This includes shouting at, demeaning and public criticism of employees by superiors in front of others. Assigning them to unpleasant or boring tasks or excluding group activities from power harassment also counts. Because of these working conditions, many employees quit their jobs during their probationary period. With this approach, the black company selects the most resilient employees. The procedure of phase one and two is described in Japanese with the term shinsotsugiri , which translated into German means “cutting new graduates”.

In step three, the remaining employees continue to be exploited through unpaid overtime and / or long hours. In some cases, the employees are promoted to management positions in order to be able to give them even more work there. Black companies also refuse to accept dismissals from valuable employees because they do not want to be held responsible for mental illness, let alone pay compensation.

Effect of working conditions

The most well-known danger of overwork in Japan is the so-called karōshi , death through overwork. Karōshi denotes, on the one hand, death or inability to work due to cardiovascular attacks such as stroke, heart attack or heart failure. On the other hand, suicide due to overwork or poor working conditions, called karōjisatsu , is also included. In 2011, about 200 cases of karōshi were recognized. However, the actual number of those affected by Karōshi could be significantly higher. The reason for this is that family members often find it difficult to find evidence that their mental or health problems were caused by overwork or work-related stress.

See also

literature

  • Nobuaki Fujioka: The Youth Labor Market in Japan , in: Ernest Healy, Dharma Arunachalam, Tetsuo Mizukami (eds.): Creating Social Cohesion in an Interdependent World: Experiences of Australia and Japan , Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2016, pp. 243-261 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ayako Mie: Unpaid overtime excesses hit young , in: The Japan Times, June 25, 2013, accessed January 27, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c Philip Brasor: Job-hunting students may be in for a shock when they arrive at their new company , in: The Japan Times, April 2, 2016, accessed January 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b c d Nobuaki Fujioka: The Youth Labor Market in Japan , in: Ernest Healy u. a. (Ed.): Creating Social Cohesion in an Interdependent World: Experiences of Australia and Japan , 2016, pp. 243-261.
  4. ^ Rochelle Kopp: Power Harassment - Japanese Workplace Bullying , in: Japan Intercultural Consulting from April 2, 2014, accessed on January 30, 2017.
  5. ↑ 'International Labor Organization' Case Study: Karoshi: Death from overwork
  6. ↑ Getting a grip on karoshi , in: The Japan Times, November 15, 2014, accessed January 25, 2017.