In recent years, there has been a growth in awareness of corporate compliance related to the work environment. As a result, compliance by organizations with labor laws, regulations, standards and ethical practices that apply to the organization and industry has become increasingly more important. In the labor law practice area, it is insufficient for lawyers to merely ask the organization and its employees whether they comply with the applicable laws, regulations, standards and ethical practices. It is also necessary for them to acquire an accurate understanding of the actual situation at individual workplaces so that they might be able to propose actions that should be taken to fit the specific situation at each workplace. In this practice area, many problems can arise on a daily basis, and organizations need to have a system in place that will allow it to quickly reach a principled resolution on all issues that may arise. In the event a compliance issue is found to exit, the organization should not merely look to resolve that specific issue but should also take a deep dive into the organization to gain a detailed understanding of the cause or causes of the issue and craft a resolution that takes into consideration any subsequent ripple effects and the interests of the organization as a whole.
Our team of labor law professionals have considerable experience dealing with a broad range of labor law issues. We are routinely approached by clients to assist them with all kinds of labor-related issues across many different industries. Summary lists of some of the types of labor-related issues and disputes that we have worked on recently is provided below.
We have provided advice to clients on the formulation and revision of internal organization rules on matters such as employment rules, the preparation of employment contracts, the handling of disciplinary actions and dismissals, the handling of changes in work conditions, responses to allegations of harassment (including the organization of internal seminars), workers’ compensation, non-compete obligations after resignation, the design and development of various other human resource (HR) systems, among others.
We have represented clients in civil lawsuits, provisional disposition proceedings, labor tribunal proceedings, proceedings for relief before the Labor Relations Commission of Japan, negotiations with counterparties (employees and organizations), responding to labor unions (including with regard to traditional disputes triggered by disciplinary actions, dismissals, personnel transfers and the failure to pay overtime allowances), and disputes regarding relatively new issues, such as mental health and harassment. We aim to quickly provide tailored advice to address the specific situation faced by the client and help the client to resolve the dispute appropriately.