Since the change in government in 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has implemented various policies and measures. Here is the DPJ's achievements regarding improvements in the work environment.

-Established the Job Seekers Support System as a new safety net for job seekers-

Until recently, the only form of safety net for job seekers, who are not covered by employment insurance, was welfare benefit. To increase the level of support for job seekers, the DPJ Government enacted the Job Seekers Support Law and launched the Job Seekers Support System from October 2011. Under this system, unemployed persons who are not enrolled in an employment insurance scheme are eligible to receive free vocational training. In addition, those persons who satisfy certain predetermined conditions are eligible to receive 100,000 yen per month, while Hello Work offices (public employment security offices) provide job assistance throughout their training. As of the end of August 2012, 94,000 people had received training and the subsequent employment rate of those who underwent training was about 70% (as of June 2012).

- Improved employment conditions for dispatched workers / prohibited one-day hiring of dispatched workers -

A number of issues facing dispatched workers have come to light, such as poor working conditions, ambiguity in the responsibilities of employers, and unstable employment conditions including the one-day hiring of dispatched workers, forged contracts, and ”haken-giri” (layoffs of dispatched employees). In light of this, the DPJ submitted the Draft Revision of the Worker Dispatch Law in 2010, and it was enacted on March 2012 after the approval of a number of amendments.

Provisions in the law include prohibiting dispatch agencies from contracting temporary workers for 30 days or less, making it a legal requirement for employers to give temporary workers the same pay as regular employees doing the same work, and establishing a deemed direct employment system whereby if the illegal hiring of a dispatched worker is discovered, the company hiring the dispatched worker is deemed to have proposed an employment contract with the worker. This law has promoted the protection of dispatched workers and stable employment conditions.

Going forward, issues regarding the registered dispatch of temporary workers and the dispatch of workers in the manufacturing sector, etc., will be addressed.

- Increased employment insurance coverage to include 2.21 million non-regular employees -

The DPJ Government has set a goal of getting all workers enrolled in employment insurance. The revised Employment Insurance Act of 2010 eased the eligibility criteria of employment insurance from potential employment of more than 6 months to potential employment of more than 31 days for non-regular employees who work more than 20 hours a week. This enabled another 2.21 million people to apply for employment insurance. Additionally, in the past, in cases where employers had failed to enroll an employee in employment insurance, if the employee could prove that the employment insurance premium was deducted from their wages, the starting date for their insurance coverage could be pushed back by a period of up to 2 years. Now that period has been extended to as far back as the employee can prove that insurance premiums were deducted from their wages.

- Revised legislation to ease the anxieties of limited-term contract workers, including part-time and dispatched workers-

It is estimated that approximately 12 million people work under limited-term labor contracts for periods of 6 months or 1 year. Efforts to ease their anxieties arising from working under a limited-term contract, which includes the non-renewal of their contract and unreasonable working conditions, have come under public scrutiny. The DPJ government submitted the Draft Revision of the Labor Contract Law, which stipulates rules concerning limited-term labor contracts, and it was enacted on August 2012. This Law stipulates: 1. A switch to unlimited-term contracts, 2. A clear stipulation of legal principles restricting non-renewals, and 3. A prohibition of imposing unreasonable working conditions.