Filipino trainee in Japan to seek damages for 'maternity harassment'

*How on earth can a poor Philippino, practically slave worker, have a baby in Japan? She must be super rich. Better to go home and have it and return later. *

That's a very Japanese thing to say!

uaintseeme, as they are being trained, legally they do not have to be paid the minimum wage. That is an essential part of the trainee system.

I have three Filipina friends working at a factory in Yokohama whom have all been through the exact same thing as this woman. Their boss makes them work from 17:00 - 4:00am with a 30 minute break and they sometimes send me pictures of them sleeping on the floor of a cold room with all the lights on and when I ask them what are they eating for dinner, it's always "cup noodles". They don't even serve them regular nutritious meals and this has been going on for more than 9 years. Two of these women got pregnant and were both asked by their boss if they really wanted to keep the baby or not. When they get sick, their boss pressures them to still come in to work saying stuff like "Just go get some medicine and come to work even if you're late, it's ok." or "We need you. You're the best worker here. No one works as hard as you do." One of them caught COVID and the boss told her to go to the hospital, get a copy of her discharge paperwork and bring it to work THE SAME DAY! Filipinos are grossly taken advantage of over here. I'm sure they are in other countries, too, but Japan is just on a whole notha' level. Oh, and they get paid less than minimum wage sometimes because these companies know that Filipinos and/or a lot of foreigners won't complain because they're just happy to be here and not back in their home countries.

Abolish the trainee systems and accept foreign workers as full-time!!

What her employee and the intermediary did is probably illegal, but that is immaterial if the police refuse to enforce the law, refuse to investigate, refuse to do anything.

I imagine that is why she is suing. I imagine she is suing because the law enforcers refuse to enforce the law. I imagine that a lawyer has told her all she can do is take out a civil action against the perpetrators. Is this just my imagination?

Good luck with that. The court will, at best, admit there were some troubling practices on the part of the company, but will then 180 and say they are innocent of the charges.

After living and working there for so many years, this incident checks out. The Japanese being typically monolingual are living in their own socially awkward bubble, where it's perfectly normal from their viewpoint to treat foreigners like trash or try to lie to them in completely absurd ways. It's both comedic and infuriating to watch.

I have countless stories similar to that, where Japanese people in charge would come up with imaginary laws and coerced foreigners to sign inhumane stuff. I have personal stories too. I'm also done making up excuses for their behavior because of "cultural differences" like I did in the past. Japan is perhaps 1st world in technology but 3rd world in human rights and respect towards women and vulnerable populations.

Laws are put into place to protect people. Laws must be abided to. She'll win the case and teach her employer a lesson not just in that you must obey the law but you must treat other human beings with a bit of decency.

The audacity of the company is beyond comprehension, but unfortunately this kind of attitude from companies is not uncommon especially when it comes to technical internship program. I hope she wins the case. such a brave woman for standing up for herself!!

‘The law on equal opportunity employment for men and women, which also applies to foreign technical trainees’…….the fact they have to state that it also applies to ‘foreigners’ tells you all you need to know about Japan.

5.7million is enough to build about 8 brand new houses outside the city center in the Philippines BTW

No it's not. That will only build you the roof and the walls, no furnishings. Unless you're talking about shackles on a land you don't own, which BTW, 5.7M JPY isn't enough to buy.

Return to the Philippines first, before you talk like you an expert of a country you've never been in for the last 25 years.

How on earth can a poor Philippino, practically slave worker, have a baby in Japan?

If you dont know the answer to this question.... I mean really? You literally dont know how babies are born?

And there are even more cases of interns breaking the law. They should be sent home.

Please share where you get this information from.

How on earth can a poor Philippino, practically slave worker, have a baby in Japan? She must be super rich. Better to go home and have it and return later.

She could, if the company actually paid her instead of fining her and telling her to leave.

They also forced her to "express her intention of quitting the job when leaving Japan", so that rules out the "return later" idea as well.

How on earth can a poor Philippino, practically slave worker, have a baby in Japan?

Can you please elaborate which statute of law is this statement ^ based on?

Japan is not China, people are free to have babies.

Turning the screws on Japan's anti foreigner policies.

She has to win this case! Enough is enough! Not all human beings deserve to be treated as Japanese.

I can honestly say that it doesn't matter if the woman is a Japanese or a foreigner, pregnant women are looked down upon with a healthy dose of contempt in the workplace. It's as if it's a crime to bear children. I pray for her safe delivery and the success of her charges.

let me guess......the judge will rule that harassment did not exist and it is in her interest to answer to self-retirement notice...

And why doesn’t the article have the name of the company in the article?

Surely facts are not to be hidden or is this fake news?

Pay a fine for becoming pregnant?

Threats of deportation?

Abuse of human rights?

Yes,yes,yes!

How Japanese companies and those individuals within them can even have the gall to do such shameful things?

It is beyond my comprehension!

Still, whilst Japan is not a 3rd world country in any economic or political meaning of the word;it is very much so with regard to equality, human rights, education and protection of the vulnerable.

Though the info is missing, I wonder who the father for the baby is. If he is a Japanese citizen and agrees to have a family, the woman can apply for a family visa.

Japan is not unique as the similar punitive rules in the case of immigrant workers' pregnancy are practiced in some other host countries such as in Singapore. But isn't it a bit ironic? The Japanese government is making an all-out effort (nearly in vain) to raise the infant population. It's expected that the number will continue to fall to a record low this year, rather consecutively.

Now 5.7 million yen plus unpaid salaries are demanded for the lawsuit while I think that such an amount may be able to cover the necessary expenses for child-raising ... and her kid would have grown to become a taxpayer for Japan :)

There are so many cases like her but most of them is stay quite, government also stay quite.

And there are even more cases of interns breaking the law. They should be sent home.

Why is this story not in the crime section? Laws were allegedly broken.

LOL. There is a difference between Civil Law and Criminal Law.

How on earth can a poor Philippino, practically slave worker, have a baby in Japan? She must be super rich. Better to go home and have it and return later. Hospital fees, no wages, rent, food, baby food, utilities, transportation, baby clothes and accessories, the list goes on.

my friend paid $12000 alone just for the birth.

¥5.7million is enough to build about 8 brand new houses outside the city center in the Philippines BTW.

Good luck to her and her fight but it is not likely to win, it would open a can of worms that the government is not interested in dealing with.

@obladi

...wait for the facts? Facts likely to be far worse than reported. This is the nature of employer/employee relations in Japan. Even CEOs get treated like garbage, google Nidec and its ex-CEO Jun Seki, 12 months in a job and got blamed for everything wrong with the company, publicly.

Good for her, and I hope she gets JUSTICE.

It seems like technical trainees and human rights lawyers have just found a new way of money making.

You actually think that human rights lawyers are taking a retainer, or getting paid, by people who have little or no money?

Employees will be more cautious about hiring female trainers in the future.

Women from the P.I. and other countries, have been hired here for decades, and will be in the future as well. This is not going to stop them.

The law on equal opportunity employment for men and women, which also applies to foreign technical trainees, prohibits unfair treatment on the basis of an individual giving birth or becoming pregnant.

The manner in which this is written, makes me wonder, under what circumstances this law does not apply and to whom, specifically it does not cover.

I hope she gets everything she is asking for, but I highly doubt it, as Japanese courts do not typically hand out large monetary sums.

Why is this story not in the crime section? Laws were allegedly broken.

I know we're supposed to wait for all the facts, but this one just rings true.

Agree, seems clear cut.

Bad news for the company especially since the program is in the spotlight now.

More trainees will be emboldened to come out and fight , as they should

It seems like technical trainees and human rights lawyers have just found a new way of money making. Employees will be more cautious about hiring female trainers in the future.

Why in Japan is there this vagueness and circumspection with corporate criminals?

And why are the employer and “intermediary body” not named? The media are quick to name suspects in non-corporate cases.

There are so many cases like her but most of them is stay quite, government also stay quite.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/08/20/national/foreign-trainees-pregnant-investigation/

Both her employer and the intermediary body have declined to comment.

Why in Japan is there this vagueness and circumspection with corporate criminals?

It is why white collar crime is so rampant .

she allegedly suffered harassment in the workplace

I know we're supposed to wait for all the facts, but this one just rings true.

I hope she wins her case.