In Japan, reforms over the years of its labor laws, which have been largely premised on a system of lifetime employment and time based wages, have remained minor and labor related issues such as low productivity, depressed wages, karoshi (death by overwork) from long working hours and power harassment, employers that coerce its employees to perform, but do not pay them properly for, overtime work, and increased prevalence of using contingent  employees (employees paid on an hourly basis, contract employees and dispatched workers) as adjustable and disposable work forces, became entrenched. READ MORE →