Summer bonuses for central, local gov't employees slightly up

Monday 30th June, 12:10 PM JST

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8 Comments

Altria at 01:07 PM JST - 30th June

So that's why they need to increase taxes so urgently.
Sarge at 01:20 PM JST - 30th June

"Summer bonus"

Non-existent for the one-third of workers in Japan who are non-regular employees.
Noripinhead at 02:31 PM JST - 30th June

Didn't Karl Marx say "Summer bonus is the opium of the people"?
larguero at 03:29 PM JST - 30th June

The idea of a bonus for public employees is very good, but if the economy is not increasing and almost all local governments are in debt, they should not be rewarded. Which company rewards its employees when it is losing money?
borscht at 06:49 PM JST - 30th June

Noripinhead,

Didn't Karl Marx say "Summer bonus is the opium of the people"?

No, he said "Summer bonus is the opiate of the people."

On topic, I'm glad somebody somewhere is getting more money so they can buy enough gas to get to work and do something good for the country. Like, uh, work harder?
Nessie at 07:12 PM JST - 30th June

On the on hand, pay should reflect performance. On the other hand, civil servants already get paid more than the average worker, plus they have complete job security.
WMD at 09:29 PM JST - 30th June

of course bonuses in japan are not bonuses in the real sense. They are just part of the annual pay. Companies like the "bonus" system as they can then easily lower the worker's pay.
D_mon at 10:38 PM JST - 30th June

Well, what to say. I see comments that I would expect... From the gut, but without checking the facts. As usual. This is why I dont post much. I dont have facts to back up my gut response, and am way too busy in my job and life to do such research.

However, in this instance I have knowledge because of work. I work for the Central Government and I am a gaijin. I think a few might object to that. Usually, only Japanese Nationals can work for any level Government.

Anyway, in my job I get different allowances for different reasons. I get some yen for rent (this was set so long ago, but never increased with inflation), I get some yen to speak English (I speak English exlusively at my job and the allowance was set when 5000yen/month was worth about 10,000 yen now and that will soon disappear), I get transportation allowance. Train is train, but for driving it has not changed in decades (I have to ride a motorbike to get to work, work early before trains, or late after they finish). I started this job 4 years ago. Have had my bonuses cut 2 times, and then this year we got about half of it back. The reason they went up is because there is a wage freeze. Not fair for those of younger when many people working for the Central Gov. maxed out their salaries already. Facing a 5 year freeze. WMD is correct. Bonuses are not really that. They are apart of the salary. This does help to keep income tax down from month to month.

Gov employees do not get paid higher than our counterparts in the Business Sector, and if we do, then you are being underpaid. On average, we get 10-20% less in salary. Yes it is safe, but there is a cost. In this case a lower salary. I know, for a fact, that my job is actually 30-40% less, but as I am not fluent in Japanese, then I have nothing to complain about, and I am not.

So, taxes are going up cause the age of the population is going up and in relation there are that many less working, taxable peopple kickin around.

As for Nessie and larguero's comments about rewarded, etc... , well it is a part of our salary. It is in our contract, and the %s are set. Even when the economy was in full boom, the bonuses didnt change. So, you comment means squat. Dont like it, well why dont you get a job with the Central Gov and you will actually see what it is really like.

Oh, yeah, the part about the 1/3 temp working force. Well you can cut that nearly in half. Why? Well about 10% are people who are exactly where they want to be. Put another 30% of people who are too lazy to do whats needed to get ahead and choose to just survive. Another near 10% are those in the work force with close to 0% experience in their chosen field of work. Why would a company want to hire them with full time benifits in this tough economy. The rest are in an ufortunate situation. Not knocking it, just trying to bring some reality to the comments made. Go looking on Gov Web site, if you dare...

Anyway, ciao for another year, or until something pops up on this site that is something I can actually post about with some realy knowledge. D.