The number of cases involving reimbursement of workers' unpaid wages due to bankruptcy hit a record-high 2,773 in fiscal 1999, with recipients numbering 46,402, the Labor Ministry said in a report released Wednesday.

According to the ministry, 20.149 billion yen in reimbursement was paid out over the last fiscal year, surpassing the 20 billion yen mark for the first time since the system of reimbursement was implemented by the ministry in July 1976.

Under Japan's workers' accident compensation insurance, the system reimburses 80 percent of unpaid wages of workers formerly employed in a bankrupt firm through the Labor Welfare Corp., a public corporation supervised by the ministry.

"Although our economy is showing signs of recovery, there were still many cases of bankruptcies that disadvantaged employees," a ministry official said.

The ministry said the number of reimbursement cases handled in fiscal 1999 increased 15.2 percent from the previous year, with the number of recipients up 9.6 percent and the total amount of reimbursement increasing by 16.2 percent.

It said each case covered an average of 16.7 employees, down from 17.5 employees in fiscal 1998, adding that a rising trend was observed in cases involving small businesses.

In fiscal 1990, there were 250 reimbursement cases, which gradually rose to over 1,000 cases in fiscal 1994 before eclipsing 2,000 in fiscal 1998.

Total reimbursements also increased annually, rising from 687 million yen in fiscal 1990 to over 10 billion yen in fiscal 1997.