The legislation enacted in May to step up the fight against workplace harassment makes it an obligation on the part of employers — big companies beginning next June and smaller firms in 2022 — to take measures to prevent harassment against their employees. However, critics charge that a draft guideline compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry defining power harassment and specifying examples that constitute such harassment and those that do not — which has been requested by the big business community — could be used to justify acts by offenders taking advantage of their position of power to harass victims.

The draft, submitted to a subcommittee of an advisory panel to the labor minister, has divided representatives from employers and labor unions, and discussions to finalize the guideline may face a rough road. The draft must be given a second look from the viewpoint of protecting workers — who are often in a weak position vis-a-vis their employers — from harassment by superiors.

The legislation was enacted on the back of an increase in complaints over workplace harassment and bullying — reaching a record 82,000 cases nationwide in fiscal 2018, up by roughly 10,000 from 2017 — reported to labor bureaus across the country. It prohibits power harassment — defined as words and acts by offenders, taking advantage of their position of authority over victims, that harm the workplace environment beyond what is necessary and appropriate for work operation.