Japanese parliament approves labour reform bill

The Japanese parliament has passed an amended version of a labour reform bill for stable employment of temporary workers, the media reported on Saturday.

The Lower House approved the bill on Friday with a majority vote by the governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito party, as well as some opposition parties, NHK news agency reported.

The bill was to take effect on September 1, but deliberations were delayed. The Upper House amended the bill, which is to go into effect on September 30.

The legislation scraps a three-year limit on using temporary workers and instead imposes that limit only on their time in a single department.

When the period is up, staffing agencies must ask companies to hire the workers as regular employees or must find the workers new jobs.