Anderson Mori & Tomotsune has extensive experience providing specialized and attentive labor and employment law advice and litigation services tailored to the circumstances of each client. Japan can be a challenging environment for employers in regard to labor issues, and in such matters it is crucial for clients to receive timely and expert advice. Anderson Mori & Tomotsune’s expertise in this area allows us to provide practical advice and solutions to even the most complex labor and employment matters.

Our labor and employment attorneys regularly advise clients in regard to the establishment and amendment of work rules and regulations, employment contracts, and Japanese labor laws, mandatory and voluntary employee benefit programs, employee union issues and disputes, work-related accidents or harassment, Labor Relations Commission proceedings, employee immigration issues, and income tax issues relating to employee compensation.

Japanese labor laws have undergone a fairly rapid change in recent years and our labor and employment attorneys assist companies in maintaining compliance with all applicable labor laws and regulations.

Companies in Japan are currently dealing with very rapid and drastic change to the retirement allowance and pension plan systems that they have been utilizing for many years. Specifically, many Welfare Pension Funds are currently under-funded; further, Tax-Qualified Retirement Pension Plans must, according to applicable law, be abolished by the end of March 2012. As a result, many companies are seeking to adopt either a Defined Contribution Pension Plan or a Defined Benefit Pension Plan as their new system. However, the laws governing these Plans are recent and rather complex and technical in nature. Implementation of any change is also greatly complicated by the ability of employees to oppose changes which result in them being treated less favorably than they were. In these circumstances, we believe that the depth of both the technical and practical experience offered by our labor and employment attorneys is invaluable to Japanese and non-Japanese clients alike in advising them on the best ways to utilize and implement the new laws applicable to their employees in Japan.

Based on years of experience, our labor lawyers have come to understand that although compliance with Japanese labor and employment laws and regulations is important, it is essential for companies in Japan to efficiently manage their employee’s labor and employment issues. More specifically, we believe that labor and employment law advice is often not complete without accompanying personnel management advice. By recognizing and dealing with these issues at an earlier stage, clients frequently save substantial energy, time, and cost. Our labor and employment attorneys are sensitive to the importance of managing labor and employment issues for company personnel, keeping in mind the legal, regulatory, and business considerations.

We also regularly advise clients in regard to labor and employment issues arising in the course of mergers and acquisitions, business transfers, corporate splits and other restructurings. Companies often seek our expertise in planning and performing labor and employment due diligence, advising on statutory requirements for employee reductions, union issues and negotiations, management-employee communications, and the labor risks inherent in transactions.

We have broad experience in the full range of employment policies and procedures, including the drafting and reviewing of work rules and regulations, employment contracts and other documents that affect the employment relationship, as well as advising on the institution of general workplace policies and procedures.

As a key part of our practice we regularly advise clients in regard to employee reductions and dismissals, including both voluntary separations and unilateral terminations. We counsel our clients from the initial planning stages through to communications with targeted employees, negotiation of voluntary separation packages, procedures for unilateral dismissals, and the preparation of related documentation such as communications on behalf of the firm or the drafting of separation agreements.

Our attorneys have extensive experience in labor and employment-related litigation, particularly with respect to claims of wrongful discharge and related compensation matters. However, we recognize that litigation is often not the most satisfactory way for our clients to efficiently resolve their employment disputes, and we have great expertise in advising and representing our clients in negotiations and mediations to settle disputes prior to a resort to the courts - in the most cost-efficient manner possible while achieving the goals of our clients. A primary focus of our labor and employment advising strategy is to emphasize the importance of and assist our clients in the development of effective personnel management strategies, to help our clients avoid costly litigation or other kinds of labor disputes.

Another area of increasing importance in the Japanese workplace is finite term labor, or “contract Eemployees. As the Japanese workforce becomes more diversified, such alternative forms of hiring arrangements are being viewed more favorably, and it is likely such hiring arrangements will be even more commonplace in the future. Anderson Mori & Tomotsune’s labor and employment attorneys are well versed in the employment issues relating to alternative hiring arrangements, and we take pride in the fact that our attorneys are on the leading edge of the changes and new developments in the law that may impact the operations of our clients.

In addition to employee issues, our attorneys are experienced in matters relating to company executives, including executive service agreements and executive separation agreements.