Career formation and balanced treatment of part-time workers: and examination focusing on legal policy

Part-time workers refers to those whose scheduled working hours are shorter than those of regular employees. The term “career formation” refers to the formation of professional careers in general, including development of an employee’s professional abilities and skills. This article seeks to examine the general direction of legal policy concerning balanced treatment for and the career formation of part-time workers. Previously, the concept of career formation was generally regarded as irrelevant as far as part-time workers were concerned. In exchange for a high degree of freedom, part-time workers accepted inferior treatment and unstable employment as a member of the peripheral workforce. Career formation was only concerned with policy and institutions for regular employees taking on core duties. However, the number of part-time workers is growing due to the expansion of the service industry and changes in workers’ attitudes. According to data for 2002, the number of part-time employees whose weekly scheduled working hours were less than 35 hours was 12.05 million (8.29 million of whom were women), constituting 22.9 percent of the entire employee population (39.3% of the female work force were part-time workers). Essentially, part-time workers have come to constitute an indispensable human resource for companies, and it has become crucial to also support their career formation. If the increase in the number of part-time workers is an irreversible trend, it will be necessary to develop conditions to ensure that part-time employment will come to be regarded as a “desirable employment opportunity” that workers will not view as creating unreasonable disadvantages for them. Promoting the career formation of part-time workers will be indispensable