Petition for Enrollment of Part-time Teachers working at Colleges and Universities on to the Employees' Pension Scheme
Mr. Yohei Kono, President of the Upper House
Ms. Chikage Ogi, Speaker of the Lower House
The Employees' Pension Scheme was originally designed to be compulsory, and enrollment in it should be an employee's right. However, while it covers company directors, part-time teachers who support the educational work of the universities they are employed by, even though they only work short hours at different workplaces part-time, are unfairly excluded from the scheme, despite being eligible for enrollment in it.
In our estimate, the difference in the amount one receives from the National Pension Scheme and from the Employees' Pension Scheme comes to approximately 21,780,000 yen* based on a model of a teacher teaching 10 koma a week. Exclusion from the Employees' Pension Scheme causes big losses over several years.
The next revision of the requirements for enrollment will reduce the minimum working hours required from 30 hours to 20 hours. However, this still does not cover the large number of part-timers who work "short hours here and there," including part-time university teachers who often teach 1-2 koma at different universities.
In order to solve the problem comprehensively for part-timers who work "short hours here and there", it is essential to create a system where the employers are required to pay their contributions for any amount of wages, however small, and the premiums paid for each employee by different employers should be all added up.
We also demand that the requirement of "650,000 yen or over" presented by the Ministry of Health and Labour in 2004 be included in the revision plan for now.
"The Handbook on Social Insurance" revised by the Social Insurance Agency lists "company directors" and "those with special skills" as being allowed to add up incomes from different workplaces. Part-time teachers working for universities and colleges are a typical case of "those with special skills who work for more than one business," and therefore we demand that part-time university/college teachers be included in the list of those coming under the add-up rule.
* Based on a model of a university part-time teacher born in 1975. Supposed to teach 10 koma for 30,000 yen per koma. If he/she works till 64 and receives benefits till 86, the balance between the benefit received and the contribution paid in the case of the National Pension Scheme only is 9.74 million yen, the balance in case of the National Pension Scheme from 20 to 27, followed by the Employees' Pension Scheme from 28 to 64 is 24.75 million yen, thus making the Employees’ Pension Scheme 15.01 million yen more beneficial. If you take into account the difference in the health insurance and the public care insurance as well, the Employees’ Pension Scheme with Government-managed Health Insurance makes it more beneficial, with a difference of 21.78 million yen.
[Organisations handling this petition]
- We demand a system where income from more than one workplace may be added up so that the part-time workers who work short hours at different workplaces can be enrolled on to the Employees' Pension Scheme and Government-managed Health Insurance.
- We demand that a condition of "annual income of 650,000 yen or over" to be added to the enrollment requirements for the Employees' Pension Scheme.
- We demand that part-time university teachers should be recognized as "those with special skills in employment with more than one business" and listed as one category eligible for adding up incomes in "Handbook on Social Insurance" revised by the Social Insurance Agency, so that they come under the add-up rule under the present laws.
- The Union of University Part-time Lecturers in the Tokyo Area
- c/o Tokyo Komu-Kokyo Ippan Rodo Kumiai, 5F Tokyo Rodo Kaikan, 2-33-10 Minami-Otsuka, Teshima-ku, Tokyo 170-0005
- The Union of University Part-time Lecturers in the Kansai Area
- c/o Osaka Shidai Kyoren, 1-139-102 Tanimachi 7-chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka 542-0012
- The Union of University Part-time Lecturers in the Tokai Area
- c/o Kikuchi/ Natsuno Office, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nagoya City University, 1 Yama-no-hata, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8501
- Okinawa Union of Part-time Lecturers at Universities and other institutions
- c/o Makoto Hirai, 277-12-407 Maji, Naha-shi, Okinawa 902-0072
- National Union of General Workers Tokyo South UTU
- c/o NUGW, 5-17-7 Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0004
Petition for Enrollment of Part-time University Teachers on to the Employees' Pension Scheme