1. Accounting (Source: “Keiei Zaimu Magazine”)
Tokyo Stock Exchange Group (the “TSE”) and Osaka Securities Exchange (the “OSE”) announced the future business plan of “Japan Exchange Group”, which will be launched jointly in January, 2013 by both groups. The president of the TSE will be inaugurated as the CEO of the organization, while the president of the OSE will be inaugurated as its COO.
Regarding the markets owned by each exchange, the cash equities markets will be unified with the TSE (planned in July, 2013) and the derivatives markets with the OSE (planned in 2013). The main market of the cash equities sector will be separated into the first and the second section. The listing criteria will be integrated to that of the TSE, whereas, regarding the delisting criteria, a transition period will be set to ease drastic changes.
2. Taxation (Source: “Zeimu Tsushin Magazine” )
On August 30th, 2012, the Tokyo District Court decided that a limited partnership (LPS) organized in Bermuda was not deemed to constitute a corporate body under Japanese tax laws.
The court considered the following points in forming their judgment: (1) whether, under strict interpretation of the local legislation, the Bermuda laws bestowed legal personality on LPS, and (2) whether, judging substantively, profits and losses were attributable to the business entity in the same way as corporate bodies under Japanese laws.
The court judged that the LPS didn’t meet either of the above two criteria and therefore decided it was not deemed as a legal person under Japanese tax laws.
This case is now pending in the higher court.
3. Labor Management（Accidents at Social Gatherings – Are They Industrial Accidents?）
The year is coming to an end, and it’s a season of year-end parties. If your employee gets injured in an unexpected accident on the way home from your company’s year-end party, would it qualify as an industrial accident?
Workers’ Accident Compensation Insurance grants insurance benefits and compensation to a worker who has suffered an accident or illness as a result of employment or during commutation to/from work.
So, the key question is this: Does a company’s year-end party qualify as work?
When an employee is injured while attending the company’s social gatherings, the question is whether the accident is “AOE/COE (arising out of and/or occurring in the course of employment)”.
To determine if the accident meets this criterion, it is important to ascertain whether or not the employee was actually under the control of the employer when the accident occurred.
The key factor is whether or not the employee was forced to attend the gathering by a work order; for example, if a business meeting was held during the gathering, it is highly likely that the accident would be considered as “AOE/COE” and is determined to be an industrial accident.
According to the legal precedent (the case of Chief of Fukui Labor Standards Inspection Office: the Nagoya High Court, Kanazawa Branch Office, 1983.9.21), in which an employee had an accident and got injured near the entrance of the year-end party venue:
– The purpose of the party was to develop friendly ties between the employees.
– The employees were not forced to attend the party.
– The company did not pay the employees any travel expense or overtime allowance to attend the party.
Due to the above reasons, the accident was not considered as AOE/COE, and thus was not deemed an industrial accident.
Another question is whether transportation between a party venue and an employee’s home is considered as commutation. The answer depends on whether the party is work-related and the employee is taking a reasonable route and method to travel between his/her home and the party venue. If an accident occurs during the transportation from the party venue to the employee’s home, and if the participation in said party is voluntary, such an accident is not considered as a commuting accident and the chances are small that it will be deemed an industrial accident.
For more information, please feel free to contact our HR Consulting Group.
4. This Week’s Words of Wisdom
“If you want to get anybody to take action enthusiastically, you should listen to him enthusiastically.”
(Dale Carnegie, an American motivational writer)
I think it can rarely be possible under the indirect democracy of our nation that the voters can have their ideas reflected by the political establishment. The gap between the words of candidates spoken during campaigns and the real wants of voters is a wide one. For instance, I can’t imagine that the voters would want the child allowance and free highway tolls, since anyone can see, upon reflection, that either would cause a tax increase.
How can we get our voices to reach the politicians?