Betriebsbedingte Kündigung in Japan

Abstract

SUMMARY

Against the background of a recent decision by the Tokyo District Court, this paper deals with the termination of employment contracts for operational reasons. The author begins by introducing the principle of freedom of termination of employment contracts as well as its limitation by the prohibition of abusive practices, which was developed by case law and codified later on. In the following part of the paper the judicially defined preconditions for the termination of employment contracts for operational reasons are presented. The author then goes on to evaluate the judgment by the Tokyo District Court, which deals with a mass layoff by Japan Airlines (JAL), taking a critical position regarding both the process of decision-making as well as the final outcome of the decision.
(The Editors)