Japan Panel Recommends End to Sexist Job Practices : Employment: Federal committee says cutbacks of female workers should be banned, for example. Discrimination has worsened lately.

Japan should strengthen its equal-employment law by banning firms from selectively hiring men over women and easing restrictions on women’s overtime and late-night work, a Labor Ministry committee said Monday.

The recommendations tackle the most visible signs here of sexist employment practices, which have become even more conspicuous during the recession. In an effort to cut costs, many firms have drastically scaled back new hiring--in large part by cutting back on female workers.

Unlike American firms, many Japanese companies hire a new crop of employees each April and announce before then their hiring targets, often by gender. But in the past year, as the recession has deepened, female applicants have been told openly, “We’re not hiring women this year.”

In addition, the report found, many firms have sent out recruitment material to male college graduates but not females, excluded women from introductory meetings, given separate application tests to each group and hired more men than women.

The report also found several instances of men who were promoted faster than women, even though they entered the company at the same level at the same time.

Japanese firms defend their practices by saying that men are a better investment: Women tend to quit when they have children or marry.

But women’s groups counter that companies often pressure them to quit in order to avoid having to pay their escalating salaries. Instead, firms shoo them out to bring in new hires at starting pay, many women argue.

The report also urged changing government regulations originally designed to protect female workers from exploitation--but which have come to be seen as discriminatory.

Under those rules, most women are barred from working more than 24 hours of overtime a month, with some exceptions such as those for doctors and lawyers, while men are allowed to work as many as 43 overtime hours. Women are also barred from working between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., with exceptions for flight attendants, tour conductors and some others.

The subcommittee report of the Deliberative Council on Women and Juvenile Problems advised easing the female overtime restrictions for non-manufacturing jobs and expanding the list of jobs in which night work is allowed. It also urged prohibiting gender-based hiring targets.

Should the full committee accept the proposals later this month, the Labor Ministry is expected to begin implementing them in April. But the report has already drawn fire from female workers.

“Women’s protective regulations should not be abolished or deregulated,” said Yuiko Matsumoto, vice secretary general of the women’s division of the Japan Federation of Labor Unions. She added that Japan should first settle the issues of scaling back work hours overall and improving child-care facilities.

Women interviewed on television expressed doubts that the changes would visibly improve their working conditions. Japan’s Equal Employment Law has no significant enforcement power or penalties and simply asks firms to “endeavor” to eliminate sexist practices. The proposed changes would also ask for corporate cooperation.

Other women said they have no desire to work like dogs--or their male colleagues.

“The changes would be fine for women who want to work hard, but personally, I’d rather not have to work a lot of overtime,” one said.