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January 15, 2008 |
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GOODWILL GROUP: Ministry Halts Operations Due to Unlawful System Goodwill Group Inc. was ordered by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to suspend operations due to a series of law violations involving the dispatch of temporary workers to jobs they are not permitted to undertake or the double dispatch of workers, Kyodo News reports. According to the report, the order covers all of Goodwill's 737 branches nationwide wherein 67 branches, found to have illegally dispatched temp workers, were ordered to suspend operations for four months, while the remaining branches were told to stop operations for two months. In addition, the ministry issued a business improvement order for Goodwill to take preventive measures, conveys Kyodo News. Double dispatch, explains Kyodo News, is the unlawful dispatching of temp workers to companies that in turn sent them to other firms. A ministry investigation determined Goodwill's illegal practices included the dispatch of temp workers to unauthorized fields, including stevedoring and construction, relates Kyodo News. The ministry's move, states Kyodo News, was prompted when the Tokyo Labor Bureau filed an accusation with police against a Tokyo-based cargo inspection agency, Towa Lease, on suspicion that it violated the employment security law by allegedly sending workers from Goodwill to another port service company. In June 2005, the same bureau ordered Goodwill to improve its business practices after it was found to have dispatched workers to the construction industry, recalls Kyodo News. Furthermore, in June 2006, Goodwill's nursing-care business, Comsn Inc., was ordered by the ministry to terminate the operating licenses of most of its nursing-care homes, which was found to have made false declarations to authorities, adds Kyodo News. About Goodwill Group Japan-based The Goodwill Group, Inc. -- http://www.goodwill.com/gwg/english/index.html -- is a involved in five business segments. The Staffing segment offers recruitment services for technicians, senior workers and others. The Human Resources-related segment provides employee-hiring support services to corporate clients, counseling services to workers and outplacement services to retired and retiring workers. The Nursing-care and Medical Support segment is engaged in the provision of home-care services, care services in facilities and dental examination services at home, as well as the sale of nursing-care goods and equipment, among others. The Senior Residence and Restaurant segment operates nursing home under the name THE BARRINGTON HOUSE, and also operates restaurant in both domestic and overseas markets. The Others segment is engaged in the planning, designing and management of pet care facilities, the operation of pet care shops, the operation and management of nurseries, the provision of baby- sitting services and others. The Troubled Company Reporter-Asia Pacific reported on June 14, 2007, that The Goodwill Group is thinking of selling its home nursing-care services division after the Japanese government banned it from renewing its licenses due to its involvement in a fraud scandal. The article conveyed that the firm allegedly obtained some of the licenses for nursing-care service operators certified under a public insurance program through fraudulent applications, including those with an inflated number of employees. |
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