REPORT: HR LAW SEMINAR WITH ARQIS FOREIGN LAW OFFICE
HR Seminar with ARQIS – Japan's HR law is changing, is your company ready?
On March 3 we arranged together with ARQIS Foreign Law Office a seminar on Japan’s changing HR Law. New Legislation regarding the Workstyle Reform in Japan entered into force starting from April 2019 when it mainly affected bigger companies, and from April 2020 will start to take affect on SMEs respectively. A lot of companies are however still in the process off implementing the changes.
In the seminar we had a change to hear a great overview on the changes presented by Tobias Schiebe from ARQIS Foreign Law Office and Rie Taiko from TMI Associates. After the presentations we had a lively session of questions from the audience on the changes and how their companies should prepare.
Information about the speakers
Tobias Schiebe (Arqis Foreign Law Office)
Dr. Tobias Schiebe is a qualified German lawyer and a registered foreign attorney in Japan. He has been a member of ARQIS since 2011. Before joining the Tokyo office, Tobias advised domestic and international mid-size and blue-chip companies on various aspects of German and European law.
Tobias’s practice in Japan focuses on labour law, data protection and compliance matters. He also advises on general corporate and commercial law, in particular company establishment and setting-up of joint ventures, and has broad experience in dealing with HR issues arising in corporate transactions such as mergers and acquisitions and restructurings. In addition, he frequently advises on a wide range of individual HR matters.
Tobias’s academic background and legal training in Europe and the Asia-Pacific Region includes work experience in a Japanese law firm in Tokyo, the largest trade union in New Zealand and the Hamburg office of an Anglo-American law firm. In addition to his legal practice, Tobias is a frequent speaker at legal seminars for business people in Germany and Japan.
Rie Taiko (TMI Associates, joint enterprise with Arqis)
Rie Taiko provides strategic and practical counselling regarding labour and employment matters to both domestic and foreign clients in various industries such as retail, staffing, manufacturing, IT and transportation.
Ms. Taiko regularly advises in situations that can become potential disputes, such as treatment of problem employees and mass and mid-sized redundancy. She is also excellent at handling actual labour disputes in an expeditious manner, always seeking the maximum benefit for her client while being cognizant of business needs. Her practical experience and know-how from dealing with disputes is regularly incorporated in the employment-related documents she produces and reviews, with the aim of fully protecting the client.
She lived in the United States for five years and she is fluent in English. Ms. Taiko has been recognised as a “next generation partner” for labour and employment in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific since 2018.