H12･6･23 at Osaka District Court

【Judgement】 lawful dismissal

【Company】 Development Bank of Singapore

【Category 】 adjustment dismissal (RIF)

【Reference】 Rodo Hanrei 786-16

【Position/Salary】 Back Office / JPY 3.2M

【Summary】

The closure of the Osaka branch, due to the lack of prospects for performance improvement, rendered its employees redundant, thereby justifying the necessity for workforce reduction.
Although the limitation of the workplace does not benefit the employer in preventing employee transfers, the absence of vacancies at the Tokyo branch precludes the possibility of transferring employees there. Moreover, it is not unreasonable that the Tokyo branch did not implement a voluntary retirement program. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that efforts to avoid dismissals were lacking, and the termination of the employees at the Osaka branch is ultimately unavoidable.
It cannot be found that the company's response was unreasonable (the employees had demanded a transfer to the Tokyo branch with the company bearing the costs of rent and other expenses, despite the company suggesting the possibility of paying an additional 18-month severance package).