Title: Translating Work Rules using Plain Legal English
Speakers: Tetsuro Kurata & Carol Lawson
Place: Room 225 (Building 2, 2nd Floor), Seisen University, Tokyo (see http://www.seisen-u.ac.jp/eng/access/index.php / http://www.seisen-u.ac.jp/access/index.php)
Date: Saturday 25 October 2014
Cost: 1,000 yen for JAT members 3,000 yen for non-members
Time: Seminar - 3 pm to 5 pm
There will be a Networking Evening to follow at ‘7025 Franklin Avenue’ burger restaurant in Gotanda
See http://www.bento.com/rev/0225.html / http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ000103388/
5.30 to 6.30 pm Drinks - - open to all, cash bar
6.30 to 8.30 pm Dinner – 2,000 yen for food, cash bar - NOTE: preregistration + prepayment via Peatix required
Peatix link: http://peatix.com/event/56564/
A company’s Work Rules are a key component of the employment relationship. These Rules would be found in an Employee Handbook in an English-speaking jurisdiction. They set out the rights and duties of the employee and the company in areas like the appointment process, leave, bonuses and promotion, as well as the company’s code of conduct. As Japan’s workforce diversifies, an increasing number of companies are providing their Work Rules in both Japanese and English.
Tetsuro Kurata and Carol Lawson are the authors of a recent book わかりやすい語法による英文就業規則のつくり方Drafting Work Rules in Plain Legal English, published by Nihon Horei. It was written to assist both labor and social security attorneys and translators involved in producing bilingual Work Rules. Their focus is on ensuring Rules both comply with the particular requirements of Japanese labor law and are written in plain language that is easy for all users to understand.
The first half of this seminar will be an explanation of useful skills and tools for translators tasked with translating Work Rules. The second half will be a mini-workshop, where participants tackle typical Work Rules provisions in a friendly small-group setting, and receive feedback from the speakers.
Speaker Profiles
Tetsuro Kurata is the Principal of Kurata Labor Management Consulting. He is a licensed labor and social security attorney and holds an adjunct position at the Shukutoku University College of Business Administration. He serves as the Director of the Japan SME Venture Business Consortium and is a member of the Tokyo Labor and Social Insurance Attorney Association International Labor Relations Study Group.
Carol Lawson is the Principal of Legal Communications Japan. She is admitted to practice law in Australia and teaches legal writing at Nagoya University Graduate School of Law, and legal translation in the Masters in Japanese Interpreting and Translating at the University of Queensland. She serves as the chair of JATLAW.