LEGAL GROUNDS FOR FIXED-TERM EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS OF FACULTY MEMBERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: JAPAN’S EXPERIENCE

Abstract

This article examines the legal grounds for concluding fixed-term employment contracts in Japanese universities, with particular attention to the specific features of their application to faculty members and researchers. It is shown that the Japanese regulatory model is based on a combination of a general mechanism for conversion to an indefinite-term employment contract after a certain cumulative period and special exceptions established for particular categories of employees in higher education and research. The article characterizes the legal provisions governing the maximum duration of fixed-term employment contracts, the conditions under which the right to conversion to an indefinite-term contract arises, and the specific features of the legal regime applicable to faculty members and researchers in higher education institutions. It is established that the special exceptions introduced to consider the project-based nature of research activity and the personnel mobility of universities simultaneously create a risk of expanding precarious employment in the academic sphere. The impact of the practice of using renewable limits and other staffing arrangements on the effectiveness of the conversion mechanism is assessed. It is concluded that the significance of the Japanese experience for Uzbekistan lies not in the mechanical borrowing of individual legal norms, but in considering the developed approaches to distinguishing between legitimate use of fixed-term employment and its abusive application. The article argues for the need for a clearer definition of the legal grounds for the fixed-term employment of researchers, as well as for stronger safeguards against the misuse of fixed-term employment that undermines stable employment relations in the context of the development of research centers and project-based employment.