TOKYO= The Japanese government is set to increase bonuses for part-time national government workers in fiscal 2018, informed sources said Wednesday.

The National Personnel Agency revised the same day guidelines to allow such part-time workers receive not only term-end but performance-based allowances as full-time workers do, given that the government is calling on private firms to correct wage disparities between regular and nonregular workers, the sources said.

Based on the revision, ministries and agencies will book costs for the wage increases in their budget requests for the fiscal year starting April 2018.

Regular government workers receive both term-end and performance-based allowances, similar to bonuses at private companies, in June and December. The amount of term-end allowances depends on workers' positions.

For fiscal 2016, the government provided an average regular official undertaking general administrative work with a term-end bonus worth 2.6 months of salary and a performance-based one worth 1.7 months of salary.

The public officials pay law states that bonuses are paid to full-time government officials and part-timers in a balanced manner, while allowing each government body to determine how much it will pay for nonregular workers.

In 2008, the personnel agency urged government arms to make efforts to pay salaries equivalent to term-end allowances to part-time government officials working for an extended period.

On Wednesday, the agency also requested that monthly salaries for part-time government employees be raised much closer to levels for full-time employees, the

sources said.

As of July 2016, 145,000 people were working for national government ministries and agencies as part-timers. (Jiji Press)