1.
worker; laborer; employee
A person who earns a living by working for an employer, especially in the context of labor law, economics, or social class. The standard term in legal and political discourse and in statistics; in Japan's Labor Standards Act, a 労働者 is legally defined as someone employed and paid wages.
労働者の権利を守る。
To protect workers' rights.
外国人労働者の受け入れが増えている。
The acceptance of foreign workers is increasing.
労働者の賃金は物価の上昇に追いついていない。
Workers' wages are not keeping up with rising prices.
Compound of 労働 ('labor; work') and 者 ('person'). The standard formal term for 'worker' in legal, political, economic, and journalistic contexts.
USAGE:
- Essential vocabulary in news about the economy, labor conditions, and immigration policy.
- Has clear Marxist and labor-movement associations in some contexts (contrasted with 資本家 'capitalists'), but it is also the neutral legal term used in laws such as 労働基準法 ('Labor Standards Act') and 労働者災害補償保険法 ('Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance Act').
- In everyday talk about one's own job, speakers prefer 会社員 ('company employee') or 社員 ('employee') over 労働者.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 労働者の権利: workers' rights
- 外国人労働者: foreign worker
- 労働者階級: the working class
- 労働者を保護する: to protect workers
- 非正規労働者: non-regular worker
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 勤労者: working person — a more neutral near-synonym common in government statistics and Labor Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の日).
- 会社員: company employee — everyday word for someone who works at a company.
- 従業員: employee — emphasizes the employer-employee relationship at a specific workplace.
- 被雇用者: the employed — legal/economic term contrasting with the employer (雇用者).