There has been a great deal of discussion about labor law topics in recent times.
Some of these discussions focused on such topics as working-styles and working
hours in the 36-Kyotei. These discussions however have not resulted in the drafting
of bills for the amendment of the relevant laws.
A bill on revised Labour Standards Act was submitted to the Diet two to three years
ago but has not been debated yet. Bills on proposed changes in work-style or the increase
in the work-hour limits to the 36-Kyotei have been put off for discussion in an ordinary
session of the Diet. Whether or not these topics will be discussed in the next-sitting of
an ordinary session of the Diet will depend on the number of other important matters
that need to be addressed.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has recently released guidelines for controls
that employers must put in place to ensure the effective and accurate measurement and
reporting of their employees’ actual working hours. It is important for Human Resource
staff to be aware of the details of these guidelines.
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/file/06-Seisakujouhou-11200000-Roudoukijunkyoku/0000149439.pdf
The new guidelines supersede the pre-existing standards of “46 Tsutatsu”, which was
issued on April 6 2001 (number 339) and had been the control measurements ever since.
The details of the new guidelines are as follows:
1. Working hours are a period of time where employees are under the supervision
of their employer (the Supreme Court decision on the case Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Nagasaki Office, March 9 2000). The guidelines explain the concepts of working
hours by using some examples ie; work preparation time instructed by the employer
in writing, a stand-by period during the day, or compulsory training in the office. Whether
or not the time is deemed as working hours is determined on a case by case basis,
based on whether employees are under the employer’s supervision and the acts of
employees are mandatory. Each case needs to be looked at individually and specifically.
2. Time tracking on employees’ office computers has been introduced to monitor working
hours of employees in addition to the current methods of time card and IC recording systems.
3. The following requirements have been added as employers’ responsibilities if they allow
employees to self-assess working hours:
– The employer should clearly explain the guidelines and its control measures to
the applicable employees.
The employer should question employees and confirm the legitimacy of the reason
for staying at workplace longer than the time reported in the self-assessment time sheet.
– The employer should confirm that all working hours are captured accurately and that
the practice of intentional under-reporting of hours beyond the agreement in
the 36 Kyotei is not occurring.
If a significant deviation is found between the records being tracked using method #2 above
and the actual working hours, an administrative office shall investigate and require the company
to amend the working hours accordingly.
In addition, a resting time or time to attend optional training can be considered as working hours
if employees are under the supervision of the employer.
4. Following the Labor Standards Law Article 108 and its enforcement ordinance Article 54,
the guidelines also describe the company’s responsibility to keep accurate records in
a wage ledger of employees’ work days, work hours, work hours on holidays, overtime,
and work hours at night.
The new guidelines officially documented items that are normally addressed by the labor office
at onsite inspections, giving the impression that there is nothing new to these guidelines.
However, having these items now included in official guidelines means that violations could
immediately lead to an advisory to implement corrective action, or for a company to be issued
with an instruction card from the administration office.
If you would like to know more about the guidelines, please contact PMP.
If you have any questions about this article, please feel free to contact us at info@pmp.co.jp .
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