The government is promoting work style reform to respond to the declining working-age population and improve worker productivity. One of the points of discussion is the correction of long working hours. It is said that “Japanese people work long hours,” and long working hours can lead to deterioration of health and even death from overwork, so the government is actively trying to encourage companies to improve the working environment. In this article, we will explain the risks to companies and employees due to long working hours, what kind of work environment reform the government is trying to implement through the work style reform-related bill, and how companies can counter long working hours. I’ll explain if it’s good.
table of contents
- 11. Risks of long working hours
- 11. Risks borne by the company
- 22. Risks assumed by employees
- 22. Government measures against long working hours
- 11. Regulation of long working hours through legal revisions
- 22. More reliable access to paid vacation
- 33. For companies to more accurately understand employee working hours
- Four4. Premium wages for overtime work exceeding 60 hours per month in small and medium-sized enterprises
- Five5. Promote work intervals
- 33. Measures companies should take against long working hours
- 11. Active introduction of IT
- 22. Cultivating a sense of ownership throughout the company
- Four4.Summary
1. Risks of long working hours
First, I will explain the risks to companies and employees due to long working hours.
1. Risks borne by the company
First, I will explain the risks that companies face due to long working hours. Longer working hours mean higher selling, general, and administrative expenses. If compliance is complied with, labor costs will increase as extra wages must be paid for overtime and work on holidays, and costs associated with labor such as office utility costs will also rise accordingly. It can be said that it can’t be helped if there is work to do and it is profitable, but if employees are not thinking about productivity and are working overtime just for the sake of overtime pay, the company will be wasting profits. There will be. In addition, an environment in which employees are forced to work overtime and the overtime wages are not properly paid may at first glance appear to be an efficient use of personnel costs by the company, but it poses major risks. First of all, a poor work environment will result in a high turnover rate, and a high turnover rate means wasted recruitment costs and makes it difficult for the core human resources of the organization to grow, creating a structure that makes it difficult for the company to make a profit. In addition, these days, black companies are viewed more harshly by the public, and due to a lack of manpower, rumors that they are a black company are spread on social media, or a large number of employees leave the company at some point, making it difficult for business to continue due to a lack of human resources. In the worst-case scenario, you will go bankrupt.
2. Risks assumed by employees
Long working hours are of course a major risk to employees. In some workplaces where overtime is the norm, employees work lazily without thinking about increasing productivity. If you work in such a workplace, instead of acquiring skills, you will learn a lazy work style, and you will have a hard time changing jobs. In addition, long working hours can lead to depression and, in the worst case, death from overwork. The scary thing about depression is that in the beginning, you may not be able to realize that you are suffering from depression. Particularly if you have a strong sense of responsibility, you may find it difficult to work, but as a result, you may end up making your symptoms worse. Once you suffer from depression, it is not uncommon for it to take several years for your symptoms to recover to a level where you can work again, so it is best to avoid companies that require long working hours to stabilize your career and income.
2. Government measures against long working hours
As explained in Chapter 1, long working hours have many negative effects, so the government is trying to correct the working environment of companies that are prone to long working hours. This chapter explains the measures against long working hours that the government is implementing in its work style reform-related bills.
1. Regulation of long working hours through legal revisions
First, the government is working to regulate long working hours by amending the law. Under current law, working hours are 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, but if you sign an agreement with a labor union, regarding overtime and holiday work called a 36 agreement, and report it to the Labor Standards Inspection Office, the working hours can be changed. It is possible to order employees to work outside the home or on holidays. Regarding the amount of overtime and holiday work that is permitted, the Ministry of Labor’s notification sets a limit of 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year, but the Ministry of Labor’s notification has no legally binding force on companies. , there was virtually no legal upper limit on overtime work. In other words, as long as a company had concluded a 36 agreement, it was possible to work overtime that exceeded the standards announced by the Ministry of Labor. However, in 2015, a female employee at a major advertising agency died from overwork due to long working hours, leading to growing public opinion that upper limits should be placed on overtime hours, and the revised Labor Standards Act came into effect in April 2019. Legal restrictions have been added to the upper limit on overtime hours. According to the revised Labor Law, the limit for overtime work is, in principle, 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year, and there is a legal restriction that even if 36 agreements are established, overtime cannot exceed 720 hours per year. Furthermore, overtime work exceeding 45 hours per month is permitted for six months out of the year, but overtime work in the exception months is no more than 80 hours per month on average, and overtime work in any month is 100 hours. It is stipulated that the time limit must not be exceeded. This standard will be applied to large companies from April 2019 and will be expanded to small and medium-sized enterprises from April 2020.
2. More reliable access to paid vacation
The enactment of the revised Labor Law will also make it compulsory for employees to take paid leave. Note that, unlike the upper limit on working hours, the obligation to take paid leave will apply uniformly to both large and small companies from April 2019. When this law is applied, companies will be obligated to provide at least 5 days of paid vacation to employees who are entitled to 10 days or more of paid vacation a year. Companies will be subject to a fine of up to 300,000 yen if they fail to provide more than 5 days of paid leave to employees who are eligible for more than 5 days of paid leave.
3. For companies to more accurately understand employee working hours
Furthermore, at the same time as the Labor Standards Act, the Industrial Safety and Health Act will also be revised. What is noteworthy about this amendment to the law is that it now requires companies to keep track of their workers’ working hours. Up until now, companies were not required to confirm how many hours their workers worked, but with the revision of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, it is now possible for employers to confirm the start and end times of work. Companies are now required to properly manage working hours by objectively recording them using time cards and other means. Like the above two amendments, it will come into effect from April 2019.
4. Premium wages for overtime work exceeding 60 hours per month in small and medium-sized enterprises
Extra wages must be paid for overtime work in addition to regular wages. Under the 2010 revision of the Labor Standards Act, companies are required to pay 50% or more extra wages for overtime work exceeding 60 hours in a month, but this does not apply to small and medium-sized enterprises. was suspended. However, from April 2023, this grace period will be removed, and even small and medium-sized enterprises will be obligated to pay over 50% extra wages if they order their employees to work more than 60 hours of overtime per month.
5. Promote work intervals
For example, in a normal company, if working hours are set from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., even if you worked overtime the previous day until 24 p.m., you would have to return to work at 8 a.m. In this way, if the start time is fixed, depending on the time you leave work, you may not be able to secure enough time for daily life or sleep. The work interval is a system that allows employees to have at least a certain amount of rest time between the time they start work and the time they leave work. For example, if we create a rule under the work interval system that there must be at least 11 hours between leaving work and coming to work, in the above example, if you leave work at 24:00, you will not be able to come to work until 11:00 even if your work starts at 8:00. That means it’s fine. The work interval system will be stipulated as an obligation for employers to make efforts under the Working Hours Setting Improvement Act, which will come into effect in April 2019.
3. Measures companies should take against long working hours
As explained in Chapter 2, the government is tackling long working hours as an urgent issue, but it will not work if companies simply follow government standards. If a company where long working hours are the norm adopts the revised standards of labor-related laws, business operations will likely be disrupted and a major hindrance will occur to the company’s management. If companies do not take measures to prevent long working hours and increase labor productivity, they will not be able to maintain business performance and improve the working environment. This chapter explains the two directions companies should take to counter long working hours.
1. Active introduction of IT
First, one possible way to deal with long working hours is to proactively introduce IT. In workplaces where long working hours are required, employee productivity may be low due to unnecessary work. The introduction of IT is said to be effective in increasing employee productivity. For example, if you use an accounting system, you can easily create financial statements and financial reports, but if you try to create them manually, errors will occur and it will take time. Other tasks can be made more efficient by using IT systems instead of using paper media or face-to-face meetings, such as various approval requests and sales reports from sales departments. Increasing productivity through the introduction of IT systems will also lead to improved profits for companies, so it is a good idea to consider this.
2. Cultivating a sense of ownership throughout the company
It is also important to have a sense of ownership in the need to correct long working hours throughout the company. The longer a company has been in business, the more likely it is that there will be tasks that are done according to long-established practices, but for which purpose it is not clear. If you do your work according to what your boss tells you to do without thinking about why the work is necessary, problems will arise when the work was supposed to be a means but becomes an end before you know it. To stop operations that have become purpose-oriented in this way, the entire company needs to have a sense of ownership. Rather than asking the company to increase productivity, each employee should be conscious of work efficiency, make small business improvements over time, stop unnecessary work, and stick to the old way of doing necessary work. By increasing efficiency without having to do anything, it is possible to increase labor productivity and correct long working hours.
4. Summary
As mentioned above, we have explained how long working hours will be affected by the work style reform bills. Although the government is proactively amending various laws to correct long working hours, it is essentially a problem that companies and their workers should resolve independently, not the government. Long working hours are a big risk for both companies and employees. No matter how much the government attempts to eliminate long working hours by amending the law unless companies and workers try to eliminate long working hours, workplaces with long working hours will continue to exist. By correcting long working hours, companies can increase their business profitability and stabilize their organizations. On the other hand, employees will have more time for daily life and leisure and will be able to protect themselves from depression and poor health caused by overwork. Therefore, instead of simply complying with the revised labor-related laws, I think it would be a good idea for employers and employees to work together to create a workplace with fewer working hours and higher labor productivity.
