White-collar work-hour exemption bill

[Sepiola]

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A bill to revise the Labor Standards Law to exempt white-collar workers from a work-hour regulation and receive no overtime pay likely will not be submitted to the ordinary Diet session when it is convened on Jan. 25.

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa is eager to submit the bill, but senior lawmakers of the ruling coalition parties have cautioned against it.

On an NHK program Sunday, Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa said salaried workers and their families, who should welcome the white-collar exemption system, were opposed to it.

"Employers and the government have not fully explained the system to the public," he said, indicating that it is not the right time to submit the bill.

"I personally believe that the most appropriate time to deliberate on the bill is when the nominal [economic] growth [rate] exceeds real growth in a sustainable manner," he added, implying that the system should be introduced after the economy completely frees itself from deflation.

LDP General Council Chairman Yuya Niwa also was cautious over the introduction of the system, which might keep salaries from rising and justify long work hours.

The system calls for removing the eight-work-hour regulation and abolishing overtime pay for high-income white-collar employees.

(Jan. 9, 2007)

 

[Han Chan]

The system calls for removing the eight-work-hour regulation and abolishing overtime pay for high-income white-collar employees.

Actually the japanese families needs policies towards restricting overtime. The LDP Government is conpletely out of touch with the reality of the families.

 

[junjunforever]

Actually the japanese families needs policies towards restricting overtime. The LDP Government is conpletely out of touch with the reality of the families.

i totally agree. If you go talk to some Japanese workers, many of them work over 80 hours a week without overtime. The president of Cyber Agent says things like "Yeah last week I worked 80+ week so I expect the employees to do the same."

Which is really a wrong attitude. The president should be doing dogeza to the employees for working 80 hours a week without overtime. IT or media industry are especially bad. The one guy who got serious injury working for a newspaper company was worked 130 hours a week, which doesnt sound physically possible.

 

[caster51]

Actually the japanese families needs policies towards restricting overtime. The LDP Government is conpletely out of touch with the reality of the families

I think Government should not touch this problem

 

[junjunforever]

Why do you say that? if you average out the hourly pay for workers in the IT industry, many are earning much less the minimum wage. Working 80 plus hours a week but earning less than $30,000 should be not allowed in japan. The so called "beautiful country" is determined by the commoners, not by the stock market.

 

[Davey]

It is a big problem in Japan, and it affects all parts of the Japanese society, from hikikomori to the problem that Japanese people don't spend enough money etc.

Most of the times company employees want there boss to think good about them so they don't want to leave the office before the boss does.

The worst of all is that most people don't get paid for this overtime 60-80 hours overwork a week. If you calculate that the avarage income is around 1500 yen an hour (please correct me) they miss around 70x1500=105.000 yen a week, which is of course crazy.

I think Government should not touch this problem

Please explain your opinion!

 

[MajideSaiaku]

I wouldnt work overtime without being paid overtime for love nor money.

Well...maybe money.

I agree, I think there needs to be less incentive or pressure to work well beyond your normal hours, but I wonder what all those bussinessmen would do with themselves and that free time?.

 

[Elizabeth]

It is a big problem in Japan, and it affects all parts of the Japanese society, from hikikomori to the problem that Japanese people don't spend enough money etc.
Most of the times company employees want there boss to think good about them so they don't want to leave the office before the boss does.
The worst of all is that most people don't get paid for this overtime 60-80 hours overwork a week. If you calculate that the avarage income is around 1500 yen an hour (please correct me) they miss around 70x1500=105.000 yen a week, which is of course crazy.

I'm not defending the extent of "service zangyou" (overtime) but they do get twice yearly bonuses, though, right, which I've heard can be quite generous....

American workers in managerial, professional or administrative positions, on a set salary, don't receive OT either. Neither they or the Japanese employees in question affected by this law are contractually obliged to work longer than the normal 40 hours.

 

[Sepiola]

Even if they said, "We gave up presentation of the bill", they did not necessarily give up exemption introduction. The opinion "it is the subject naturally done in the Parliament after an Upper House election" is going up also from the inside of the governing party. That is because it is the strong request by the business world of Japan and the United States.

 

[KirinMan]

I think Government should not touch this problem

You know I agree with this statement as well. I don't think that the government should get anymore involved in the private sector as necessary. There are trade unions, they may be ineffective, but the private sector should not have to have the government intervene everytime there is a problem.

The government here has it's fingers into too many different sectors as it is. I can understand the government setting labor standards and work rules, but when it comes to compensation it should be dictated by the market and or the company that the person is working for.

There are enough double standards within the government at it is. The people working for companies like these should learn to use the unions that are availabe to work out a standard of compensation that everyone can live with.

 

[junjunforever]

To be fair, this legislation would have only affected people making closer to $80,000 a year, which i think is a high enough wage to work without the need for overtime compensation protection.

But i mean, ive been reading Japanese job forums, and there are horror stories out there. People sleeping in the offices, managers implicitly urging the workers to mark the punch-card at 5 and go back to work.

As explained in "The Jungle" unregulated economy will eventually cause 90% of the population earning pennies and top 10% owning all the wealth. The tricky part is how much should the economy be regulated.