Japan

3 Chapter Labor

    • Japanese Labor Law

       In Japan, there are three Labor Laws. Based on the "Labor Standards Law" which sets the minimum standards of working conditions, collective bargaining between labor and management by eliminating obstacles for workers to form labor unions and conducting labor campaigns, collecting labor agreements the "Labor Union Act" which guarantees the conduct of dispute acts, "Labor Relations Adjustment Law" for the prevention and resolution of labor disputes. Also, in March 2008, the Labor Contract Law came into effect to resolve individual labor-related conflicts which increase year by year.
      There are other worker protection laws such as "Minimum wage law" which sets minimum wage, "Occupational Safety and Health Act" stipulated to secure workers' safety and health in the workplace, and business owners are Japanese as long as it is in Japan, whether it is a foreigner or a Japanese corporation or a foreign corporation, it applies to that company. Likewise, as long as foreign workers in Japan work as defined by each law, the law written above will apply in principle.

    • ■ Specification of working conditions

       The wage to hire workers, operating hours and delivery of the document must specify other working conditions.

       · Labor contract period (to that effect if there is no fixed period)

       · Places to work and duties to engage
       · Matters concerning the time of start-up/closing time, the presence or absence of labor (early departure/overtime, etc.) exceeding the prescribed working time, break time, holiday, vacation, employment conversion when working in two or more workers
       · Determination of wages, methods of calculation and payment, deadline of pay and timing of payment and matters concerning salary increases
       · Matters concerning retirement (including reasons for dismissal)
       
      Labor contracts that do not meet the standards stipulated by laws and regulations will be invalid for that part. For example, it is assumed that "Annual paid leave is from the third year counting from the date of employment," "Overtime allowance is not paid," "Workers bear all social insurance fees (social insurance the contract at the applicable business establishment, etc.", That part becomes invalid. Also, it is illegal to set a penalty for breach of a labor contract. However, this does not mean that we cannot charge workers about the actual damage caused to the company.
       

    • ■ Labor Contract Period

        Although it is usual not to make such a period for the period of labor contracts, when specifying a period, in case of some individual cases (things that determine the period necessary for the completion of specific projects, such as civil works those that specify the period required for a fixed term project or those that need an extended training period for vocational training according to Article 70 of the Labor Standards Law) is a maximum of three years. In an employment contract with a fixed term, after five years in total due to that renewal, an employment contract without an attached clause due to an offer from a worker will be.

    • ■Trial period

       There is no regulation concerning the trial period in the Labor Standards Act, but before deciding to hire a worker, it is permitted to set up a trial period for judging the ability and appropriateness of the worker for a specified period. In general, it is often the period from 1 month to 6 months.

      However, refusing the employment of the worker during or after that period is the same as dismissal, and for it to be accepted, facts not known at the time of hiring for workers are recognized during the trial period It is necessary to look at refusing this recruitment because of that fact objectively.

      Article 21 of the Labor Standards Law stipulates that it is unnecessary to announce persons' dismissal notice during the trial period, but even in this case, when a worker is to continue to be used for more than 14 days, a notice of dismissal It is necessary.

    • ■ Directors of corporations, executives of duties (after this referred to as

       In principle, the contractual relationship between a company and a director, etc. is not a labor contract but a mandate contract so that it will be subject to the corporate law, not the labor law. Provided, however, that if it has a position in a professional job as an employee of a corporation and is engaged in duties as a regular employee, as a director (also concurrently serving as a worker) such as a worker.

    • ■ The fifth principle of wage payment

       Wages are currency, and full payment must be made to workers at least once a month, with a fixed date. If you deduct anything other than those specified by the tax social insurance premium law from wages, you need a labor-management agreement with a labor union organized by a majority of the workers or a person representing the majority of the workers.

    • ■ Minimum wage security

       To improve working conditions, ensure fair competition of business, minimum wage amount is stipulated. "Tokyo Minimum Wage" of the minimum wage by region is applied to the workplace in Tokyo.
      The minimum wage is not the prefecture in which the head office of the company is located, but the amount prescribed for each county where the business site such as the head office or branch office (temporary worker in the case of temporary worker) is located is applied.
       

      Name of minimum wage

      Time amount (yen)

      Effective date

      Tokyo Minimum wage

      958

      2018/10/1
      ※Because it is reviewed every year; please confirm the minimum wages everytime.

    • ■Retirement bonus system

       The Labor Standards Law does not have mention of the retirement bonus. Therefore, you must not necessarily pay the retirement bonus when an employee resigns from a company. However, most Japanese companies have a retirement bonus system of some kind. Without society premium being imposed with a temporary paying thing depending on the length of service, a resignation reason and, as for this, companies are usually treated well in the taxation system in comparison with a salary on the occasion of the resignation of the worker (there is the company adopting a retirement annuity system). Furthermore, the company can make the loss of money accounting in a case to contribute an installment to a government office, the financial institution as savings of the retirement bonus (medium and small-sized business retirement bonus mutual aid systems) after a company met a constant condition.

    • ■Working hours, break, holiday

        The user must not let a worker work for more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week except for a break. (Special measurement business ground: some types of business industry with the scale of fewer than ten people (“Commercial” ・" Movie Theater Business (except for the film production business)" ・" Hospitality entertainment industry") can let you work for 8 hours a day, 44 hours a week. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the agreed hours for a day and a week at this limit.

      When working hours are over six hours, more than 45 minutes, you must give the worker more than one-hour-break in the middle of working hours when it is over eight hours.

      On holiday, you must give it more than four days for more than one day or four weeks a week (legal holiday). It is not necessary to be Sunday and a holiday with a holiday and can be decided by the agreement of an entrepreneur and the worker optionally.

    • ■Agreement (36 agreements) about overtime work, the holiday labor

       It is initially desirable to perform the overtime work (overtime work) only at the time of temporariness, emergency, and to be short. When you let you labor on overtime work (overtime work) and a legal holiday more than legal working hours, I conclude a labor and management agreement ("36 (Sabu-Roku) agreements to register") beforehand and must report it to Chief labor standards supervisor of the jurisdiction out of necessity. When I let worker labor on overtime work and a holiday without submitting 36 agreements, I become a target of penal regulations.
      Labor is not accepted without any restriction on overtime work and a holiday because I conclude 36 agreements and reported it, and the upper limit is established like a list shown below.

    • ■"Grasp, calculation duty of working hours" of the user

       According to the Labor Standards Law, since provisions are set for working hours, holidays, late-night work, etc., the company have a responsibility, and it is necessary to appropriately grasp and manage work hours for employers within the scope of the provisions, and for employers. However, in the case of a salesperson who is in the office where the user cannot grasp the time, we stipulate the "off-site labor" as an exceptional treatment. In addition, even for work in the workplace, with respect to job that requires the worker's discretion to discipline significantly the way of performing the work and time allocation, due to the nature of the work, the employer must control the working hours the discretionary labor system is also permitted which regards labor as hours defined in the agreement concluded with labor union.

    • ■Extra wage

        In the case of working outside the hours, late at night (in principle 10 pm - 5 am in the afternoon) it is necessary to operate more than 20% of wages per hour, if you make the labor on legal holidays 3 fees per hour, we have to pay a premium wage of more than 5 minutes. Also, the premium for overtime over 60 hours per month will be 50% or more.

    • ■ Paid vacation

        The employer must give a paid leave of 10 working days to workers who have worked continuously for six months from the day of employment and worked at more than 80% of all work days. After that every year elapsed, the next number of days must be granted as well. * It is similar for short-time workers and management supervisors who are called part-time workers, temporary workers, etc.
      Paid vacation will be prescribed in 2 years from the date of giving. A paid leave that could not be used within one year from the time of giving will be carried over to the following year and will be added to the newly given holiday number, but if it is not used for another year, it will disappear by the prescription.
      If you sign a labor-management agreement at the workplace, you can acquire annual paid leave on a time basis with a maximum of 5 days a year. Whether workers can freely choose whether to obtain annual paid leave day by day or by time is possible. (Enforced revised Labor Standards Law on April 1, 2010).
      According to labor-management agreements, when you make a declaration on the season for giving paid leave, you can determine the acquisition date beforehand by labor and management concerning the number of days exceeding five days of paid vacation. 
       

    • Planned Grant System

        (In case of a planned grant, it is necessary to grant paid leave for the shortfall to workers who lack days.)
      For part-time workers who have few working days and short working hours per week, we will give annual paid leave proportionally according to the number of working days.

    • ■ Childbirth · Childcare

      1. Closure before and after childbirth

      The employer must approve the request from the female worker scheduled to give birth when there is a request to take a leave from six weeks before the expected delivery date (14 weeks in the case of multiple pregnancies). Also, in principle, during the eight weeks from the day after childbirth should not be employed. (Article 65 of the Labor Standards Law)

      2. Childcare leave

      If a woman raising a child under the age of 1 is charged, in addition to the break time, twice a day,

      Each child must be given at least 30 minutes of child-rearing time. (Article 67 of the Labor Standards Law)

       

      Each holiday period above can be paid or unpaid. However, under certain conditions, workers can receive specific benefits from employment insurance from health insurance for period 1, and for employment insurance for period 2.

    • Work rules

       Working regulation is a workplace rule that specifies explicitly labor conditions such as working hours and wages and disciplines that workers must protect in case of employment due to management needs. Users who always use more than ten workers must prepare work rules and submit it to the Labor Standards Inspection Office (Article 89 of the Labor Standards Law). In doing so, it is necessary to attach a written opinion of the person representing the worker. Creation of employment rules is also encouraged at business establishments with less than ten workers. Moreover, what is stipulated in the employment rules will have legal effect as if it is by labor contracts as long as its content is reasonable.

    • ■ What must be stipulated in the employment rules

       When creating a work rule, you must state the following items. (Necessarily written matter)
       
      1. Working hours relationship
      Matters concerning employment conversion in case of starting work and closing time, break time, holiday, vacation (including nursing care and nursing care leave) and employing workers in two or more workers alternately.
      2. Wage relationship
      Matters concerning wage determination, calculation and payment method, deadline of pay and time of payment and salary increase.
      3. Retirement relationship
      Questions concerning retirement (including grounds for dismissal).
       
      The following matters shall be stated when making those provisions. (Relative required information items)
       
      4. Retirement allowance relation
      5. Temporary wage / minimum wage relationship
      6. Cost-bearing relationship
      7. Health and safety relationship
      8. Vocational training relations
      9. Disaster compensation · Out-of-work injury and disease assistance relation
      10. Awards and sanctions
      11. Other

    • ■Well-known duty

       Distribute work rules created to each worker so that workers can see them at any time, present them to the workplace in a viewable place, fix it, or record it on an electronic medium so that it can be checked on the monitor screen all the time We must inform workers by the way such as. (Article 106, paragraph 1 of the Labor Standards Act)

    • Social Security System

       In Japan, we adopt the public health insurance system, and in principle, those who have an address in Japan must join public health (medical) insurance and annuity insurance in law.

    • ■ Outline of labor · social insurance system

       In Japan, there are four types of insurance schemes that companies are obliged to join for workers who meet specific requirements.

    • Labor insurance

      1. Workers' accident compensation insurance

      ● Summary Insurance to provide benefits to workers or their survivors who have suffered business disasters and commuting disasters

      ● In principle, except for officers of the applicable corporation, it is enforced to all workers. ● Calculate by multiplying the total wage of insurance workers by the insurance premium rate. The insurance premium rate varies depending on the business type.

      ● Benefit workers will be paid for injuries suffered by disasters during work or commuting.

       

      2. Employment insurance

       

      · Outline Insurance for stabilizing employment of unemployed workers and stabilizing jobs (subsidies, incentives, etc.)

      · Workers with an application period of more than 20 hours for one week's application and who are expected to have employment for more than 31 days are, in principle, insured persons.

      · Calculate by multiplying the insurance premium rate against the total wage of insurance workers. (0.9% excluding some industries)

      · In cases where benefit workers lose their source of income by losing their jobs, in the event of a cause that makes continuation of employment difficult for workers and in case employees themselves receive education and training on occupation, living and hiring Unemployment benefits will be paid to stabilize employment and promote jobs.

    • Social insurance

      3. Health insurance / long-term care insurance

      ● Outline Insurance against medical and nursing care expenditure

      ● Application All applicable corporations enforce

      ● Insurance premium The general insurance premium rate of health insurance covered by the National Health Insurance Association of Japan is 9.90% of the insured's standard monthly compensation (upper limit of 1.39 million yen) and usual bonus amount (upper limit of yearly total of 5,730,000 yen), Those under the age of 40), those who are over 40 years old are 11.47%, insured persons and business owners will bear half of them.

      ● For the benefit of the medical institution, 70% of the expenses required for medical treatment will be paid directly by the insurer to the medical institution, and the insured person will bear 30%. Also, if the amount of partial payment paid at the same medical institution in the same month exceeds a fixed amount, the excess amount will be paid as a high medical treatment expense.

       

      4. Welfare pension insurance

      ● Outline Insurance for benefits for old age, death, disability

      ● Application All applicable corporations enforce

      ● Insurance premiums Insured persons and business owners will bear half of the standard monthly compensation fee and usual bonus amount of 18.3%

      ● Benefit By satisfying specific requirements, disability pension (pension which can be received including those of working generations when living or work is restricted due to illness or injury), survivor pension (national pension or pension payable to bereaved families who have been living by the person who was an insured person or an insured person of the welfare pension insurance when they died) will be paid

       

      Regarding the above subscription, the company will notify the regulatory agency when the company that employs employees and workers for the first time, becomes subject to this insurance. Generally, the company pays the regulatory authority the insurance premiums deducted from employee’s salary and the employer's share together.