Labor Standards Act

An employer must provide a worker with at least 45 minutes of break time during working hours if working hours exceed 6 hours, and at least one hour of break time during working hours if working hours exceed 8 hours.

An employer must provide all workers with the break time referred to in the preceding paragraph at the same time; provided, however, that this does not apply if the employer has concluded a written agreement with the labor union that is organized by a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is one, or with a person representing a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is no such union.

An employer must permit a worker to use the break time referred to in paragraph (1) freely.

An employer must provide a worker with at least one day off per week.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply to an employer that provides a worker with 4 days off or more over the course of a four-week period.

Notwithstanding the provisions on working hours in Articles 32 through 32-5 and Article 40 (referred to as "working hours" below in this Article) and the provisions on days off in the preceding Article (referred to as "days off" below in this Article), if an employer has concluded a written agreement with the labor union that is organized by a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is one, or with a person representing a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is no such union, and has filed a notification of this agreement with the relevant government agency pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the employer may extend the working hours or have a worker work on a day off, in accordance with the provisions of that agreement.

The following particulars are to be specified in the agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph:

the range of workers whose working hours the employer may extend and whom the employer may have work on a day off, pursuant to the provisions of this Article;

the applicable period (this means the period during which the employer may extend the working hours or have a worker work on their days off pursuant to the provisions of this Article, and is to be limited to one year; the same applies in item (iv) of this paragraph and paragraph (6), item (iii) of this Article);

when the employer may extend the working hours or have a worker work on their days off;

the number of hours by which the employer may extend the working hours it has a worker work per day, month, and year during the applicable period; and the number of days off on which the employer may have the workers work during the applicable period;

particulars prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as needing to be provided for in the agreement to ensure that the extension of working hours and work on days off are appropriate.

The limit to the number of hours by which the employer may extend the working hours it has a worker work referred to in item (iv) of the preceding paragraph is a number not exceeding the maximum of overtime, within the range of the overtime work that is ordinarily foreseeable in consideration of the volume of work at the workplace, trends in overtime work, and other similar circumstances.

The maximum amount of overtime referred to in the preceding paragraph is 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year (or 42 hours per month and 320 hours per year, if the employer has a worker work pursuant to the provisions of Article 32-4, after setting a period exceeding three months as the applicable period referred to in Article 32-4, paragraph (1), item (ii)).

Beyond what is stated in the items of paragraph (2), the agreement referred to in paragraph (1) may establish the number of hours by which the employer may extend the working hours it has a worker work per month and the number of hours it may have a worker work on their days off per month (limited in range to less than 100 hours including the hours prescribed in the agreement in connection with paragraph (2), item (iv)), as well as the number of hours by which the employer may extend the working hours it has a worker work per year (limited in range to less than 720 hours including the hours prescribed in the agreement in connection with that item), if it needs to temporarily have a worker work more than the maximum amount of overtime referred to in paragraph (3) due to an ordinarily unforeseeable, significant increase in the volume of work at the workplace, In this case, the agreement referred to in paragraph (1) must also prescribe the number of months (up to six months per year) in the applicable period referred to in paragraph (2), item (ii) during which the number of hours by which the employer extends the working hours it has a worker work may exceed 45 hours per month (or 42 hours per month, if the employer has a worker work pursuant to the provisions of Article 32-4 after setting a period exceeding three months as the applicable period referred to Article 32-4, paragraph (1), item (ii)).

Even if the employer extends the working hours it has a worker work or has a worker work on a day off pursuant to an agreement referred to in paragraph (1), it must ensure that the number of hours stated in one of the following items meets the requirement prescribed in that item:

the number of hours per day by which an employer has extended the working hours it has a worker work doing underground work or other operations particularly harmful to health that Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribes:the requirement is for this not to exceed two hours;

the number of hours per month by which the employer has extended the working hours it has had the worker work combined with the number of hours per month that it has had the worker work on a day off:the requirement is for this to be below 100 hours;

the monthly average number of hours by which the employer has extended the working hours it has had the worker work and the number of hours it has had the worker work on their days off, in the periods resulting when each of the one-month periods into which the applicable period has been divided, the first of which starts on the first day of the applicable period, is combined with the one-month, two-month, three-month, four-month, and five month periods immediately preceding it:the requirement is for this not to exceed 80 hours.

To ensure that the extension of working hours and work on their days off are appropriate, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may establish guidelines on the things regarding which care is to be taken regarding the extension of working hours and work on their days off prescribed in agreements referred to in paragraph (1), premium wage rates associated with the extension of working hours, and other necessary particulars, in consideration of the health and welfare of workers, trends in overtime work, and other similar circumstances.

The employer and the labor union or person representing a majority of workers entering into an agreement referred to in paragraph (1), must ensure that the content of the agreement conforms to the guidelines referred to in the preceding paragraph in providing for the extension of working hours and work on their days off in that agreement.

The relevant government agency may provide the employer and the labor union or person representing a majority of workers entering into an agreement referred to in paragraph (1) with the necessary advice and guidance concerning the guidelines referred to in paragraph (7).

When providing the advice and guidance referred to in the preceding paragraph, the relevant government agency must make special considerations so as to ensure workers' health.

The provisions of paragraphs (3) through (5) and paragraph (6) (limited to the parts related to items (ii) and (iii)) do not apply to any work involved in the research and development of a new technology, product, or service.

If an employer extends the working hours or has a worker work on a day off pursuant to the provisions of Article 33 or paragraph (1) of the preceding Article, it must pay premium wages for work during those hours or on those days at a rate of at least the rate prescribed by Cabinet Order within the range of not less than 25 percent, and less than 50 percent over the normal wage per working hour or working day; provided, however, that if the number of hours by which an employer has extended the working hours it has an employee work exceeds 60 hours in one month, the employer must pay premium wages for work during hours in excess of those 60 hours at a rate not less than 50 percent over the normal wage per working hour.

The Cabinet Order referred to in the preceding paragraph is to be established in consideration of the welfare of workers, the trends in overtime work and work on days off, and other circumstances.

If, in a written agreement with the labor union that is organized by a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is one, or with a person representing a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is no such union, an employer has established that, instead of paying a worker premium wages, it will grant a worker to whom premium wages are to be paid leave pursuant to the provisions of the proviso of paragraph (1) during which the normal wage per working hour will be paid (this excludes paid leave under the provisions of Article 39) pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and that worker takes that leave, the employer is not required to pay premium wages under the provisions of the proviso to that paragraph for work performed during the hours prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as hours corresponding to the leave the worker has taken for that work in excess of the hours prescribed in the proviso to that paragraph.

If an employer has a worker work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. (or between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. in the areas or during the times of year that the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribes, if the minister finds this to be necessary), the employer must pay premium wages for work during those hours, at a rate not less than 25 percent over the normal wage per working hour.

Family allowances, commutation allowances, and other wages prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare are not included in the calculation of the wage that forms the basis for the premium wages referred to in paragraph (1) and the preceding paragraph.

To apply the provisions regarding working hours, hours worked are aggregated, even if the hours worked were at different workplaces.

For underground work, working hours are deemed to be from the time of entering the mouth of the mine until exiting the mouth of the mine, including break times; provided, however, that in this case, the provisions of Article 34, paragraphs (2) and (3) regarding breaks do not apply.

If a worker engages in work outside of the workplace during all or part of their working hours and it is difficult to calculate those working hours, the number of hours worked is deemed to be the prescribed working hours; provided, however, that if it would normally be necessary to work in excess of the prescribed working hours in order to carry out that work, the worker is deemed to have worked for the number of hours that would normally be necessary to carry out that work, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

In a case referred to in the proviso of the preceding paragraph, if the employer has concluded a written agreement concerning the work in question with the labor union that is organized by a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is one, or with a person representing a majority of the workers at that workplace, if there is no such union, the number of hours specified in that agreement is used as the number of hours that would normally be necessary to carry out the work referred to in the proviso to that paragraph.

An employer must file the agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph with the relevant government agency pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.