Working conditions must be conditions meeting the needs that are to be met in order for a worker to live a life worthy of a human being.

The standards for working conditions fixed by this Act serve as minimum standards; a party to a labor relationship must not cause working conditions to deteriorate using these standards as the grounds for doing so, but instead must endeavor to improve them.

The worker and the employer are to decide working conditions as equals.

Workers and employers must abide by collective agreements, rules of employment, and labor contracts, and each worker or employer must discharge their duties faithfully.

An employer must not use a worker's nationality, creed, or social status as a basis for differential treatment with respect to wages, working hours, or other working conditions.

An employer must not use the fact that a worker is a woman as a basis for differential treatment in comparison to men with respect to wages.

An employer must not force a worker to work against their will through the use of physical violence, intimidation, confinement, or any other means that unjustly restricts that worker's mental or physical freedom.

Other than as permitted by law, it is prohibited for any person to profit from intervening in the employment of others in the course of trade.

An employer must not refuse a worker's request for time needed to exercise the right to vote or any other civil right or to perform a public duty during working hours; provided, however, that the employer may change the time requested by the worker as long as the change does not hinder the exercise of that right or the performance of that public duty.

The term "worker" as used in this Act means a person who is employed at a business or office (hereinafter referred to as a "business") and to whom wages are paid, regardless of the type of occupation.

In this Act, the employer is the person in control of the business, the person responsible for managing the business, or any other person acting on behalf of the person in control of the business in matters concerning that business' workers.

In this Act, wage means wages, salary, allowances, bonuses, and anything else that the employer pays to the worker as remuneration for labor, regardless of what it is called.

In this Act, the average wage means the amount of money calculated when the total amount of wages over the 3-month period preceding the day on which grounds for calculation of the average wage came into existence is divided by the total number of days during that period; provided, however, that the average wage must not fall below the amount calculated in any of the following ways:

If there is a pay period end date, the period referred to in the preceding paragraph starts to be counted from the most recent pay period end date.

If a period falling under one of the following items is a part of the period provided for in the preceding two paragraphs, the number of days constituting that period is excluded from the period referred to in the preceding two paragraphs and wages from during that period are excluded from the total amount of wages referred to in the preceding two paragraphs:

Wages that have been paid on an ad hoc basis, wages that are paid every period of more than 3 months, and wages paid in a form other than currency and not falling within a certain scope are not included in the calculation of the total amount of wages referred to in paragraph (1).

If wages are paid in a form other than currency, Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribes the necessary particulars in connection with the scope of the wages that are to be included in the calculation of the total amount of wages referred to in paragraph (1) and the assessment of their value.

For a worker who has been hired less than 3 months prior, the period referred to in paragraph (1) means the period after the worker's hiring.

The average wage for a person hired on a day-to-day basis is fixed by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare according to the kind of business or occupation in which that person is engaged.

If an average wage cannot be calculated in accordance with paragraphs (1) through (6), the average wage is as prescribed by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.