This Act comes into effect on April 1, 2019; provided, however, that the provisions set forth in the following items come into effect as of the days specified in those items.

The provisions of Article 36 of the Labor Standards Act as amended by the provisions of Article 1 (hereinafter referred to as "the new Labor Standards Act") (including the case where those provisions are applied with the replacement of terms pursuant to the provisions of Article 139, paragraph (2), Article 140, paragraph (2), Article 141, paragraph (4) and Article 142 of the new Labor Standards Act) apply to an agreement that specifies only a period on or after April 1, 2019, and with regard to an agreement that specifies a period that includes March 31 of that year, the provisions then in force continue to govern until the day on which one year elapses counting from the first day of the period specified in that agreement.

With regard to the application of the provisions of the preceding Article to an agreement pertaining to the business of a small and medium-sized business operator (meaning a business operator whose amount of stated capital or total amount of contributions is 300 million yen or less (50 million yen or less for a business operator whose principal business is retail or services, and 100 million yen or less for a business operator whose principal business is wholesale) and a business operator whose number of regularly employed workers is 300 or less (50 or less for a business operator whose principal business is retail, and 100 or less for a business operator whose principal business is wholesale or services); the same applies in paragraph (4) and in Article 11 of the Supplementary Provisions) (excluding an agreement pertaining to a business prescribed in Article 139, paragraph (2), work prescribed in Article 140, paragraph (2), persons prescribed in Article 141, paragraph (4) and a business prescribed in Article 142 of the new Labor Standards Act), the term "April 1, 2019" is deemed to be replaced with "April 1, 2020".

The employer and the labor union or the person representing a majority of the workers who conclude an agreement for which the provisions then in force are to remain applicable pursuant to the provisions of the preceding Article as replaced pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph must, in concluding that agreement, endeavor to conclude it while taking into consideration the number of hours, to be specified in that agreement pursuant to the provisions of Article 36, paragraphs (1) through (5) of the new Labor Standards Act, for which workers may be made to work by extending working hours or may be made to work on days off.

The government is to provide the persons prescribed in the preceding paragraph with necessary information, advice and other support with regard to the agreement referred to in that paragraph.

For the time being, in providing a small and medium-sized business operator with the advice and guidance referred to in Article 36, paragraph (9) of the new Labor Standards Act, the relevant government agency is to give consideration to doing so on the basis of trends in working hours at small and medium-sized enterprises, the status of securing human resources, the actual conditions of transactions and other circumstances.

With regard to paid leave pertaining to a worker for whom, at the time this Act comes into effect, a day other than April 1 is the base date (meaning the first day of each sub-period (or, if a final period of less than one year arises, meaning that period; the same applies hereinafter in this Article) into which the period of continuous employment is divided in one-year units beginning at the six-month mark prescribed in Article 39, paragraph (2) of the Labor Standards Act, or, in the case where paid leave under the provisions of Article 39, paragraphs (1) through (3) of that Act is to be granted from a day earlier than the first day of the sub-period to which that paid leave pertains, meaning that day; the same applies hereinafter in this Article), notwithstanding the provisions of Article 39, paragraph (7) of the new Labor Standards Act, the provisions then in force continue to govern until the day before the first base date after the date on which this Act comes into effect.

If five years have elapsed since this Act came into effect, the government is to review the provisions of Article 36 of the new Labor Standards Act while taking into consideration the status of their enforcement, trends in working hours and other circumstances, and, when it finds it necessary, is to take the required measures based on the results of that review.

The government is to continue to consider the abolition of the special provisions concerning Article 36 of the new Labor Standards Act for the businesses prescribed in Article 139 of the new Labor Standards Act and the work prescribed in Article 140 of the new Labor Standards Act, while taking into consideration trends in working hours after this Act comes into effect and other circumstances.

Beyond the matters provided for in the preceding two paragraphs, the government is, with a target of five years after this Act comes into effect, to review the provisions of the respective Acts as amended by this Act (hereinafter referred to in this paragraph as the "respective Acts as amended") from the perspective of achieving harmony between work and life, improving working conditions, securing balanced treatment among workers with different forms of employment or forms of work, and otherwise enriching the vocational lives of workers, through the promotion of consultation between workers and employers and other means, while taking into consideration the status of enforcement of the respective Acts as amended and other circumstances, and, when it finds it necessary, is to take the required measures based on the results of that review.

With regard to the application of penal provisions to conduct engaged in before this Act (or, for the provisions set forth in Article 1, item (iii) of the Supplementary Provisions, those provisions) comes into effect and to conduct engaged in after this Act comes into effect in the case where the provisions then in force are to remain applicable pursuant to the provisions of these Supplementary Provisions and in the case where provisions are to remain in force pursuant to the provisions of these Supplementary Provisions, the provisions then in force continue to govern.

Beyond what is prescribed in these Supplementary Provisions, the transitional measures necessary in connection with the enforcement of this Act (including transitional measures concerning penal provisions) are specified by Cabinet Order.