The Labor Standards Act prohibits companies from making employees work more than 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week (statutory work hours). Companies are also required to provide their employees at least one holiday a week (statutory holiday). To make employees work beyond statutory work hours or on statutory holidays, companies have to sign the Labor-Management Agreement on Overtime, commonly called “the 36-Agreement,” in advance, and submit it to the Labor Standards Inspection Office. This article explains how to calculate overtime and holiday work hours in relation to the 36-Agreement.
* In this article, work on statutory holidays are referred to as “holiday work.”
(1) Work hours set by the 36-Agreement
There are General and Special Provisions in the 36-Agreement.
[General Provisions]
The 36-Agreement prescribes overtime and holiday work hours. Following are the upper limits to overtime work.
[Special provisions]
In some cases, companies have to make their employees work overtime or on holidays temporarily or due to unexpected reasons. To prepare for such situations, it is allowed to make Special Provisions and have employees work in excess of the hours prescribed in the General Provisions. Special Provisions also provide upper limits to extra work hours.
Special Provisions also stipulate that the exceptions can be applied only up to 6 months (6 times) in a year.
(2) Difference between General and Special Provisions
In General Provisions, only overtime work hours in a month are counted, whereas Special Provisions count both overtime and holiday work hours. (Please see the example below.)
The 36-Agreement’s monthly work hours counting rules
●General provisions
Overtime work: 30 hours >> Only this number is counted.
Holiday work: 24 hours >> Not counted.
●Special provisions
Overtime work: 50 hours
Holiday work: 24 hours
Since both numbers are counted, extra work hours add up to 74 hours.
If employees are working both overtime and on holidays, companies might find that total monthly work hours exceed an expected level under Special Provisions. Please pay attention to holiday work, even if only General Provisions are being adopted.
In recent years, the Labor Standards Inspection Offices identify companies likely to make their employees work more than 80 hours a month and provide administrative instructions. Under special provisions, monthly overtime and holiday work must be kept under 100 hours, but instead of paying attention to the monthly limit, employers should understand the meaning of Special Provisions and consider how to reduce overtime and holiday work effectively.
[Reference]
Labor Ministry, “Easy explanation of overtime work limits”
