The Labor Standards Act requires companies to give employees a break time of at least 45 minutes if working hours exceed 6 hours, and at least 60 minutes if working hours are over 8 hours. When labor standards inspectors conduct a survey, they check whether employees are taking a break appropriately and give a corrective guidance to employers failing to meet the standard.
[1] Appropriate break times
Companies need to give workers a break time during work hours, but not necessarily at one time. Workers may split a 60-minute break into 45 and 15 minutes, or into three portions, taking 10 minutes in the morning, 40 minutes around noon and 10 minutes in the afternoon. Meanwhile, break time is aimed to give workers time for lunch and recover from fatigue. If a break is split into small portions, the purpose may not be accomplished. Companies should consider appropriate timing and length of a break and ensure that workers can secure a time to rest.
Giving a break time is not necessary if scheduled working hours are up to 6 hours without overtime. However, working for 6 hours without a break or a meal could easily lead to fatigue and affect workers’ productivity. Although it is not a requirement, companies should allow such workers to take a short break of about 15 minutes, so they can get some refreshments and rest.
[2] Securing of a break time
There are cases where companies allow employees who work 8 hours a day to take a 45-minute lunch break, and another break for 15 minutes at the end of the scheduled working hours before starting overtime work. In reality, however, many workers find it difficult to take the second break and work overtime without an intermission. If that is the case, companies should take measures, e.g., ring the bell at the start and end of a break time and make sure workers are resting. If taking a 15-minute break before overtime is difficult, companies should give employees a 60-minute break during working hours.
When examining work hour management, focus is often given to overtime work, but troubles about break time is also common. If working without a break becomes a routine practice, companies may face a problem of unpaid wages. Please check if employees are taking break times appropriately and implement measures if any problem is found.
[Reference]
The Ministry of Labour, “Are there any legal rules on break times?”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/roudoukijun/faq_kijyunhou_13.html
*The information is based on laws and regulations as of the date of the original article.
