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Business circles call for 'white collar exemption' simply to increase international competitiveness

A Liberal Democratic Party document confesses that the call of Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro's cabinet for no overtime pay for white collar workers is simply aimed at helping companies "increase their international competitiveness" rather than enabling workers to work at their discretion.

The document entitled "Proposition for increasing Japan's international competitiveness" (July 27, 2005) was compiled by the LDP's policy panel. It demands that the law concerning employment be reviewed as part of the effort to strengthen the infrastructure that supports international competitiveness. It specifically calls for exclusion of white collar workers from working hour regulations.

This "white collar exemption" means that companies will not be required to pay white collar workers for their overtime work. A long-standing demand of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), this change of rules will allow employers to force white collar workers to work longer hours.

The three-year plan for the promotion of regulatory reform and opening public services to the private sector, approved by the cabinet in March, makes it clear that exempting white collar workers from the application of working hour regulations will be studied. -- Akahata, September 10, 2005