Japan Press Weekly

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2016 January 20 - 26 [LABOR]

Keidanren dislikes calling proposed bill the ‘zero-overtime payment’ bill

A growing number of the public regard a government-sponsored bill to revise the Labor Standards Law as the bill for a “zero-overtime payment” system, but it seems no one in the business world likes this phrase.

The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) in its report by its committee on management and labor policy argued that the bill is not for a “zero-overtime payment” system. It stressed that the bill is to enable employers to assess the amount of employees’ salaries based not on the number of hours worked, but on their job performance.

In reality, the proposed bill is designated to set up a system which allows corporations to exempt part of their white-collar workers and engineers whose jobs are in professional categories from the working hour rules under certain conditions.

If the bill is enacted, targeted workers will be unable to receive not only overtime payment for hours worked but also additional payment for working late at night or on holidays. Even if they die from overwork, the employers will evade being blamed for the deaths under the pretext of self-responsibility.

Back in 2007, the first Abe Cabinet’s attempt to establish the same system was frustrated because the general public severely criticized the system as a “zero-overtime payment” system and “the promotion of death from overwork”. This time, Keidanren in its report is attempting to dodge the criticism in order to help enact the bill.

However, the reason why the bill’s nickname of “zero-overtime pay bill” is accepted by a wide range of people is that the name best depicts what the bill aims to bring about. The business circles cannot cover up the real nature of the bill no matter how hard they try.