June 29, 2018: The law deemed to be the foundation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe¡¯s much-vaunted reform of how we work, or hataraki-kata kaikaku, passed the upper House of Councilors on this day. Most of its provisions, which simply amend other laws, will come into effect next April, so it¡¯s crucial we get a handle on them now.
The media bandy about the phrase ¡°hataraki-kata kaikaku¡± (often translated as ¡°work-style reform¡°) as if it will save workers in Japan from the soul-crushing, death-defying work hours of workplaces past. But how will this new law really change the workplace? It¡¯s crucial that we know what¡¯s in it and how things will change from a legal perspective; then perhaps we can ponder what Abe¡¯s objectives are in pushing it through.
The Act to Overhaul Laws to Promote Workplace Reform (Hataraki-kata Kaikaku Kanren Ho) does not include an expansion of discretionary labor, one of many ways employers evade paying overtime. Abe¡¯s team had to exclude that, thankfully, after the labor ministry got busted manipulating data, as I described in a column earlier this year (¡°Dodgy data spared Japan¡¯s workers from a labor system that¡¯s ripe for abuse, for now,¡± March 25?).
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