Japan to relax overtime regulation under workaholic PM Takaichi

“CORPORATE WARRIORS”

Once a bastion for “corporate warriors” fiercely devoted to their jobs, the country has in recent years ratcheted up efforts toward a better work-life balance, especially after the 2015 suicide of an exhausted 24-year-old employee at advertising giant Dentsu.

“This is an unacceptable shift away from, and abolition of, the policy that urged companies to shorten work hours,” the National Confederation of Trade Unions in Tokyo, commonly known as Zenroren, said in a statement.

The possible shift toward more work is on brand for Takaichi, who herself declared she “shall work, work, work, work and work” when elected as head of her conservative ruling party in October.

And in an X post widely derided for “showing off” her dedication to work, she wrote in July she has been chronically sleeping just “zero to three hours” as prime minister.

The labour ministry stresses that it will keep tabs on companies to ensure they take measures to protect the wellbeing of employees.

It will “continue to provide the necessary guidance if there is a high risk that health problems caused by excessive work may arise”, the ministry said in a statement.

And the policy shift, it says, doesn’t affect all businesses in Japan.

Those without special labour-management agreements in the first place will remain legally obliged to keep monthly overtime to 45 hours or less.

There are also some companies where going even a minute beyond the statutory working hours – typically eight hours a day, 40 hours a week – is illegal.