In Japan, working hours regulations in fields such as doctors, truck drivers, and construction workers, which have applied exceptions to the legal overtime (overtime work) time regulation, will take effect in April.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun, when overwork became a social problem, the Japanese government established a rule subject to punishment for violating the legal overtime limit (45 hours per month, 360 hours per year for employees of large companies), which is 40 hours per week, and began implementing it in April 2019, but suspended the implementation for five years in some areas.
The suspended areas include doctors, truck drivers, and construction workers who judged that it would be difficult to implement immediately due to shortage of workers. However, the upper limit of overtime work in each field was 960 hours per year for doctors and truck drivers, and 720 hours per year for construction workers, reflecting the characteristics. In particular, doctors allowed overtime work up to 1,860 hours per year after going through labor-management consultations and designation procedures by local governments.
However, while Japanese society is short-handed due to low birthrate and aging population, there have been concerns that the implementation of this regulation could have a significant impact on Japanese society, which was also called the “2024 problem.” Side effects that have been discussed ahead of the end of the suspension include logistics difficulties, construction disruptions, and reduction of the emergency medical system.
Accordingly, the Japanese government and the industry, which have insisted on ‘reforms the way they work’, have also prepared their own countermeasures.
For example, the Japanese government has decided to add transportation to areas that allow foreign workers to stay in work for up to five years.
In addition, some companies handed over transportation demand from some trucks to trains and expanded automation. Hospitals also added manpower to assist in tasks such as entering medical records.
Japanese media are paying attention to the actual impact of the latest restrictions. The Sankei Shimbun reported, “It is expected to have a widespread impact on people’s lives,” adding, “We are concerned that the manpower shortage, which is already a problem, will intensify.”
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
