일본 근로시간법제의 변천과 정책적 시사점 = A Study on the Changes in the Japanese Working Hours Law and Policy Implications

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The 52-hour workweek was implemented in July 2018 after many twists and turns to reduce working hours in Korea. To minimize the confusion in industrial areas due to the sudden reduction of working hours, it is gradually applied according to business size. However, since July 2021, all small-scale businesses were subjected to reduction of working hours. However, the government is facing many criticisms for implementing the policy dangerously fast without considering the circumstances in industrial areas.
In this situation, the coronavirus disease pandemic, which started at the end of 2019, has resulted in many changes in people’s daily lives. Telework, which was previously unfamiliar to many people, is now gradually becoming part of our daily lives. The advantage of teleworking is that people can work flexibly without being restricted to time and space, even under quasi-disaster situations, and realize a suitable work-life balance. However, flexibly utilizing working hours to suit the changing employment environment is not so simple. To this end, working hours must be liberalized so that individuals can work freely anytime and anywhere, regardless of time and space. However, as the current labor laws have strict regulations for liberalization, it is not a simple issue.
This study examined the history and current status of Japanese laws concerning working hours, which have dramatically influenced Korea’s laws on working hours and labor policies under the context of the problem presented. The transition process of Japan’s law on working hours shows that it is not an exaggeration to say that it has a history of “shortening working hours” and “flexibility of working hours,” focusing on balance and harmony between the two.
First, the process of reduction of legal working hours in Japan shows the following characteristics. Specifically, (ⅰ) working hours have been gradually reduced to 48 hours a week → 46 hours a week → 44 hours a week → 40 hours a week. (ⅱ) This change was applied differently over the 10 years that the regulation has elapsed, considering distinct characteristics according to business size even after the reduction to 40 hours a week. It appears that this is aimed at minimizing the confusion in industrial businesses due to the rapid reduction of working hours. (ⅲ) Even if overtime work is restricted, it is not uniformly restricted across all industries. With consideration of the characteristics of each industry or occupation, when the labor force and the management agree on overtime work, overtime working hours can be extended up to 360 hours per month (100 hours per month to 720 hours per year if there is a special provision in the Labor Standards Act).
Second, when examining the flexibility of working hours in Japan, to respond to the diversification of employment types, companies can implement working hours by introducing the flexible working hours (variable working hours) system, deemed working hours system, highly professional system (white collar exemption), and the like. The variable working hours system is recognized for 1 week, 1 month, and up to 1 year, to be selected in various ways according to seasonable changes or particularity in business. In the case of flexible working hours, the calculation period has been recently extended from 1 month to 3 months, reflecting the needs of workers.
Third, in the case of the discretionary labor system, in addition to “the deemed working hours system for works outside the workplace” and “specialized-type discretionary labor system,” companies have introduced and operated a “planning-type discretionary labor system.” Furthermore, the highly professional system, which exempts employees who meet a specific annual income requirement (10.75 million yen) and are assigned a definite scope of work with highly vocational skills from applying regulations on work hours, has been introduced.
In the discussion above, in Japan, the reason for shortening working hours over a short period is that Japan has been promoting the policies of shortening working hours and work flexibility at the same time. When establishing a working hours policy in Korea in the near future, we can draw some valuable recommendations from the Japanese experience. As Japan has similar employment environment and laws regarding working hours as Korea, this study on the history and actual Japanese laws on working hours has strong relevance. It is also expected to provide many implications for solving the current issues on working hours. flexible working hours.

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