The Effects of Working Hours Schemes on Overtime Working Hours in Japan

Many believe that regulation of working hours is necessary to protect the welfare and health of employees. In Japan, employers cannot make employees work for more than 8 hours per day, or 40 hours per week. However, many in the business community claim that these regulations are not appropriate in the modern Japanese economy, in which the proportion of tertiary industry, such as the IT industry, is growing. Hence, they advocate the implementation of a “white-collar exemption” in Japan. Others argue that elimination of these regulations would increase working hours and allow unpaid overtime. This study uses micro data from Rengo Seikatsu Anketo Chousa, 2008 to study the effects of a white-collar exemption on working hours. Even though a white-collar exemption has not yet been introduced in Japan, discretionary work already seems to be underway, as if such an exemption were already in place. The results of this study indicate that discretionary work increases overtime working hours, while the management of working hours decreases overtime working hours.