NON-COMPLIANCE WITH LABOR STANDARDS

1. Companies must comply with labor standards by law

Does your company keep the regulations of the laws? There are several regulations on labor requirements. However, there are companies that do not keep these regulations. Labor regulations are significant for workers and companies must keep those labor rules for workers.

There are basic laws such as the Labor Contracts Act (Rodo Keiyaku Ho) and the Labor Standards Act (Rodo Kijun Ho) on basic labor regulations. There are also several other laws related to labor regulations. Companies must comply with this legal regulation when establishing labor rules for the entire company (Syugyo Kisoku) or defining working conditions in contracts with individual employees.

Companies that do not comply with labor legislation can be sanctioned, and even if they are not sanctioned, they can receive a warning from the labor standards office. There is also the possibility of being sued by workers. It is very important that companies are aware of labor legislation and regulations.

2. Important examples of labor regulations

Some examples of important legal regulations on working conditions are listed below.

(About the working day and wages.)

- The working day must not exceed 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week, excluding breaks (However, this rule is different if a variable working time system or a flexible working time system is adopted.). Work that exceeds these hours constitutes overtime.

- Overtime must be paid with 25% more than the normal salary.

- Employers must offer a break of at least 45 minutes if the working day exceeds 6 hours, and at least 1 hour if it exceeds eight hours.

- Employers must provide at least 1 day off per week or at least 4 days off over a period of 4 weeks.

- There are also principles on how to pay wages: 1 pay in cash, 2 pay the worker directly, 3 pay in full (You cannot deduct any debt from the worker to the company without a worker's permit), 4 pay at least once a month, 5 pay on a fixed date.

- If you work late at night (from 10 in the afternoon to 5 in the morning), you must pay a 25% premium.

- If you work on days off, you must pay a 35% premium.

(Pay vacation (Yukyu Kyuka))

- Employers must provide 10 days of paid leave if the worker works continuously for 6 months and works at least 80% of all working days during that 6-month period.

- After 6 months of continuous service, the number of days of paid vacation provided must be increased by 1 day for each year of continuous service, and by 2 days after 3 years and 6 months of continuous service (up to 20 days).

- Employers are obliged to grant 5 days of paid leave per year to all workers who are entitled to a minimum of 10 days of paid leave per year. This means that the company is obliged to give workers paid vacations, even if the worker has not requested it. This law has been applied since April 2019.

3. In case of non-compliance with labor regulations

If employers do not comply with labor regulations and violate employee rights, employees would be harmed. And sometimes, this damage would be serious and serious.

In that case, employees can consult with the company itself first. But, if the company does not listen to it or change the non-compliance of regulations according to the laws. If the company has a company union (Rodo kumiai), it is convenient to consult it. Another popular way is to consult with the labor standards office (Rodo Kijun Kantokusho).

If the situation of labor problem is serious or is very economically damaged, proceeding with legal proceedings is another option.

4. The labor standards office (Rodo Kijun Kantokusho)

If a labor problem arises and it is a serious matter, there is sufficient evidence and it becomes a matter of high economic compensation, it is advisable to go to a lawyer to resolve it through the courts. However, asking for a lawyer or going to court as a legal matter takes time, and it is not cheap. Therefore, it can be considered first to consult the labor standards office.

It is a body that checks whether companies comply with labor laws and regulations. If necessary, make warnings and notices to companies and give instructions about improvements. If a company does not comply with the instructions of the labor standards office, it can also take the case of illegal actions of the company to the prosecutor to be carried out in criminal matters.

The labor standards office also deals with occupational accidents.

There are 321 offices of the labor standards office and 4 branches throughout the country.

Basically, you can consult about all aspects of labor relationship problems. For example, it can be consulted on working conditions, dismissal, payment of wages, working hours, overtime, resignation, paid vacations, work accidents, etc.

5. Legal solutions

It is also possible to solve labor problems by resorting to legal means, but this requires time, money and convincing evidence. Therefore, it is only possible if it is worth dedicating so much time and money.

For example, in the event of dismissal, you can consult a lawyer and go to court. However, as a general rule, this is only possible if the worker is hired for an indefinite period. In the case of a fixed-term job, it is usually not a dismissal, but simply a non-renewal, and the company is generally free not to renew the contract.

In cases such as non-payment of overtime, if the amount in question is large or if many employees are suing at the same time, the possibility of going to court should be considered. However, this requires evidence. Companies that do not pay overtime do not usually keep an adequate record of working hours, so it is necessary that the workers themselves keep a record of their working hours and keep it as proof.

On the other hand, it must be said that it is difficult to resort to legal means. For example, on the subject of paid holidays it is generally not appropriate to resolve in court.

Should I solve the problem by talking to the company? Do you have to go to the labor standards agency? Should I go to court? Or should it be resolved by other means? This in itself may not be clear at first, so you may want to consult a lawyer first.