1. Legal working hours and holidays
2. Overtime work and work and holidays
3. Annual Paid Leave
4. Maternity Leave and Child Care Leave
5. Family Care Leave

1. Legal working hours and holidays

     Legal working hours per week are 40 hours. The Labor Standards Act stipulates that an employer shall not make an employee work more than 8 hours per day. The fixed working hours of each firm shall not be longer than the legal hours. (Article 32)
     However, up to and including 44 hours of work per week are allowed as a special case in the business categories of commerce, cinema and theater, health and sanitation and service and amusement, where there are fewer than 9 regular employees in the company or business.
     Many kinds of modified working hour’s systems which can accommodate working hours to business fluctuations are also allowed under specified conditions. (For instance; One month unit modified working hour’s system, One year unit modified working hour’s system and a flex-time system.)
     With regard to holidays, Labor Standards Act stipulates that an employer shall provide employees with at least one holiday per week. Otherwise an employer can provide at least four holidays during a four week period. (Article 35)
     With regard to breaks it stipulates that an employer shall provide employees with at least 45 minutes of break time when they work over 6 hours, and 1 hour of break time when it is over 8 hours. (Article 34)

2. Overtime work and work and holidays

     So-called a "36 Agreement" (A written agreement about overtime work and work on holidays) should be concluded between an employer and employees and submitted to the Labor Standards Inspection Office, when the employer wants to extend working hours or have an employee work on holidays. The employer should pay increased wages for such work. (Article 36)
     The rate of increased wages for overtime work and night work (defined as being during the period between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.) is an increase of at least 25%. The rate for work on holidays is an increase of at least 35%.

[New Point]
Article 37 will be enforced in April 1st 2010.

     The rate of premium for the portion of overtime work Article 37 exceeding 60 hours per month is 50% or more .(first paragraph of Article 37)(Effective April 1, 2010) However, small and medium sized enterprises are granted a respite for an undetermined time. (Article 138)
     An employer is not under obligation to pay increased wages for overtime work, if working hours per week during a modified period or a settlement period are not over the legal working hours, in cases where the company is under the modified working hour’s system. If you do not understand the method of calculation of hours and pay, you should ask your company.

3. Annual Paid Leave

     The Labor Standards Act stipulates the annual paid leave system so that employees may take leave at any time and enjoy a pleasant life.
     "An employer shall grant annual paid leave of ten working days, either consecutive or divided up into portions, to employees who have been employed continuously for 6 months calculated from the day of hiring and who have reported for work on at least 80 % of the total working days." (Article 39)
     Part-timers can also take annual paid leave depending on the number of their working days, even if their fixed working days are relatively few. Even though the contract period of employment is for one month or 3 months, if employees have worked for more than 6 months as a result of renewal of contacts, they may take annual paid leave.
     The number of paid holidays is as follows :( as of April, 2006)


     Employees can take annual paid leave whenever they want.
However, a company is allowed to change the requested leave day to another period of time, if the company's normal operations would be prevented by the requested leave.

[Worker Point]

     Paid holidays can be taken within 2 years from when it was allowed, but employees cannot take it after the day of their resignation.

○ Preplanned Grant of Annual Paid Leave
In the event an employer, pursuant to a written agreement with either a labor union or with a person representing a majority of the workers, has made a plan with regard to the period of time in which leave with pay, the employer may grant paid leave in accordance with such plan. However, employees are able to use at least 5 days out of their preplanned grant of paid leave, freely.

4. Maternity Leave and Child Care Leave

     Expectant female employees can take 6 weeks (14 weeks for twins or more) of maternity leave before childbirth and 8 weeks after giving birth (Article 65). Female employees who are nursing an infant of up to 12 months are also entitled to take nursing time twice a day, each for at least 30 minutes aside the legally allowed break times. They can take nursing time by showing up 30 minutes late or leaving work 30 minutes early, or take 60 minutes off at one time (Article 67).
     Articles guidelines with reference to payment during the leave period, companies should make clear their policy on such allowances offered or not , in some form such as in their rules of employment. In cases of unpaid leave, the employee can still receive about 60% of her normal wage during maternity leave as maternity allowance from the Health Insurance (Please refer to Health Insurance Benefits on for maternity-related allowances).
     Any employee, either male or female, who is rearing an infant of up to 12 months of age, is also entitled to childcare leave. In cases in which they face difficulty rearing because they are unable to enroll their child in a daycare center/facility, and suchlike matters, they can extend their leave until the child becomes one and a half years old (Article 2 and 5, Child Care and Family Leave Act). Employees on a fixed-term employment contract who have been consecutively employed for one year or more, and are expected to be employed continuously well after the child turns one years old, can take child care leave (Article 6, Child Care and Family Leave Act).
     They receive about 30% of their wages during childcare leave from the Employment Insurance if they meet given prerequisites.
     When they come back to work after taking the leave, about 20% of their wages are paid in a lump sum according to their childcare leave period. With prior application, they are exempted from paying social insurance premiums during childcare leave.

5. Family Care Leave

     Employees who take care of a family member requiring full-time care are entitled to family care leave. The leave can be taken up to 93 days in total per subject family member. Employees on a fixed-term employment contract, who have been employed for one straight year or more, are eligible for family care leave, if they are expected to be employed continuously well after returning from their leave of 93-days. (Article 2 paragraph 2,　Article 11 paragraph 1, Article 15 paragraph 1, Child Care and Family Leave Act).
     As no Act stipulates the payment of wages during the leave　period, companies should make clear whether they pay or not in their rules of employment or other form.
     During family care leave, an employee can receive about 40% of the wages as the benefit from the Employment Insurance if he/she fulfills certain conditions.
     Companies must establish measures similar to child care leave, or reduce working hours for employees who waive their right to take child care leave or are raising children aged between one and three years (Article 23, Child Care Leave and Family Care Leave). (Please refer to Principles of Labor Contract on).