Japanese labour scholars call the Labour Standards Act the constitution of labour. It was passed in 1947, under the occupation but drafted largely by Japanese officials, and built on the new Constitution's promise of working conditions fit for a decent life. Together with the Trade Union Act and the Labour Relations Adjustment Act it forms the three core labour laws. Its predecessor, the Factory Act of 1911, protected mainly women and children in factories. The 1947 Act covered almost every employee.
The Act sets floors, not norms. A contract term that falls below its standards is void and replaced by the statutory standard. Its core rules cover written terms of employment on hiring, the principles of wage payment, 30 days' notice of dismissal or pay in lieu, the 40-hour week, the 36 Agreement and overtime premiums, annual paid leave, maternity protection and work rules. Over the decades it has been amended many times, most significantly by the 2018 Work Style Reform legislation, which put a legal cap on overtime for the first time and required employers to make sure employees take at least five days of paid leave a year.
What sets it apart is enforcement. Labour standards inspectors can enter workplaces, demand records and issue correction orders, and have the powers of judicial police officers to investigate and refer cases to prosecutors. Most breaches carry fines, and some carry detention.
The Act deals with minimum conditions. The rules that decide whether a dismissal or a transfer is valid sit mostly in the Labour Contract Act.
What it means for a foreign employer
- It applies from the first employee. There is no small-company exemption for overtime, leave or notice rules, though some duties, such as filing work rules, start at ten employees.
- Breaches are criminal, and public. Prosecuted cases are referred by name, and the labour ministry publishes lists of companies sent to prosecutors. A citation for a foreign subsidiary can reach headquarters through the press.
- It was built for the factory floor. The model assumes fixed hours at a fixed place. Flexible work for senior staff has to fit inside exemptions such as flextime and discretionary work, each with its own conditions.
- Japanese candidates know it. Senior hires will expect the statutory leave, notice and overtime protections as a baseline, not a negotiating point.
Sources
- Labour Standards Act (Act No. 49 of 1947), Articles 1, 13, 15, 20, 24, 32, 36, 37, 39, 89, 102 and 117 to 121.
- Constitution of Japan, Article 27.
- National Archives of Japan, record of the enactment of the Labour Standards Act, April 1947.