Statutory working hours (法定労働時間): The legal maximum of 40 hours a week and eight hours a day, beyond which work is overtime

Article 32 of the Labour Standards Act sets two ceilings: 40 hours in a week, excluding breaks, and eight hours in any day. They apply together, so a nine-hour day is one hour of overtime even in a 36-hour week. Work beyond either limit is lawful only under a 36 Agreement and must be paid at a premium of at least 25%.

The statutory hours are a maximum, not the contract. Each employer sets its own prescribed working hours in the work rules, and many Japanese companies use seven and a half or seven and three-quarter hours a day. The gap between the prescribed and the statutory hours matters for pay. Work that goes past the prescribed hours but stays within eight hours a day and 40 a week must still be paid at the ordinary rate, but the 25% statutory premium is not required unless the work rules or contract provide for it.

There is a long-standing exception. Workplaces with fewer than ten employees in commerce, film and theatre, health and hygiene, and hospitality may use a 44-hour week. A study group of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare recommended in 2025 that this be abolished as part of a wider overhaul of the Labour Standards Act. The government postponed submitting a bill in 2026, and the changes are still under discussion.

Variable working hours, flextime and deemed hours all work by redistributing or replacing this daily and weekly count, not by removing it.

What it means for a foreign employer

Your global working week may already be overtime. A 45-hour standard week, common in some Asian headquarters, is five hours of overtime a week in Japan, and needs a 36 Agreement and premium pay.
Use the gap between prescribed and statutory hours. Setting prescribed hours below eight a day gives some headroom before the legal premium applies, but the work rules must say how that time is paid.
Expect the rules to move. The planned overhaul also covers limits on consecutive working days and an interval between shifts. Keep an eye on it before redesigning schedules.

Sources

Labour Standards Act, Articles 32, 36, 37 and 40; Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labour Standards Act, Article 25-2 (44-hour special measure).
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, report of the study group on the Labour Standards Act, January 2025.

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General information for employers, not legal advice. Thresholds and dates are checked against the sources listed and dated above; confirm anything you act on with a Japanese employment lawyer or a licensed labour and social security attorney.