Variable working hours let an employer plan around a predictable cycle of busy and quiet periods. Instead of applying the eight-hour day and 40-hour week every day and week, the employer sets a schedule in advance for a period, and only hours beyond that schedule, or beyond the average, count as overtime.
There are three types. The one-month type, under Article 32-2, averages hours over a period of up to a month and can be introduced by the work rules or a labour-management agreement. The one-year type, under Article 32-4, averages over more than a month and up to a year. It needs an agreement filed with the Labour Standards Inspection Office and has firm limits: no more than 10 hours a day or 52 a week, no more than 280 working days a year when the period exceeds three months, and normally no more than six consecutive working days. The one-week type, under Article 32-5, is limited to retail, hospitality and restaurant workplaces with fewer than 30 employees.
The key difference from flextime is who controls the hours. Under a variable schedule the employer sets each day's hours in advance and must publish the calendar; under flextime the employee chooses when to work. Changing the schedule after the period starts is generally not allowed.
What it means for a foreign employer
- It suits operations, not head offices. Factories, logistics, retail and seasonal businesses use it. For office staff who want flexibility, flextime is usually the better fit.
- The calendar must exist before the period starts. Without a published schedule, the system is invalid and every hour over eight a day becomes overtime.
- Errors are expensive. Inspectors and courts look closely at whether the agreement, calendar and records match. Get the year-type agreement filed every year.
- Candidates from manufacturing may be used to it. It is a normal feature of shift and plant work, and comes up when hiring operations leaders.
Sources
- Labour Standards Act, Articles 32-2, 32-4 and 32-5, and the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labour Standards Act, Article 12-4.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, guidance on the one-year variable working hours system.