Challenges to the Japanese style of work www.japantimes.co.jp

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared that the ongoing 150-day regular Diet session will be dedicated to “work-style reform.” Deliberations on the package of work-style reform legislation will finally start. There are two key elements in the revision of the Labor Standards Law. One is the tightening of labor regulations — imposing a legal cap on overtime hours. The other are deregulatory steps — introduction of the “highly professional” work system and expanding the scope of the discretionary labor scheme. These two are put together to be discussed as a single piece of legislation.