[Japan] Suspected compliance issues at local government union

In Japan, potential labour law compliance problems have been discovered at a majority of prefectural headquarters of the All-Japan Prefectural and Municipal Workers Union, or Jichiro, The Japan News reports.

According to reporting from Jiji Press, out of the 47 prefectural headquarters of Jichiro - a national labour group primarily for local government workers - 25 headquarters had no labour-management agreement on overtime limits with their staff. At ten of the 25, there were no fixed rules of employment.

Under Article 36 of Japan’s labour standards law, employers must conclude agreements on overtime limits with employees in order for employees to work beyond the statutory working hours.

Additionally, the law obliges employers to draw up rules of employment if they employ 10 or more workers. Jichiro’s central headquarters in Tokyo reportedly urges regional organisations to establish such rules regardless of the number of their employees.

The absence of Article 36 agreements on overtime limits and rules of employment was found in a survey of regional organisations by Jichiro’s central headquarters in March 2023.

The 25 prefectural headquarters without Article 36 agreements included Hokkaido, Aomori, Miyagi, Saitama, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Okinawa.

In September 2023, the central headquarters reportedly instructed the prefectural headquarters to strictly comply with laws and regulations. Central headquarters will conduct a further investigation in March to see how the situation has improved.

In March last year, the Tottori prefectural labour standards inspection office told Jichiro’s Tottori headquarters to correct its practice of having employees work overtime without concluding an Article 36 agreement.

Jichiro was established in 1954, the industrial labour union federation comes under the umbrella of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (or Rengo). As of August 2022, Jichiro had approximately 740,000 members.

Source: The Japan News

In Japan, potential labour law compliance problems have been discovered at a majority of prefectural headquarters of the All-Japan Prefectural and Municipal Workers Union, or Jichiro, The Japan News reports.

According to reporting from Jiji Press, out of the 47 prefectural headquarters of Jichiro - a national labour group primarily for local government workers - 25 headquarters had no labour-management agreement on overtime limits with their staff. At ten of the 25, there were no fixed rules of employment.

Under Article 36 of Japan’s labour standards law, employers must conclude agreements on overtime limits with employees in order for employees to work beyond the statutory working hours.

Additionally, the law obliges employers to draw up rules of employment if they employ 10 or more workers. Jichiro’s central headquarters in Tokyo reportedly urges regional organisations to establish such rules regardless of the number of their employees.

The absence of Article 36 agreements on overtime limits and rules of employment was found in a survey of regional organisations by Jichiro’s central headquarters in March 2023.

The 25 prefectural headquarters without Article 36 agreements included Hokkaido, Aomori, Miyagi, Saitama, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Okinawa.

In September 2023, the central headquarters reportedly instructed the prefectural headquarters to strictly comply with laws and regulations. Central headquarters will conduct a further investigation in March to see how the situation has improved.

In March last year, the Tottori prefectural labour standards inspection office told Jichiro’s Tottori headquarters to correct its practice of having employees work overtime without concluding an Article 36 agreement.

Jichiro was established in 1954, the industrial labour union federation comes under the umbrella of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (or Rengo). As of August 2022, Jichiro had approximately 740,000 members.

Source: The Japan News