Employers should always do their best to ensure that shiftworkers get all their legal breaks. Different rules apply to breaks for children under 18. 4.5.6 Changes in the working time system Some jobs result in significant peaks and troughs in the number of working hours depending on the year, month or week. In some of these cases, companies are allowed to introduce a system for calculating working time, in which the company does not have to pay increased rates certain weeks or days, even if employees work beyond the working hours prescribed by law, provided that the employees concerned do not work more than the average working time prescribed by law in a predetermined period of time. In this case, however, a labour management contract must be concluded or corresponding provisions must be included in the working rules before a flexible system can be adopted. If you think you`re not getting the breaks you`re entitled to, it`s best to raise the issue with your employer first. Note: A break at the end of the working day is not acceptable and does not comply with the law. The new provisions will not affect those agreements or arrangements that will be collectively negotiated in the future. These exceptions are allowed provided that the worker is granted an equivalent compensatory rest period. This means that if a rest period is postponed, the employee must be allowed to take it within a reasonable time. The Workplace Relations Board has a code of conduct for compensatory rest periods. Federal law does not prescribe lunch or coffee breaks. However, if employers offer short breaks (usually about 5 to 20 minutes), federal law considers breaks to be compensable hours of work that would be included in the sum of the hours worked during the work week and taken into account in determining whether overtime was worked.

Unauthorized extensions of approved work breaks should not be counted as hours worked if the employer has expressly and unequivocally informed the employee that the approved break can only last for a certain period of time, that any extension of the break violates the employer`s rules, and that any extension of the break will be punished. Rest time regulations Distinguish between rest periods of 5 to 20 minutes and compensable waiting time or on-call time, all of which are paid working hours. However, the extension of working time to a certain number of hours across borders may only be included in the agreement through appropriate work management procedures for a certain period of time if there are exceptional circumstances for the extension of working time beyond the above-mentioned defined limits. The provisions of the Working Time Organisation Act 1997 on breaks and rest periods do not apply to all employees. It is up to the employer to decide whether to offer longer or additional breaks in the working day, such as: Employees are entitled to an uninterrupted rest of 20 minutes during their working day if they work more than 6 hours a day. This could be a tea break or lunch. You can talk to an Acas consultant if you have any questions about how breaks should be taken. *1 Under this system, the working time of employees whose statutory working time is 44 hours per week applies under the exceptions referred to in 4.5.1 1. stays 44 hours.

*The rates of increase for positions 2 and 6 reflect revisions to the Act respecting labour standards, which came into force on April 1, 2010 (previously, there was no special rate for these categories of overtime). For the time being, these new rates of increase will not apply to small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, under the new revisions, employers can offer paid leave instead of overtime pay if they are agreed to in an employment management contract. This section does not apply to an employer who has entered into a band hours agreement with its employees under .B a collective agreement, for example in the retail trade, where agreements on bandwork time have been agreed between the employer and the employees. 4.5.2 Overtime and Free Work Agreements Any employer who requires employees to work beyond legal working hours or during statutory days off must submit notice of the overtime and leave agreement to its local labour standards inspection office. If employers force employees to work overtime or on days off without notice of the overtime agreement and to work on days off, they may be penalized. The definition of a rest period is any period that is not working time. The rest periods provided for in the Working Time Organisation Act 1997 are as follows: For more information on breaks and rest periods and the rights of your employees, please contact the Information and Customer Service of the Workplace Relations Commission – see “Where to apply” below. 4.5.7 Discretionary working time system If employees work outside companies or if the progress of work is left to employees to a large extent, an ordinary method of calculating working time may be inappropriate. In such a case, there is a “supposed working time system”, which assumes that the employees have worked for a certain period of time. If the presumed hours of work exceed the legal hours of work, increased wage rates occur for overtime.

Part-time workers are granted paid annual leave in proportion to the number of prescribed working days they work. Shiftworkers may not be entitled to full statutory rest breaks for the working day or week if both points apply: workers are entitled to an 11-hour break between working days, e.B. if they stop working at 8 p.m..m, they should not start working again until 7 a.m. the next day.m. Labour standards inspectors are civil servants who, under Japan`s labour standards legislation, are assigned the role of entering any type of business establishment to ensure compliance with legal regulations and support the improvement of working conditions. 4.5.4 Overtime pay Companies must pay an increased rate of pay according to the following table to employees who exceed legal working hours, work during statutory holidays or work late at night (between 22:00 and 05:00). In some cases, an employee may need to take this break in different ways. This could be the case if something happens at work that is unexpected and beyond the employer`s control, for example. B an accident. For example, the break could be taken as 2 separate 10-minute breaks.

Zero-hour workers generally have the same rights to rest as other workers. For night workers, the maximum night work time is usually 48 hours per week, calculated on average over a period of 2 months or a longer period specified in a collective agreement that must be approved by the labour court. 4.5.8. Paid leave Employers must grant 10 days of paid leave to employees who have worked for six consecutive months from the date of recruitment and who have worked at least 80% of all scheduled working days. This paid leave can be taken one after the other or separately. If an employee`s request for paid leave interferes with the normal operations of the business, the employer may require the employee to take the paid leave at another time. The number of days of paid leave available to employees increases in proportion to the seniority of employees, as shown in the following table. The average can be compensated over a period of 4, 6 or 12 months, depending on the circumstances. The maximum weekly average of 48 hours may be calculated according to the following rules: it defines a “night worker” as an employee who (a) habitually works at least 3 hours of his daily working time during the night, and (b) the number of hours worked by whom, during the night of each year, is equal to or greater than 50% of the total number of hours worked by him during that year.

4.5.5 Exceptions for managers and superiors Persons in managerial or supervisory positions, as well as persons who perform confidential administrative work and are closely involved in management, are not subject to the regulations on working hours, breaks and rest days (with the exception of regulations on night work). Whether he is considered a manager or supervisor is comprehensively assessed on the basis of facts such as: While paid annual leave was previously taken in full-day units, up to five days of paid leave per year can now be taken in hourly units if agreed in an employment management contract (in the context of revisions to the labour standards, which came into force on April 1, 2010). If an employee has to miss a break for work reasons (p.B. if there is an emergency at work or if he changes the pace of shifts), his employer must ensure that the break is taken in a different way. This is sometimes called “compensatory rest”. Meal times (usually at least 30 minutes) serve a purpose other than coffee or snack breaks and are therefore not working time and cannot be compensated. This section deals with the labor laws and regulations of Japan. Topics covered include hiring, employment contracts, wages, working hours, labor rules, occupational safety, hygiene requirements, dismissal and dismissal procedures, as well as Japan`s social security, health and pension systems. In general, you are entitled to a 15-minute break if you have worked 4 and a half hours. If you work more than 6 hours, you are entitled to a 30-minute break, which may include the first 15-minute break.

There is no right to payment for these breaks and they are not considered working time. Domestic workers in a private home (for example. B a cleaner or au pair) are not entitled to rest for health and safety reasons. .