4 実行可能な労働時間政策を求めて : 仕事と労働時間(I 共通論題=労働・生活時間の構造変化から見る社会政策)

抄録

Legislation governing work hours is rather strict in Japan when considered from a legal standpoint. In fact, however, overtime as an exception in law is a daily phenomenon in the Japanese labor world. Many people work overtime and come home late on a regular basis. This situation has a serious impact on family life. Therefore, this paper proposes a feasible work time policy in the modern Japanese context. Initially discussed are the meaning and purpose of "work." Employees not only work for money, but also for a sense of personal identity and career development. No one wants to do meaningless work. Thus, a work time policy must be discussed from this perspective. Four proposed measures to maintain appropriate work time are as follows: (1) Monitoring companies more closely. A fair labor market cannot be maintained when certain companies earn profits illegally at the expense of law-abiding companies. Therefore, the functions of the Labor Standards Supervision Office must be expanded and strengthened. (2) Establishing fair overtime pay. When viewed from the labor cost per time, overtime work is economical for employers. This situation gives companies a strong incentive to pursue overtime work. Therefore, the Labor Standards Law should be revised immediately to address this problem. (3) Applying work hour regulations according to wage level. The exemption of work hour regulations is currently at the discretion of management. The position of "manager" is often abused in avoiding application of the law. Consequently, it may be necessary to consider a regulation based on wage level. (4) Diversifying the Sei-shain (full-time employee) position. In the history of Japanese industrial relations, labor unions had long demanded that employers give union members the employment position known as Sei-shain. This demand was finally met after World War II. Nowadays, Sei-shain often means a full commitment to the company and long work hours. We need new and diverse definitions of Sei-shain status in order to achieve a better balance between work time and personal life. The most important point is to give companies an incentive to reduce work hours.