Telework was initially introduced as an emergency- and evacuation-based measure due to the spread of COVID-19. However, since it is no longer necessary to restrict the movement of people or avoid on-site work, there has been a shift from such teleworking back to the conventional commuting style, mainly among small and medium-sized enterprises. Meanwhile, some companies have viewed telework as a way of working that improves the well-being of their employees and are taking novel measures, such as making telework a regular work style. At present, there is a mixture of conflicting trends regarding telework. Given such circumstances, this special feature views telework as one of the sustainable working styles of the future. This feature includes five papers that examine the efforts made toward establishing such a style and the issues that have emerged as a result, especially those relating to the ideal form of health management, labor management, and legal policy, from various perspectives.

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Telework was rapidly introduced as a measure against COVID-19. When examining the spread of telework from a medical perspective, the greatest problem is that the health impact on workers is unknown. Many papers have been published recently, but these have several problems, including the (1) the difficulty of distinguishing between the effects of the COVID-19 crisis and the unique effects of telework, (2) the presence of effects unique to Japan, and (3) the fact that most were cross-sectional studies. Nevertheless, there has been slow but steady progress in occupational health management methods.

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This article summarizes the situation to date regarding work from home （WFH） due to the COVID-19 pandemic. How WFH has affected workers is also discussed by introducing some relevant research from a survey on changes in work styles and workers’ health during the coronavirus pandemic（ CORoNaWork project） and other studies. The discussions on telework, including telecommuting after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, are also included.

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It has already been three years since COVID-19 forced the accelerated introduction of telework. Although telework continues to be established in society even as the pandemic recedes, many companies are returning to on-site work. Telework has led to the emergence of legal issues relating to work styles as well as problematic issues identified by human resources departments. Therefore, I describe here the necessity of telework and the issues in its establishment, improved well-being due to telework, and management methods that should be thought of as sustainable.

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This study investigated how the work environment increases coworkers’ fairness perceptions toward telecommuting users based on work-life balance research and equity theory. The survey results showed that task autonomy and job complexity increased fairness perceptions toward telecommuting policy users. Additionally, high task interdependence strengthened the relationship between task autonomy and fairness perception, and between job complexity and fairness perception.

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The study provides a summary of the legal issues related to the health problems of telecommuting workers. First, the legal regulations for employers regarding workers’ health problems are summarized. This is followed by an investigation of their specific application, with a focus on public law regulations: (1) work environment issues, (2) labor volume issues, (3) labor quality issues, and finally (4) private law liability issues.

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Labor laws in Japan are generally soft laws, and the Japanese legal system has yet to sufficiently recognize gig work; however, different laws with different principles exist in order to combat labor issues and regulate behaviors of business owners with the help of group dynamics (such as worker and customer trust in business owners). One reason to value an agreement with management in setting work rules is to ensure that management strictly follows these rules once they have been established. In terms of versatility and flexibility, labor laws in Japan may, to some extent, serve as a useful reference in a global context. In Japan, the scope of major labor protection laws for individuals (Labor Standards Act, Industrial Safety and Health Act, Labor Contracts Act, and Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act) is not broad enough to appropriately cover gig work. The laws permit several interpretations, but they have limited flexibility. Laws that govern labor-management relations, including the Labor Union Act, may apply to gig work. In cases where they do, employers cannot refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of the workers, which would allow the representatives to discuss safety and health matters with the employer in question. The Industrial Safety and Health Act includes provisions reflecting the principle that a person who generates risk is responsible for risk management. The scope of the act has been gradually extended through legal interpretation and amendments. Still, it may not apply to all gig work. The Home Work Act for homeworkers or home handicraft workers requires both contractees and contractors to implement diverse health and safety controls. Although the act has been applied to limited types of work, in view of its similarity in terms of formative background (including the prohibition of evasion of responsibility by employers), some amendments could make the act applicable to a broader range of job types. The civil responsibility of employers for employees' occupational health and safety may bolster the principle that a person generating risk is responsible for risk management, and this part of the law has the highest potential to be applied to gig work. This would require, however, a relationship between the platform and the gig worker such that the platform can establish, control, and manage work conditions or command authority over the worker, which would allow the risks of work-related accidents (damages) to be easier to predict and control. Regarding economic laws, the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Cooperatives Act provides a legal basis for the solidarity of sole proprietors and for negotiations with their clients. Still, it has been utilized very rarely to date. Essential duties to be imposed on platforms after new legislation is formulated in the future are risk investigation, provision of investigation results to gig workers, and a sincere response to collective bargaining, while measures to be taken by the government include investigations of general risks associated with gig work and of ideal countermeasures and the provision of relevant information. In addition, a scheme is necessary to make it possible that in cases where cooperatives that are protected under the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Cooperatives Act assign occupational physicians to conduct interviews with cooperative members, when the physicians deem it necessary to do so, cooperatives can approach contractees to improve the working conditions of the members in question. Furthermore, because research in occupational health and other fields has identified risks associated with gig work, in addition to future legislation, these schemes should be used to interpret the duty of consideration for safety and in mandatory negotiations between platforms and gig workers.

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In Japan, COVID-19 countermeasures in workplaces have not been enforced as legal obligations; rather, voluntary responses have been sought primarily in the form of requests for cooperation and recommendations, and resolutions have thus been attempted. However, many labor issues have arisen in this process. Research activities in the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare FY2021 Industrial Disease Clinical Research Grant “Research on the creation of guidelines, system maintenance, and tool development that contributes to comprehensive infectious disease prevention measures in the workplace” were used as a basis to report primarily on the following: (1) The authority to order individuals to undergo vaccination or COVID-19 testing, rationale and limits of the right to order transfers of non-vaccinated individuals, and effects of the violation of orders. (2) The spread of COVID-19 and obligation of workers to work, work-from-home requests, and user safety consideration obligations.

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X, who works for Association Y on a promotional track, applied for reinstatement into Association Y twice during their leave of absence due to schizophrenia. Both applications were rejected, and the individual was treated as retired after the leave of absence period expired. This is a case in which a lawsuit was filed to the effect that this decision was illegal and invalid. In the judgment, all of X’s claims were dismissed as groundless, and the case of Japan Fishing Vessel Insurance Association (Tokyo District Court Judgment dated August 27, 2020), whose treatment of the individual as retired at the end of the leave of absence period was deemed valid although the attending physician judged that the individual could return to work, is examined here, with commentary provided.

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The technical brief for ‘Healthy and safe telework’ was developed by a joint WHO/ILO technical advisory group in February 2022. This document addresses the following questions: 1)What are the impacts of telework on the physical and mental health and social well-being of workers and their families? 2)How can employers and workers organize and carry out teleworking in a healthy and safe manner? 3)What are the roles and responsibilities of employers in protecting workers’ health and safety, and providing a supportive environment for telework? 4)What are the roles and responsibilities of workers and their representatives in protecting and promoting health and safety while teleworking? 5)How can occupational health services and primary health care providers support the health and safety of teleworkers? This document was developed based on a rapid review of evidence about health impacts of telework as of June 2021, and an examination of existing relevant WHO guidelines and ILO norms and standards regarding occupational safety and health, health behaviors and working environments. In this article, we introduce the Japanese translation of the technical brief and interpret the implementation into workplaces in Japan.

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In September 2021, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan revised the certification criteria for industrial injuries related to brain and heart disease based on the latest medical knowledge. It has been almost 20 years since the last revision. Additionally, it has been over 10 years since the establishment of industrial injury certification standards for mental disorders. Given the current trend of diversifying working styles, we have been verifying the overall criteria to conduct revisions. The latest situation for industrial injury compensation for brain/heart diseases and mental disorders (e.g., karoshi (overwork)) is introduced in this study, and the process and thinking behind revisions to the certification criteria for brain/ heart disease are explained.

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