Abe apologizes for misusing data on discretionary work

February 20, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized Tuesday for using misleading data in a remark he made recently in parliament about the discretionary work system that his government aims to expand as part of work style reforms.

"It was inappropriate" to compare figures obtained from different questionnaires, Abe said at a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting.

"I sincerely apologize for that," the prime minister said at the committee of the lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament.

But Abe and labor minister Katsunobu Kato reiterated a policy of submitting work style reform legislation, including the envisaged expansion of the discretionary work system, to the ongoing Diet session, which is scheduled to run through June 20.

The labor ministry admitted Monday that the data comparison in question was improper.

Akira Nagatsuma, acting leader of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, questioned whether there was any influence on the data misuse by Abe or senior officials of his administration, which has been promoting the work style reform legislation.

Abe said there was no instruction by him or his aides regarding the issue.

Nagatsuma urged the Abe administration to give up submitting the legislation, saying that the government should rewrite it from scratch as the data comparison was not made properly.

But Kato said his ministry plans to submit the legislation once preparations are completed.

Abe said his government has decided to strengthen measures to ensure worker health in response to concerns about long working hours, underlining the importance of the legislation.

Kato also suggested that he sees no need to modify the legislation. As employees can decide their working hours and the clock-in time on their own, the discretionary system allows them to work autonomously and creatively, he said.

The data in question were based on a fiscal 2013 ministry survey on working hours. The survey said that the average working hours of employees under the discretionary system were some 20 minutes shorter per day than those of ordinary workers.

Citing the data at a meeting of the Lower House Budget Committee on Jan. 29, Abe touted benefits of the discretionary system. But he withdrew the remark last week.

The ministry said Monday that it surveyed the longest daily overtime worked in a month by ordinary workers and simply added the statutory eight hours to calculate the daily working hours for them. For data comparison, the ministry cited regular daily working hours for employees under the discretionary system.

An improper comparison using the data was first presented in March 2015 to a meeting of the then largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

Kato said Tuesday that then labor minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki was not briefed on the data. Jiji Press