Ministry asks panel for advice on work style reform bill

September 9, 2017

TOKYO- Japan's labor ministry asked Friday a government panel for advice on a planned bill for work style reforms, including new overtime caps and measures to help realize equal pay for equal work.

The ministry submitted an outline of the bill to the Labor Policy Council, which advises the labor minister. The ministry hopes that the measure will enter into force in April 2019.

The legislation will be introduced to an extraordinary session of the Diet, Japan's parliament, to be convened late this month.

The bill, however, is likely to face a rocky road ahead because it will call for a new system that opposition parties and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, have branded as one aimed at eliminating overtime pay. Jiji Press