An advisory panel on Thursday presented Labor Minister Bunmei Ibuki with a final report calling for the introduction of a system under which wages are determined in accordance with work achievements rather than working hours.

The report, compiled by the Labor Standards Council, is more or less in line with proposals on easing labor regulations put forward by business and corporate management organizations. The Labor Ministry plans to draw up a bill to revise the Labor Standards Law on the basis of the report and is expected to present it in next year's regular Diet session.

The proposed revision would promote the diversification of working styles and have a major impact on all workers. The report does not contain any legal restrictions on overtime work or provisions for punishing firms whose staff work more than a given number of hours a month, as labor representatives on the panel had been strongly demanding, but instead it proposes to provide goals for upper limits that businesses must strive to attain.

The report cites only the views of both sides concerning the main problems on which labor and management have opposing views. Wages linked to working achievements are now limited to attorneys, designers and nine other occupations. But under the proposed revision, this system would be expanded to business planners, inspectors and others.