Japan's health ministry is planning to ban employees from working for 14 consecutive days or more, a move aimed at improving workers' mental health and tackling the nation’s infamous overwork problem.
An expert committee discussing amendments to the Labor Standards Act made the proposal to introduce a limit on consecutive workdays in a draft outline of its report on labor regulations released Tuesday.
Under current law, employers are required to provide one day off per week, but have the flexibility to schedule these as four days off spread across a four-week period. This can see some employees working up to 48 consecutive days. Additionally, a "36 Agreement” made between an employer and a workers’ union means employees can be forced to work even on holidays, removing any limit on consecutive workdays.
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