Small and medium-sized employers are also obligated to at least a 50% premium rate for overtime work in excess of 60 hours per month - effective April 1, 2023

◆Abolition of deferral measures

Effective April 1, 2023, the regulation that the premium wage rate for overtime work in excess of 60 hours per month shall be "at least 50%" also applies to small and medium-sized employers.

Originally, when an employee worked overtime or on holidays, the employer had to pay premium wages calculated at a rate of not less than 25% and not more than 50%. However, due to an amendment that came into effect on April 1, 2010, it was stipulated that premium wages calculated at a rate of 50% or more must be paid for over 60 hours worked per month. 

However, this revision was not applied to small and medium-sized employers (employers with 300 or fewer workers , 50 or fewer in the retail industry and 100 or fewer in the wholesale or service industry), but it will be applied from April 1, 2023.

◆Alternate leave provisions also apply

The "compensatory leave" provision will be applied to small and medium-sized employers as well, along with the provision that the premium wage rate for overtime work in excess of 60 hours per month be at least 50% of the monthly rate.

Alternative leave is a paid leave of absence in lieu of payment of premium wages at the legally mandated increased rate of premium wages for workers who work overtime in excess of 60 hours in a month, based on a labor-management agreement.

Items to be agreed upon by labor and management include the calculation method of how many hours of compensatory leave should be granted for hours worked in excess of 60 hours per month, and the unit of measure for compensatory leave (one day or half a day).

In addition, when introducing the system, it should be noted that whether or not an individual worker actually takes an alternative leave depends on the worker's intention, and that if an alternative leave is implemented through a labor-management agreement, the matters related to the alternative leave must be stated as "leave" in the work rules.

Don't forget to advise your employees to transfer their corporate DC assets upon their retirement!

◆The total amount of assets left in corporate DC is approximately 260 billion yen!

According to a summary by the National Pension Fund Association, the pension assets of approximately 1.12 million people have been left unmanaged in the defined contribution corporate pension plan (hereafter, "corporate DC"). The number of participants has increased by 1.5 times since the end of fiscal year 2017, when public records were available, and the total amount was approximately 260 billion yen as of the end of the previous fiscal year.

◆Assets to be transferred after loss of company-type DC eligibility

If an employee retires before the age of 60 and loses eligibility for the company DC, there are two major options: (1) transfer assets to another company DC, or (2) transfer assets to iDeCo. You have two major options. If the transfer procedure is not completed within 6 months of the loss of eligibility, the assets will be automatically sold and converted into cash and transferred to the account of the National Pension Fund Association or a specific operation management institution. (so called automatic transfer).

◆Disadvantages of "automatic transfer

If automatic transfers are made, not only are fees charged to the National Pension Fund Association and the specified management institution, but also monthly management fees are charged, and it is not possible to give investment instructions for the assets or request benefits. In addition, the total period of participation will not be counted, and the start of receiving benefits may be delayed.

Corporate practitioners should remember to advise their employees about this corporate DC asset transfer, along with other retirement procedures, when they retire.

Reference

For those who are employed (or have changed jobs) or retired -- the iDeCo official website

https://www.ideco-koushiki.jp/retirement/

"Human Capital Management" in the spotlight

◆Human Capital Management, which is gaining momentum

The themes of "human capital" and "human capital management" have been gaining momentum in recent years, and on August 30 of this year, the Cabinet Secretariat released "Guidelines for Human Capital Visualization," which has been covered in a variety of media. This guideline provides guidelines for disclosure of human capital for listed companies, but even for non-listed companies, the content of the guideline cannot be ignored as a reference for the future direction of corporate management.

◆Human capital activity of companies is about 30-40%

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) defines "human capital management" as a management approach that views human resources as capital and maximizes their value to enhance long-term corporate value.

According to a survey on the topic of human capital management conducted by Recruit Co., Ltd. of 10,459 people working for companies, the percentage of people who feel that their current workplace is the optimal department assignment and who feel that their job assignment is such that their knowledge, skills, and experience can be utilized is about 30%, the percentage of people who can verbalize their knowledge, skills, and experience related to their current job and those who understand the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to improve the level of their current job was about 40%.

These results show that the current state of companies is far cry from human capital management, which is about maximizing the value of human resources.

◆Watch out for future developments!

In August, the "Human Capital Management Consortium" was established with the participation of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Financial Services Agency (FSA) as observers to share advanced cases of human capital management practices, discuss cooperation among companies, and study effective disclosure of information. We will keep a close watch on future developments.

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Report of the Study Group on Improvement of Sustainable Corporate Value and Human Capital

https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/economy/jinteki_shihon/pdf/20200930_2e.pdf

60% Increase in Work-related Accidents for Mental Disorders, Sexual Harassment Prominent - White Paper on Death from Overwork

On April 21, the Japanese government approved the 2022 edition of the "White Paper on Measures to Prevent Death by Overwork," which analyzes the current situation of death by overwork and suicide by overwork. The report introduces data showing that the number of workers' compensation certifications for depression and other mental disorders increased by more than 60% over the 10-year period from FY10 to FY19. The report also points out that the number of cases involving women has increased by nearly 80%, and that sexual harassment is the cause in many cases.

According to the white paper, the number of cases of workers' compensation for mental disorders increased from 308 in FY10 to 509 in FY19. An official from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare analyzed the reasons for the increase, saying, "Awareness of labor issues has increased due to reforms in work styles and other factors.

By industry, "manufacturing," "wholesale and retail," and "medical care and welfare" were the most common industries, in that order.

The number of women certified increased from 104 to 179, a noticeable increase. Since FY12, when the criteria were changed, "Sexual harassment" and "Experiencing or witnessing a tragic accident or disaster" have accounted for 20% each of the reasons for certification.

The most common reason given by men was "constant long working hours," followed by "events causing a change in the content or volume of work".

Examples of Nonpayment of Overtime Wages and Efforts to Eliminate it ～From "Results of Correction of Unpaid Overtime Work by Supervisory Guidance (FY2021)," Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

◆Non-payment of wages by companies

Non-payment of wages is one of the most frequently consulted issues by the Labor Standards Inspection Office because it is a major problem that directly affects workers' lives. In many cases, the Labor Standards Inspection Office will issue supervisory guidance to companies based on information that workers are not being paid for overtime hours worked, and companies with inappropriate management practices will be forced to take action through such supervisory guidance.

◆The average amount of retroactive payments per company is 6.09 million yen

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has announced a list of cases in which, as a result of supervisory guidance by the Labor Standards Bureau, extra wages were not paid in the fiscal year 2021 (April 2021 to March 2022) and the total amount paid was 1 million yen or more for a single company. According to the report, 1,069 companies (an increase of 7 companies from the previous year) retroactively paid premium wages of 1 million yen or more. The average amount of extra wages paid per company was 6.09 million yen, and 115 companies paid extra wages of 10 million yen or more.

◆Examples of Efforts to Eliminate Unpaid Overtime

This report also introduces examples of efforts to eliminate unpaid overtime, including the following

◎Conduct training sessions on proper management of working hours for managers of each facility.

◎Personnel evaluation should newly include matters related to proper working hour management.

◎Management continuously instructs workers on the correct recording of working hours.

◎Managers check computer usage records and attendance records twice a month, and if there is a discrepancy between the two records, confirm the reason for the discrepancy with the worker.

It seems that many companies are experiencing a trend of under-reporting overtime hours. Why not take another look at the actual situation in your company?

The period of medical treatment for persons infected with the new coronavirus has been shortened.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced in its September 7 administrative communication to local governments, "Review of Medical Treatment Period for Patients with New Type Coronavirus Infection," that the medical treatment period for patients infected with new type coronavirus will be reduced from the current 10 days in principle to 7 days. This change became effective on the same day. The contents of this administrative communication are as follows.

◆If symptoms are present, within 7 days

For symptomatic patients who are positive for new-type coronavirus infection, the cancellation can be made from the 8th day if 7 days have passed since the onset date and 24 hours have passed after the symptoms have abated.

However, until 10 days have passed, there is still a risk of infection, and therefore, the government requests that people check their own health condition by taking their temperature, avoid contact with high-risk individuals such as the elderly, unnecessary visits to high-risk facilities, use of high-risk places, and business meals, etc., and to take thorough voluntary measures to prevent infection by wearing a mask, etc.

In addition, for those who are currently hospitalized (including those admitted to an elderly care facility), the cancellation will be possible from the 11th day if 10 days have passed since the onset date and 72 hours have elapsed since the symptoms abated (unchanged from the previous version).

◆ Asymptomatic to 5 days

In the case of asymptomatic cases, as in the past, the treatment can be lifted on the 8th day if 7 days have elapsed from the date of specimen collection. In addition, if the test kit on the 5th day shows a negative result, the patient can be released on the 6th day.

However, until 7 days have passed, the risk of infection remains, and the government asks that people check their own health status, such as by taking their temperature, avoid contact with high-risk individuals such as the elderly, unnecessary visits to high-risk facilities, use of high-risk places, and business meals together, as well as wearing masks, and take other voluntary measures to prevent infection.

◆Restrictions on curfew also eased

As for refraining from going out during the recuperation period, symptomatic patients may go out as long as 24 hours have passed after the symptoms have abated. As for asymptomatic patients, they may go out only for a short time when going out or in contact with others, not use public transportation when traveling, and go out as little as necessary, including grocery shopping, provided that they take thorough voluntary infection prevention measures such as always wearing a mask when going out and in contact with others. 

Even if the release of the recuperation period is shortened, basic infection prevention measures must continue to be taken.

Encourage those who have health checkup findings to take medical examinations!

◆"Encouragement of medical examinations" with many advantages for businesses

Are you just being made to undergo a medical checkup?

For workers who are found to be in need of reexamination, need close examination, or need medical care, it is appropriate for employers to "identify workers who are eligible for a secondary health checkup, recommend that they receive a secondary health checkup, and encourage them to submit the results of the secondary health checkup, which has been evaluated by a physician regarding the diagnosis category, to the employer. (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, "Guidelines for Measures to be Taken by Employers Based on Health Examination Results"). There have been cases in which companies have been charged with violating their duty of care for safety because they failed to make this medical examination recommendation, so caution should be exercised.

In addition, workers' health risks are reduced if they receive medical care before their illnesses become serious. If workers can continue to work in good health for a long period of time, it will lead to higher corporate productivity and, ultimately, better business performance.

Recently, many companies do not recommend medical examinations from the viewpoint of personal information protection and privacy, but the company should definitely be proactive in this regard..

◆Methods of recommending medical examinations

Although it is sometimes possible to verbally encourage the patient to seek medical attention, it is generally recommended that the recommendation to seek medical attention be made in writing. Examples of such documents are available on websites, etc., and it is advisable to prepare them with reference to them.

https://www.kyoukaikenpo.or.jp/~/media/Files/osaka/kensin/2021/jyusinkansyo_bunsyo.pdf

◆Actions to be taken when some workers do not receive medical examinations after being recommended to do so

It is possible that workers do not receive medical examinations even after being recommended to do so. From the viewpoint of the duty of care for safety, it is important to leave evidence that the company was doing its best to fulfill its duty, just in case. For example, it is important to record what kind of medical examinations were recommended by the company, and for what reasons the workers refused to receive them.