japan law - working hours / breaks

[bobby12 0]

At work we get 5 mins break in the morning and 5 mins in the afternoon. 50 mins for lunch.

 

Is this legal?

 

In the UK its law that you get 5 mins break for every hour, which usually means around 15mins in the AM and 15mins in the PM.

 

I wouldn't mind but they are so pedantic about it, I just got told off for getting a coffee outside breaktime and for 'always' (this is not even true) going for coffee with my colleague.

[fukdane 2]

Don't know about lawful but that sounds very tight.

[YellowSnow 0]

Read your exact contract, its sounds pretty legal and almost the same situation as I am in.

 

You probably are not getting paid for your lunch either.

 

You are a contract employee and not a permanent employee by the sounds of it.

 

Also I don't get paid overtime unless I do more than 40hours extra in that month.

 

Coffee brakes, take up smoking and nobody will complain. This is the unfair rule of office politics law for the non-smoker.

[spook 0]

what a stupid way to work. i really can't think of any other way to describe that, it just really sounds daft to me.

so long as you get your work done well, and hit all your billable hours (6.5/7.5 hours a day i'm assuming?) what does it matter how many breaks you take?

 

i'm not a lawyer but work in a law firm in Oz. people work very hard, but generally seem to have free reign over their routine. so long as you're punching out good work and hitting your targets, it seems that you can skive around on the net, go grab a coffee etc.

[SirJibAlot 0]

I work in a sweatshop, the boss (we call him boss-san) beats us with a bamboo wick if we stop working for even 1 minute. 16 hour days are the norm with no weekends in summer and fall, but we are given weekends off during the winter to snowboard, that makes it all worthwhile.

[bobby12 0]

I think I am a permanent employee. I'm not a seishain, but thats another story. I have a 2 yr contract. No overtime pay, but rarely asked to do it (however peer pressure is huge to do so).

 

The main thing I want to know is if there is a mandatory '5 mins per hour' break law like in the UK.

[indosnm 0]

even if there were workers rights like a 5 min break every hour you'd get sacked for taking it.

[bobby12 0]

I found one page of info but it was vague. It said you must get a 1 hour break every 8 hours. It didn't say if this included lunch break or not. Presumably it does, because here that is exactly what we get: (50mins) lunch + (2 x 5mins) break = 60 mins per 8 hours.

[YellowSnow 0]

I know how you feel bobby in the UK and Ireland it is 30 minutes every 4 hours. Which means if you are working a 9 - 5 job you are getting paid for lunch. But here you are not.

 

Also even with a 2 year contract you are not a permanent worker, but don't worry in Japan sometimes being a permanent worker is worse off, you can actually be fired easier and your pay is more relevant to your performance.

 

If you a good worker and something better come along all their bitching about a 5 minute break offers them no loyalties.

[quattro 1]

The first 5 hours of overtime we works are no pay. We don't get ant OT till we work 46 hours.

[gamera 0]

See the article #34

http://info.pref.fukui.jp/kokusai/tagengo/html_e/konnatoki/3sigoto/e_hourei/roudou.html

 

Doesn't explain if it includes lunch time or not.

Vague

 

 

When I worked for a bank, I didn't see anyone took any other break apart from the lunch time, so I guess lunch time included?

 

But anyway it's long ago.... law might have been changed.

[bobby12 0]

The article I saw was provided by kanagawa-ken, based on that same thing - same wording. As you say it is vague regarding lunch.

 

 Quote:

If you a good worker and something better come along all their bitching about a 5 minute break offers them no loyalties.

You nailed it right on the head. I have also stopped staying for 60-90mins extra every night, and soon as the 5.30 bell chimes I do japanese study for 15mins to not make it too obvious then leave. So their moaning about something so ridiculous is going to cost the company 5 to 7.5 hours free labour a week, and they gained literally nothing.

[gamera 0]

I think most important thing is how effectively people work, not how long they do.

[fjef 0]

Office hours & breaks etc are covered by Company Work Rules which every company with 15 or more employees is required to have registered with the Labour Ministry. As long as the Work Rules are approved by the Ministry, they are in effect - but they will vary significantly between companies. Most employees have never read their work rules and few companies bother to keep them current.

 

I have seen many different company's Work Rules but I have never seen ones that cover mandatory breaks. Ask your employer to provide you with a copy of their registered Work Rules - and be prepared to be very disappointed!

[samurai 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by gamera:
I think most important thing is how effectively people work, not how long they do.

I think so too, but tragically, this is not the case in my experience in japan. It seems many employees find value in staying after the bell rings so they can sleep at their desk.

[bobby12 0]

The fact is we are all human. Everyone needs sleep, food, and... breaks at work to function efficiently.

 

The whole Ganbaru thing is nonsense.

 

You often see Japanese up at 4am rushing around, but come 11am they are feeling asleep at their desk/on the train/in the ski-area canteen etc. If you get up at 4am then you gotta go to bed at 7pm or so - theres no cheating the body.

 

As Aristotle once said 'moderation in all things' - in other words get your life balanced properly and achieve the Eudaimonia (happiness).

[YellowSnow 0]

You sound quite like me bobby, when I am pissed of at work, I spend overtime looking for new jobs, improving my linux skills for said new job and sometimes just do nothing but read the Internet all day.

 

I am great at hiding it too, I am the only person in my office using linux as their default desktop, so if the boss if wondering around he cant catch what I am looking at so easily, also if I feel they are really looking I will go back to using a text browser with a transparent terminal.

[sanjo 2]

 Quote:

The whole Ganbaru thing is nonsense.

Often yes, perhaps one of the most used Japanese words?

Easy to learn and use though

[bobby12 0]

I'm a web developer so my job is to look at the internet. If anyone says anything I can say I am researching layouts etc. No-one has the balls to say anything anyway, at least not to my face.

[YellowSnow 0]

what sites do you spend your hours reading?

/.

kuro?

[bobby12 0]

i should be looking at slashdot etc but usually im on here else working.

 

I'm doing a huge site by myself in 5+ languages and I already have 3 years or work to do in my schedule I enjoy it so I'm happy to actually work hard and do free overtime - until some moron starts having a go at me for taking my coffee break and then I really start wanting to slack just to spite them.