#5 Break Times in the Workplace
- Kentaro Oishi, Yasuyo Miyoshi
- Feb 7, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 7
In today's fast-paced work environments, ensuring that employees have adequate time to rest is not only a legal requirement but also a key factor in maintaining productivity and job satisfaction. Recent discussions in Japan have highlighted the importance of break management, especially in industries like technology and healthcare, where long working hours are common. With the government's increasing focus on promoting work-life balance, understanding and properly implementing break time rules is more crucial than ever. Here, we delve into the legal framework governing break times in the workplace.
Minimum Break Time Requirements
Under Article 34, Paragraph 1 of the Labor Standards Act (労働基準法: Rōdō kijun hō), employers are required to provide break times based on the length of an employee’s working hours. If the working hours exceed 6 hours, the employee must receive at least 45 minutes of break time. For working hours exceeding 8 hours, the required break time increases to at least one hour.
Uniform Break Times to All Employees
The break time mentioned above must be provided to all employees at the same time (per Article 34, Paragraph 2). This requirement does not apply to certain industries (such as retail, hospitality, and entertainment) where operational requirements may necessitate staggered breaks. This principle also applies to employees under flexible working hours or variable working hours systems.
An exemption from this uniform break time requirement can be arranged through a labor-management agreement. Such an agreement must specify the scope of workers who are exempted from simultaneous breaks and detail the manner in which their breaks will be provided, in accordance with the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act (労働基準法施行規則: Rōdō kijun hō shikōkisoku), Article 15, Paragraph 1.
Freedom During Breaks
Employers must allow workers the freedom to utilize their break times as they wish (per Article 34, Paragraph 3). This ensures that employees have the autonomy to rest or engage in personal activities, free from work obligations during the required break times.
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