Subcommittee considers putting majority-representative rules into law, and annual paid leave days and payA council is considering whether to set in law how a company and its workers choose their representative
At its 211th meeting on September 16, 2026 (Reiwa 8), the Labour Conditions Subcommittee of the Labour Policy Council at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare took up two concrete issues in working-hours law: how collective labour-management communication should work, including majority labour unions and majority representatives, and annual paid leave. The materials pose points as questions, such as whether to write rules into law. No conclusion has been decided.
Key points
- The requirements for a majority representative, including the selection procedure, are currently set only in the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act. Writing them into the law was raised as a point
- Requiring employers to provide information and support for activities, and prohibiting disadvantageous treatment because a person is a majority representative, were also raised as points to be written into the law
- On annual paid leave, the subcommittee asked how to view the 5-day employer-designation duty also applying to workers with a short period in which leave can be granted, and the 5-day cap on hourly leave
- On pay during annual leave, one point is to make the usual wage for scheduled working hours the rule in principle, with average wage and other options still selectable by labour-management agreement
What to do in practice
- Check how your company selects its majority representative, including whether it reflects the employees' will
- Check how your work rules set the pay for annual leave (usual wage, average wage, etc.)
When a company makes an important agreement with its workers, a representative of more than half of them takes part. A national council is discussing whether to write down more clearly in law how that representative is chosen and protected. Paid vacation rules are also on the table. Nothing has been decided yet.
- 1. How to chooseWhether to write in law how the representative is chosen
- 2. Company's helpWhether to write in law that the company shares information and helps their work
- 3. ProtectionWhether to write in law that they must not lose out for being a representative
Points
- The national council discussed this on September 16, 2026
- The topics include whether to write in law how the representative is chosen and that they must not lose out for being one
- Rules on paid vacation days and pay are also discussed, and nothing is decided yet
What the words mean
- Majority representative
- A person who speaks for more than half of a company's workers when making agreements with the company
- Labour-management agreement
- A promise about how people work, made between the company and the workers' representative
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW): MHLW: Materials for the 211th meeting of the Labour Conditions Subcommittee, Labour Policy Council
This article previews items that are still under consideration or only requested. Whether they will be adopted, and whether the content or timing will change, is not final. Please check the official source again once a decision is made.
This article summarizes and explains materials published by government agencies and is not advice on any individual case. Rules can change, so for actual procedures and decisions always check the latest original materials and consult professionals such as tax accountants or labor and social security attorneys. English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese versions are translations prepared from the Japanese articles for convenience. If anything differs, the Japanese text and the original source take precedence.