The Article 36 Agreement must be filed with the Labour Standards Inspection Office. Electronic filing via e-Gov is availableA rule: before asking people to work overtime, you must file a notice with the government office
To have employees work beyond the statutory working hours or on statutory holidays, an employer must first conclude an Article 36 Agreement (36 Kyotei) with the employees' side and file it with the Labour Standards Inspection Office. It can be filed electronically through e-Gov. The new form in use since April 2021 (Reiwa 3) no longer requires the employer's seal or signature.
- 1. Conclude the agreementEmployer and employees conclude the Article 36 Agreement
- 2. Prepare the notificationUse the current new form (no seal or signature needed)
- 3. File itWith the Labour Standards Inspection Office (e-Gov electronic filing is also possible)
- 4. Order overtimeOvertime and holiday work are allowed only after filing
Key points
- To have employees work overtime or on holidays, conclude an Article 36 Agreement in advance and file it with the Labour Standards Inspection Office.
- The Article 36 Agreement notification can be filed electronically through e-Gov, the government's online portal.
- The cap on overtime hours started in April 2019 (April 2020 for small and medium-sized enterprises), and the new forms are in use.
- According to the Nagasaki Labour Bureau, the new form, usable from April 2021 (Reiwa 3), no longer requires the employer's seal or signature, and adds a checkbox to confirm that the employee representative was properly selected.
What to do in practice
- If overtime is expected, conclude the agreement and file it before any overtime work takes place.
- Select the employee representative by an appropriate method, and prepare the notification using the current new form.
When a company wants people to work longer than the standard hours (that is, work overtime), it has to make an agreement with its workers and submit it to a government office. The office is the Labour Standards Inspection Office, and you can also submit it over the internet.
- April 2019A cap on overtime is set (starting with large companies)
- April 2020The cap also starts to apply to small and medium-sized businesses
- From April 2021 (Reiwa 3)A new form that needs no seal can be used
Points
- Before asking people to work overtime, make an agreement (the Article 36 Agreement).
- Submit the agreement you made to the Labour Standards Inspection Office.
- You can also submit it online through e-Gov.
What the words mean
- Article 36 Agreement (36 Kyotei)
- A promise between a company and its workers about overtime and working on days off
- Labour Standards Inspection Office
- A government office that checks whether the rules about working are being followed
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW): MHLW: Check Your Working Conditions: Article 36 Agreement
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW): MHLW Nagasaki Labour Bureau: Guide to the changed form and electronic filing of the Article 36 Agreement notification
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.