University of Tokyo

Abstract
Survey Number 0281
Survey Title Fact-finding Survey on the Diversification of Work Hours Management, 1998
Depositor Hiroki Sato
(Former Name:Former Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Labor)
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Period of Data Use Permission One year
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Summary Besides, the 40-hour-a-week system has become popular, and there has been an increase in the number of employees, mainly white-collar employees, who are not managed according to the hours worked. This group includes employees who hold managerial posts and exempt employees to whom deemed working hours are applicable or employees that follow the system wherein hours spent away from the workplace are considered. In addition, quasi-deemed working hours are applied to some employees, thus preempting the enforcement of the revised Labor Standards Act. These employees, who are expected to be core members of corporations, will also form the core demographics of white-collar employees in our country. However, several issues have been described with regard to the work hour management system described above, such as prolonged work and non-paid work. At this historical turning point, when the parliamentary resolution on the revised Labor Standards Act?which will change the current system of work hour management?has been introduced, it is also expected that the future image of labor in this country can be predicted by revealing working styles and management conditions. Considering this background, this study was conducted in order to clarify the actual state of the diversification method of work hour management, such as the discretionary labor system and the system of taking work hours spent away from the workplace into account.
Data Type quantitative research
quantitative research: micro data
Universe Corporations with more than 50 full-time employees from all the industries, excluding agriculture, forestry, mining, and civil services
Unit of Observation Organization
Sample Size Size of the distribution: 4,000 (the actual size of the distribution is 3,913, excluding corporations with missing information, which included the mailing address)
Number of responses: 834 (response rate 21.3%)
Number of responses included in the analysis: 811, excluding 23 responses with missing information
Date of Collection 1998-10 ~ 1998-10
October 1998, information regarding the situation on September 1, 1998, was sought.
Time Period 1998 ~ 1998
Spatial Unit The Tokyo metropolitan area excluding the islands
Sampling Procedure Probability: Stratified
Probability: Stratified: Disproportional
Four thousand corporations located in the Tokyo Metropolitan area, excluding the islands, were extracted at random as targets from the 1996 Establishment and Enterprise Census Extraction.


[number of full-time employees] [number of target corporations] [sampling rate]
         50-99               1,000             10.4%
         100-299              1,000             14.1%
         300-999             1,000            34.4%
         more than 1000          1,000             76.1%

When the survey was conducted, corporations wherein the number of full-time employees dropped below 50 were included in the analysis.
Mode of Data Collection Self-report questionnaires were distributed and returned by post.
Investigator Former Tokyo Metropolitan Labor Research Institute
DOI 10.34500/SSJDA.0281
Sponsors (Funds)
Related Publications (by the Investigator) Rodojikan kanri no tayoka ni kansuru jittai chosa [Survey on the diversification method of work hour management], Roshi Kankei Kenkyu [Study of labor relations] No.21, October 1999, Tokyo Metropolitan Labor Research Institute
Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis)
Documentation [Chosa-hyo]
Major Survey Items (1) Attribution:
Industry, number of employees (hereafter, with respect to full-time employees), regular hours per week, the date when the company introduced the 40-hours-a-week system, and each employee's extra working hours per month


(2) Managers' work hour management:
Number of managers, job class as a manager, actual state of managers' allowance for overtime work (if certain managers receive allowance, the ratio of these managers, job class, rules for choosing employees who will receive allowance, and rules for applying for overtime work allowance), methods of compensation for overtime work by managers and determining the amount of compensation, and issues related to the work hour management system for managers

(3) System of taking work hours spent away from the workplace into account:
Conditions for introducing the system of work hours spent away from the workplace, reasons for the introduction, and the number of employees to whom the system is applied. If these work hours exceed the regular hours, the number of hours spent beyond the regular hours, the method of compensation for the excess hours, methods for determining the amount of compensation, increase/decrease in the number of employees to whom the system is applied, attributes of these employees (the rank of these employees, division, the most typical divisions to which employees assigned to the system belong), factors emphasized in personnel reviews, increase in pay and differentiation of bonus for employees assigned to this system, and the effects of introducing the system of work hours spent away from the workplace

(4) Discretionary labor system:
The status of the application of a discretionary labor system, the reason for its application, and the number of employees assigned to this system. If the discretionary working hours exceed the regular hours, the number of excess hours worked, the method of compensation if the discretionary working hours are beyond the regular hours, methods for determining the amount of compensation, attributes of employees assigned to the discretionary labor system (job rank, job description, and main tasks on the job), factors emphasized in personnel reviews, increase in pay and differentiation of bonus for employees assigned to this system, effects of introducing the discretionary labor system, and intent of application in the future (increase/decrease in the number of assigned employees, rank of the assigned employees, and tasks of the assigned employees)
For employers intending/considering to introduce the discretionary labor system: reasons for intending/considering to introduce this system, attributes of the targeted employees (job rank, job description, and main tasks on the job), factors emphasized in personnel reviews, increase in pay and differentiation of bonus for the assigned employees, and the effects of introducing the discretionary labor system

(5) Diversification method for work hour management and employer-employee relationships:
If a labor union exists, the range of the union members, a discussion on the system of work hours spent away from the workplace/discretionary labor system, (if an opportunity for discussion was given, the partner in the discussion, contentious issues), problem areas in the system of considering work hours spent away from the workplace and the discretionary labor system, and complaints by employees and consultations held with them
Date of Release 2003/05/02
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Topics in SSJDA Employment/Labor
Version 1 : 2003-05-02
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