The Dark Side of Japan

Law of Part Time Workers in Japan

Working in Japan is tough, both physically and mentally because you are filled to the brim with unrealistic motherf*ckers.

The same applies for part time jobs but they are less severe most of the time than regular full time jobs. What makes the difference?

First of all, full time workers in Japan aren't usually paid by hours but monthly on the other hand, part time workers are paid by hours. This means that for part time workers, more they work, more they get paid. On the contrary, full time workers aren't paid by hours, therefore it doesn't matter for them how long they work.

Part time workers are allowed to work 8 hours maximum a day and 6 time a week. This means that the maximum will be 48 hours a week. Howeve, despite the labor act states so, this is often violated due to lack of labors. Surprisingly in Tokyo almost any restaurant or supermarket is out of labor and they require workers. Tokyo minimum wage is about 934 yen per hour which is about 8€ and this is terrible. You can't live healthy in Tokyo with that wage. But in reality, many places especially within 23 special wards of Japan they pay 950-1000 yen per hour. I still think it's low but that's the standard.

Minimum wage differs from prefecture to prefecture and Okinawa has the lowest something like 700 yen. But the labor act is universal across Japan and workers are not supposed to be working more than 192 hours per month. They are penalized when they go beyond this, nevertheless many places utilize the loophole of this. They won't get penalized by just violating this for a month, but if their 3 monthaverage of working hours is more than 192 they are penalized and only way to get away from the penalty is to give employee an insurance but giving insurance cost about 200€ per month per employee and employee also has to pay 100€ so better for both to not be subscribed to an insurance unless they know that the employee is going to be working semi-full time. If they are subscribed to insurance they can work so long as possible. Employers would usually try to avoid this situation that's why they manage their 3 month average by doing numbers with their employees' shift.

By subscribing to an insurance, an employee is eligible to receiving unemployment insurance which would normally last for 6 months in case an employee is out of job except for personal reasons.