The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare draws up guidelines in March for the proper introduction and implementation of teleworking

Teleworking is a style of work in which data communication equipment is used to allow all or part of a person's job at home. Unlike working inside business offices, teleworkers find it difficult to separate their working hours from ordinary home life. Identifying the actual status of their work is not easy, either.

If these new working styles are to be taken into account, it will become necessary to reexamine the application of laws and regulations related to labor standards which until now presupposed that work would be organized and carried out at business offices and other traditional establishments, to ensure that appropriate labor management is applied to home-based work as well.

The introduction of these new guidelines is aimed at clarifying what form labor management should ideally take, so that teleworking may be appropriately introduced and implemented, and at ensuring that home-based work is carried out in an appropriate working environment.

The Guidelines cited the following points for consideration:
(1) The method of starting and carrying out telework as well as a system of evaluating work performance (such as wages and evaluation systems) should preferably be established only after extensive discussions between labor and management.

(2) At the same time, the shouldering of costs such as telecommunications expenses should ideally be determined in advance and featured in Employment Regulations, with written documents exchanged between the parties.

(3) The employee will personally decide whether or not to work at home.

(4) The employer must implement extensive skills/ability development and training programs, while employees working at home must carry out business operations in a voluntary and responsible manner while paying the utmost attention to work periods and their health status.

The Guidelines also clearly set forth that the system of de facto working hours may be applied if an employee meets a certain set of criteria.