My company has implemented a new policy that requires everyone to be on standby for work once a month on a weekend. The policy change was announced today, and it means that each employee will be scheduled for standby work once a month on a designated weekend. If your name appears on the schedule for that week, you will need to be available to work that weekend if there is work to be done. However, if there is no work, the company will inform you one day in advance that you do not need to come in. I and everyone very much disagree with this new policy. Is there anything I can do about this?
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Setting aside the fact that you agree or not, will they pay for the extra day?
Does your company have a union? Is there an employment contract or employee handbook that is effectively a contract? Will you be paid for standby? Did the company give you sufficient prior notice of this change in employment terms?
> I and everyone very much disagree with this new policy
Then I suggest everyone band together and say “no thanks”. They can’t fire all of you, but you can be individually pressured into taking part, and from there it will snowball to resentful participation and remaining people leaving/being fired. So, join a union. If there isn’t one, start it.
Having to work on the weekend either occasionally or regularly is pretty common in Japan.
I would require standby pay.
so does that mean you ‘ll work 6 days a week when designated as standby for that week? or do you get an extra day off to compensate?
if not do they pay for the extra work day?
I asked about on-call pay at my last job and was told that there is no on-call pay requirement in Japan.
Depending on the position held by the person who is on-call, they may receive overtime if asked to work, but it is dependent on their position/contract and any hours worked between 10pm and 5am while on-call would be subject to midnight overtime rules unless the person was explicitly exempted from this within their contract.
If it isn’t in your employment contract, and if you didn’t signed it, maybe you can tell them to f*ck off next time they tell you to work on week end ?
Grab an hour with a labor lawyer for ¥11,000 ish. Pool resources with coworkers if appropriate.
Some lawyers will do brief “do you have a case” chats by Line or phone for free. That might also tell you something about whether this is enforceable.
Of course, even if it is unenforceable, getting a reputation for being the difficult employee is not good for your career… Take it from someone with that reputation. So, proceed with caution.
Sounds like Rakuten? If it has something to do with Super Sales then not surprised.
Yeah, need to look at your employment handbook what it says about weekend work, and about Saturdays. Saturdays are legit work days if the company has it as one in your contract/handbook.
Just as a point of reference, at my company (probably in a similar industry to yours), we get ¥6,400/day for being on call, and when we are on call on weekends/holidays, we get 1/2 day of compensatory vacation for each day of on-call.
Well, if it were me, I would be on standby one weekend a month.