🤝 Workplace Know-How
Can You Refuse Overtime? — Everything About the 36 Agreement, Limits, and How to Say No
To "everyone else does it," here is what the law says
📖 8 min read📅 2026-08-24
"Wanting to go home on time is proof you have no drive," I was told, and I couldn't say a word back.
Joy (26), from Cebu, the Philippines, was six months into a job at a logistics company. Two to three hours of overtime every day had become the norm. Her body was exhausted, but she couldn't find the courage to refuse.
One day, when she tried to leave on time for an important video call with her family back home, her boss said those words to her. None of the senior colleagues around her ever left on time either. "Maybe this is just normal in Japan," Joy thought — and started to feel as if she were the one in the wrong.
But is that really true?
Under Japanese law, there are strict rules about overtime. A company cannot make employees work unlimited overtime. To require overtime, a labor-management agreement called the "36 Agreement (saburoku kyotei)" is necessary, and there are limits on those hours too. And overtime beyond the limits, or an overtime order that breaks the rules, can be refused.
Joy changed after she learned these rules. She communicated correctly with her boss, reduced her overtime, and her health recovered. "I thought enduring was a virtue. But knowledge was what protected me," she told us.
"Can you refuse overtime?" — we'll give you the precise answer in FAQ form.
Overtime (work beyond the legal hours) has rules set by the Labor Standards Act. Let's understand, in order, the line between "overtime you can refuse" and "overtime you generally can't refuse."
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Q.To start with, can a company make me work overtime freely?
A.No. Under the Labor Standards Act, working hours are in principle limited to "8 hours a day and 40 hours a week." To have you work overtime beyond this, the company must conclude a "36 Agreement" with the workers (their representative) and file it with the Labor Standards Inspection Office. **Making you work beyond the legal hours without this 36 Agreement is itself a violation of the law.** If you wonder, "Does my company even have a 36 Agreement?" you can check the work rules and the labor-management agreement.
Q.If there is a 36 Agreement, can they make me work any number of overtime hours?
A.No, there are limits. Since 2019 (2020 for small and medium-sized enterprises), the law sets caps on overtime hours. The principle is up to **45 hours a month and 360 hours a year.** Even if a "special clause" for busy periods is concluded, there are absolute caps: (1) within 720 hours a year, (2) within an average of 80 hours over multiple months including holiday work, (3) under 100 hours in any single month including holiday work, and (4) you may exceed 45 hours a month no more than 6 times a year. An overtime order beyond these is illegal, and you can refuse it.
Q.Overtime pay should be paid properly, right?
A.Yes. Overtime requires premium wages. **Overtime beyond the legal hours requires a premium of 25% or more,** the portion exceeding 60 hours a month requires 50% or more (small and medium-sized enterprises are also covered since April 2023), late-night work (22:00–5:00) requires 25% or more, and work on a statutory holiday requires a premium of 35% or more. These add up when they overlap (for example, late-night overtime is 25% + 25% = 50% or more). Even at a company with "fixed overtime pay (deemed overtime)," any portion exceeding the set fixed hours must be paid separately, on top.
Q.So in the end, can I refuse overtime or not?
A.Let's organize this. [Overtime you can refuse] ① overtime beyond legal hours ordered without a 36 Agreement, ② overtime beyond the limits of the 36 Agreement, ③ overtime so excessive it harms your health. These are illegal, so you can refuse. [Overtime that is generally hard to refuse] When there is a 36 Agreement, the work rules provide for overtime, it is within the limits, and there is a genuine business need, case law treats it as difficult to refuse without a legitimate reason. However, "legitimate reasons" include poor health, childcare, and nursing-care circumstances. Rather than "I can't do it every day," the trick is to say specifically, "Today is difficult because of ◯◯."
Q.I'm being made to do "service overtime" (unpaid overtime). Is this illegal?
A.Yes, overtime for which no wages are paid (service overtime) is illegal. What matters is leaving "evidence" of your own working hours. Copies of your timecard, your computer login/logout records, the send times of work emails, and work notes you keep yourself (even handwritten ones are valid) can all serve as evidence. Unpaid overtime pay can be claimed later (the statute of limitations is in principle 3 years). The more evidence you have, the more smoothly a claim or a consultation proceeds.
Q.I want to consult about overtime. Will my company find out?
A.You can consult the Labor Standards Inspection Office or your prefecture's General Labor Consultation Corner for free and anonymously. The fact that you consulted will not be conveyed to your company. For foreign workers, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare also has a multilingual consultation hotline. Please don't convince yourself that "I'm the only one enduring this." The rules on overtime protect Japanese and foreign workers alike. Before you break your body or mind, please reach out first.
🤝 Where to get help (free, multilingual, anonymous OK)
Working Conditions Consultation Hotline (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)
You can consult for free and anonymously about overtime, wages, and working hours. Available evenings, Saturdays, and Sundays. Some days offer foreign-language support.
🌐 Japanese, plus multilingual support on certain days of the week ⏰ Weekdays 17:00–22:00, Sat & Sun 9:00–21:00
📝 Contact via web →📞 0120-811-610
General Labor Consultation Corner (Prefectural Labor Bureaus)
The public contact point for labor problems such as overtime work and unpaid overtime. Located inside Hello Work offices and Labor Bureaus.
🌐 14 languages (phone interpretation available) ⏰ Weekdays 9:00–17:00
📝 Contact via web →📞 Each prefectural Labor Bureau
