労働基準法第36条
Overtime and Holiday Work Agreements (the "36 Agreement")
時間外及び休日の労働（36協定）
Plain-language explanation
Article 36 of the Labor Standards Act is the legal basis for the famous "36 Agreement" (Saburoku Kyotei). Japanese law generally prohibits work beyond 8 hours a day / 40 hours a week, and work on statutory rest days. However, if the employer signs a written agreement with a labor union representing a majority of employees (or, if none exists, with a person representing the majority of employees) and files that agreement with the local Labor Standards Inspection Office, the company may legally require overtime and holiday work — but only within the limits the agreement specifies. Without this filed agreement, having employees work overtime is illegal even if the employees personally consent, and can trigger criminal penalties for the employer.
Critically, signing and filing a 36 Agreement does not permit unlimited overtime. The agreement must set caps — generally 45 hours/month and 360 hours/year — and even when a "special clause" (tokubetsu jōkō) is added for temporary, exceptional busy periods, statutory ceilings still apply: no more than 720 hours/year, under 100 hours in any single month (including holiday work), and an average of 80 hours or less over any consecutive multi-month period. These caps carry criminal penalties for violation, so business owners and HR managers must actively monitor actual working hours against these limits, not just keep a signed template on file.
Another practical point is that the agreement must normally be concluded and filed at each individual worksite (each branch, factory, or office), not just once at head office. Labor Standards Inspectors (see Articles 97 and 101) have authority to enter worksites, demand records, and question employers or workers to verify whether a valid, properly-filed 36 Agreement exists and whether actual overtime stays within its limits. Failure to comply can lead to corrective orders or criminal referral.
日本語での解説
労働基準法第36条は、いわゆる「36（サブロク）協定」の根拠となる条文です。労働基準法は原則として1日8時間・週40時間を超える労働（時間外労働）や法定休日の労働を禁止していますが、使用者が労働者の過半数で組織する労働組合（それがない場合は労働者の過半数を代表する者）と書面による協定を締結し、これを労働基準監督署長に届け出た場合に限り、その協定の定める範囲内で時間外労働・休日労働をさせることができるとする制度です。この協定がなければ、たとえ労働者本人が同意していても時間外労働をさせることは労働基準法違反となり、罰則の対象になります。
実務上非常に重要なのは、36協定を締結・届出さえすれば無制限に残業させられるわけではないという点です。協定には時間外労働の上限（原則として月45時間・年360時間など）を定める必要があり、臨時的な特別の事情がある場合の「特別条項」を設けたとしても、年720時間、単月100時間未満（休日労働含む）、複数月平均80時間以内といった罰則付きの上限規制が課されています。企業の経営者や人事担当者は、単に協定書のひな形を用意するだけでなく、実際の残業実態がこの上限内に収まっているかを継続的に管理する必要があります。
また、この協定は事業場ごとに締結・届出を行うのが原則であり、本社で一括して結んだつもりでも支店や工場が個別に届出をしていなければ、その事業場では時間外労働をさせる法的根拠がないことになります。労働基準監督官（第97条・第101条）は事業場に立ち入り、36協定の届出状況や実際の労働時間管理を確認する権限を持っており、違反が発覚すれば是正勧告や送検の対象となり得ます。
Common scenarios
- ▸A manufacturing company needs employees to work overtime during a seasonal production surge and must confirm a valid 36 Agreement is filed for that specific factory
- ▸An IT company's project deadline requires staff to exceed 45 hours of overtime in a month, requiring a special clause (tokubetsu jōkō) in the 36 Agreement with capped limits
- ▸A multi-branch retail chain assumes head office's 36 Agreement covers all stores, but a labor inspector finds one branch never filed its own agreement
- ▸An HR manager is auditing whether cumulative overtime over the past 2-6 months exceeds the 80-hour average cap before payroll close
- ▸A startup with no labor union needs to identify and formally select an employee representative to sign the 36 Agreement on behalf of staff
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