世論 What Japan Thinks

Zangyo is the Japanese for overtime, and when it is sandwiched between two English words as in the title of this article it refers to a system that seems surprisingly common, No Overtime Day, a weekly event in my office where people are supposed to go home at five o’clock. This survey from iShare took a look at its implementation.

Demographics

Between the 22nd and 25th of June 2010 429 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.6% of the sample were male, 31.9% in their twenties, 31.0% in their thirties, and 37.1% in their forties.

Today was No Zangyo Day in the office. As I had to go to the hospital this morning I had to work an extra hour and 45 minutes to make up, yet I was still first to leave the office! Our Team Leader announced around about 18:30 that it was No Overtime Day and oughtened we think about going home, which is really about the extent of the implementation for me. However, other groups in the same building are better at going home, and I do notice the train station outside work is busier in the early evening on Wednesdays.

Research results

Q1: Is there a “No Overtime Day” system at your place of work? (Sample size=429)

	All	Male N=247	Female N=182
Yes (to SQ1)	25.9%	28.7%	22.0%
No	56.6%	61.9%	49.5%
Not currently employed	17.5%	9.3%	28.6%

Q1SQ1: Are you able to leave work at the regulation time on “No Overtime Day”? (Sample size=111)

	All	Male N=71	Female N=40
Yes, always (to SQ2)	14.4%	12.7%	17.5%
Yes, usually (to SQ2)	44.1%	36.6%	57.5%
Yes, but not usually	29.7%	36.6%	17.5%
No, never	11.7%	14.1%	7.5%

Q1SQ2: What do you do after leaving work at the regulation time on “No Overtime Day”? (Sample size=65, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=35	Female N=30
Relax at home	87.7%	91.4%	83.3%
Go shopping	26.2%	20.0%	33.3%
Go drinking	20.0%	28.6%	10.0%
Go to eat	18.5%	20.0%	16.7%
Hobby, sports	13.8%	17.1%	10.0%
Go out to play	9.2%	5.7%	13.3%
Go to night classes, study	4.6%	0.0%	10.0%
Other	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%

Q2: Do you think a “No Overtime Day” system is necessary at workplaces? (Sample size=429)

	All	Male N=247	Female N=182
Definitely	22.1%	22.3%	22.0%
Probably	39.9%	36.8%	44.0%
Probably not	17.7%	19.8%	14.8%
Definitely not	20.3%	21.1%	19.2%

Some of the reasons why people thought it was necessary was to break up a pattern of overtime every day, because it’s difficult to go home at the regulation time, it makes work go smoother, one can feel refreshed after it, and can spend more time with the family. On the other hand, those opposed said they didn’t have much overtime anyway, they had a flexitime system, it increased work the next day, and probably the most sensible reason, workplaces ought not to be doing so much overtime to require such a system.