Working hours
 

I often hear that the working hours in Japan are very long. I know two people who live in japan and they work usually from 9 till 10-11pm. I was wondering though is there overtime pay in Japan?

I often work 12-14 hour shifts... we have no overtime rates, but huge (equivalent to 2-4 months salary!) bonuses twice a year instead

What's the work atmosphere like in Japan.

IMHO
it very much depends on the company.
a rule of the thumb is that the bigger the company the shorter r the working hours. it also depends on ur status within the company. today many people r not regular employees, but rather contract staff or paid by the hour. these ppl usually don't work that many over-time hours or if they do, they get paid. there r however many exceptions as i am certain that ppl will tell u about.

concerning over-time pay, it is a tricky area. apart for employees where it is stated that they shall work long hours, such as shift system, over-time pay shall be paid, if, and this is important, the company is over a certain size and if the employee is not a manager of any sort. some companies take advantage of the especially the last exception, labelling many as management even though the r clearly not managers. mcdonalds have apparently used this and were recently fined in court.

remeber that the above is only "in principle" and as i said, ppl can probably give u plenty of examples where neither have been adhered to. the biggest problem i see is that the over-time hours r never registered. on the other hand working long hours doesn't necessarily mean that u work hard, i have seen plenty of inefficient workplaces.

haha yeah the local makku has like 80% of its workers as managers so not to have to pay them overtime, in Japan you are supposed to express your love for your job by working extra hours for free, sometime the boss will take people to dinner and for drinks its kinda pay because you don't have to pay for dinner. I went to Wakayama with a friend and she had to cut our visit short to meet with a work related person on her day off, the Japanese actually have a word Karoshi which means death by over work, it happens here!

Japan seems to have a very good work ethic, just on an extreme level if compared to the US. I wish I had that much work ethic, but I guess I still haven't found the right job for me as of yet. Of course, I do know that if I ever end up over there as an ALT, I'd make sure to show that I have lots of work ethic to make a good impression. ^_^

I`m going to second that it all has to do with the company.
Currently, service overtime is considered illegal - your company cannot ask you to do it. They can, however, draft a pay plan that accounts for longer working hours without paying hourly overtime - by putting it into your bonus, etc.

My husband`s company`s hours are 9 to 6. Anything before or after that is overtime, and is paid in 15 minute increments. He also receives 2 set bonuses and a 3rd bonus based on the company`s success during the year.
Depending on the season he leaves work anytime between 6 and 12.

What if you choose to work more hours even though you're not being paid for them? Would you get praised for doing so, or would they insist on paying you? I know you said it probably depends on the company, but what would normally happen in this type of situation?

Chances are, nothing. They aren`t going to stop you from dedicating your time to them. Some places might praise you, others might pay you, others might add it into your bonus, and others might not even notice.

imagine you are a Japanese POW, kinda like that I guess...

No joking around and don't even think about saying anything but an agreement of some kind to what your boss says,. regardless of how wrong they may be...