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Japan PM drops key reform on 'discretionary labor' amid flawed data

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Japan PM drops key reform on 'discretionary labor' amid flawed data

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe withdrew a key labor reform aimed at boosting productivity after admitting it was backed by flawed data, Reuters reported March 1.

The change would have expanded a system of "discretionary labor" where employees are considered to have worked a certain number of hours and paid a fixed wage regardless of how long they actually work, the report said.

"We've decided to delete every single element of discretionary labor from the reform bills at this time and have the labor ministry grasp the actual situation once more, and then to debate over again," Abe told the upper house budget committee Feb. 28.

The change in discretionary labor was part of a reform package to increase labor market flexibility and enable more efficient resource allocation, a core part of the "Abenomics" platform. The Japanese PM had pledged to pass the reform package before the current parliament session ends in June.

Another measure in the package that would expand the categories of highly skilled and highly paid professions with no working-hour limits stands for now, but is facing similar opposition attacks. Some members in Abe's ruling party favor cutting out this provision as well, Reuters reported.

The labor reform package also proposes to put a legal cap on overtime of 100 hours per month to prevent further incidents of "karoshi," or death from overwork.