KYODO NEWS - Aug 2, 2017 - 15:11 | All, Lifestyle

Toyota Motor Corp. is considering expanding the number of employees eligible for its flexible working hours system and guaranteeing 45 hours of extra work pay a month regardless of actual overtime hours, its officials said Wednesday.

The measure is aimed at allowing workers to choose their work time and style and raising their competitiveness and productivity. Toyota has entered talks with its labor union about the plan with the aim of implementing it in December, they said.

At present, 1,700 senior Toyota employees work under a discretionary labor system in which a preset amount of salary is paid for each pay period regardless of hours or work completed. The automaker aims to boost the number of workers subject to the program to 7,800, the sources said.

Under the plan, the 7,800 senior employees, including technical and clerical workers, will be paid some 170,000 yen ($1,500) per month for overwork in addition to their monthly salary if Toyota approves their applications for the program.

The program gives Toyota workers the options of coming to office only for two hours a week and working from home. Toyota aims to increase the number of employees adopting such a flexible working style, the officials said.

Following the expansion, those eligible for the flexible hours system would account for approximately half the number of all non-management career-track employees.

Even under the discretionary labor system, Toyota will pay allowances for employees working late at night or on holidays and oblige its workers to take more than 20 days of paid holidays a year. The automaker will also additionally pay for overtime exceeding 45 hours a month and observe the annual limit of extra hours under Japan's labor law.