Taxi drivers' 2024 Improvement Standards Notice and the labour management of alternating-day work

In short: Taxi drivers' working hours are managed under the Labor Standards Act plus the Improvement Standards Notice (Standards for Improving the Working Hours, etc., of Motor Vehicle Drivers). Under the current standard (amended December 23, 2022 (Reiwa 4), applied from April 1, 2024 (Reiwa 6)), alternating-day work (kakujitsu kinmu, a single shift spanning two calendar days) has on-duty hours of up to 22 hours over the two days (and 21 hours on average per shift across two shifts), and up to 262 hours a month (270 for up to 6 months a year under a labour-management agreement), with a rest period that is based on a continuous 24 hours after duty and does not fall below a continuous 22 hours. Premium wages are required even on commission pay. This page sets out what changed in 2024, how to calculate alternating-day work, premium wages on commission pay, how standby and naps are treated, and where to fix the work rules and the 36 Agreement.

Taxi work has two features — long on-duty stretches that span day and night, and commission pay linked to takings — so labour management designed for other industries does not transfer as-is. This page is for taxi operators and the labour staff who handle dispatch and operation management. From the viewpoint of a shakai hoken roumushi's labour management, it sets out the 2024 amendment to the Improvement Standards Notice, the on-duty hours and rest periods of alternating-day work, premium wages that are due even on commission pay, the treatment of standby and naps, and where to fix the work rules and the 36 Agreement.

What changed in the 2024 version of taxi drivers' Improvement Standards Notice?

The Improvement Standards Notice is a notice of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare that sets upper and lower limits on "on-duty hours" (working hours plus breaks and standby time, from start to finish of duty) and on the "rest period" between shifts. It was amended on December 23, 2022 (Reiwa 4) and has applied since April 1, 2024 (Reiwa 6). From the same April 1, 2024, the overtime cap also applies to motor-vehicle driving (up to 960 hours a year even under a special clause; Labor Standards Act, Supplementary Provisions, Article 140). The "overtime cap" and the "Improvement Standards Notice" are different yardsticks, and you must satisfy both at the same time.

Taxi (hire and taxi) drivers have two working patterns — "day-shift work," worked day by day, and "alternating-day work," in which two calendar days (roughly two days' worth) form a single shift worked every other day — and on-duty standards are set separately for each. The main changes for day-shift work are as follows.

Item	Before (through March 31, 2024)	Current (from April 1, 2024)
On-duty hours per month (day shift)	299 hours	288 hours
On-duty hours per day (day shift)	13 hours (up to 16)	13 hours in principle, up to 15 (exceeding 14 hours: a guideline of up to 3 times a week)
Rest period (day shift)	A continuous 8 hours or more	Based on a continuous 11 hours, not below 9

For how trucking changed under the same 2024 problem, see The "2024 problem" in trucking and the Improvement Standards Notice. Note that the on-duty figures differ by sector.

How do you calculate on-duty hours and rest periods for alternating-day work (two calendar days)?

Alternating-day work bundles two calendar days (two days' worth) into one shift, with the following day off as a post-shift rest. On-duty hours are measured not "per day" but "per two calendar days" and "per month." The current standards are as follows.

Item	Principle	Exception / limit
On-duty hours per two calendar days	Within 22 hours	and no more than 21 hours on average per shift across two alternating-day shifts
On-duty hours per month	Within 262 hours	Up to 270 hours for up to 6 months a year under a labour-management agreement, where there are regional or other special circumstances
Rest period	Based on a continuous 24 hours after duty	Not below a continuous 22 hours

For example, if one two-day shift was 21 hours 30 minutes, it is within 22 hours on its own, but because the average of two adjacent shifts must not exceed 21 hours, the other shift must be held to 20 hours 30 minutes or less. Meeting "within 22 hours" per shift is not enough; you must also watch the average of two consecutive shifts — this is where the calculation is easy to get wrong.

The Improvement Standards Notice is not the Labor Standards Act itself but a notice; still, a breach is subject to corrective guidance from the Labor Standards Inspection Office and can lead to transport-administration sanctions (administrative dispositions against the operator). The difference from the overtime cap is that it is not "unlimited as long as you have an agreement."

Even on commission pay (progressive commission is prohibited), is overtime pay required?

It is. Even on commission pay (a piece-rate/output-based system), premium wages must be paid for overtime beyond statutory working hours, for holiday work, and for late-night work (Labor Standards Act, Article 37). Taxi work often involves late-night driving, so late-night premiums (25%+ from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.) arise routinely.

The premium rate for commission pay is calculated a little differently from fixed pay. For an output-based or other piece-rate system, you take the total commission paid in the wage-calculation period, divided by the total hours worked in that period as the hourly amount, and multiply it by the premium rate (Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act, Article 19, paragraph 1, item 6). Where fixed pay and commission pay are combined, calculate each part separately and add them.

Category	Overtime	Holiday	Late-night
Premium rate	25%+ (50%+ over 60 hours a month)	35%+	25%+

A progressive commission system (where commission rises in steps according to takings and the like) can extremely induce long working hours and speeding, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, by circular, instructs that it be abolished (Rodo Kijun Kyoku circular Kihatsu No. 93 of 1989). The same circular requires that, even under a commission system, a guaranteed wage be set so that fixed pay and commission together secure roughly 60% or more of the ordinary wage. Commission pay is also subject to the Minimum Wage Act, so the amount converted to an hourly figure must not fall below the minimum wage (Minimum Wage Act, Article 4).

How are breaks and naps (such as garage standby) treated?

On-duty hours under the Improvement Standards Notice include not only working hours but also breaks and the time spent waiting for customers or on standby. Whether a period is a break (not working time) or standby (working time) turns on whether the driver is under the employer's command, and it is judged on the actual situation.

There is a special rule that allows extending on-duty hours, under certain conditions, for a "garage-standby driver" (a working pattern of waiting at a garage or the like in response to customer demand). In alternating-day garage standby, only where both of the following are met — (1) giving a nap of 4 hours or more at night, and (2) the number of times the per-two-day on-duty ceiling (22 hours) is exceeded being within 7 times a month — can the monthly on-duty hours be extended to 262 hours (or 270 under a labour-management agreement) plus 10 hours, and the per-two-day on-duty hours to up to 24 hours. In day-shift garage standby, a labour-management agreement can extend the monthly on-duty hours to 300 hours.

For unforeseeable events such as an accident, breakdown, or disaster that cause a delay, the time required to deal with them may, only where objective records are recognised, be excluded in applying the per-day or per-two-day on-duty limits. However, if including that time would exceed the maximum on-duty hours, a rest period must be secured after duty (a continuous 11 hours or more for a one-day shift, a continuous 24 hours or more for a two-day shift). In every case, recording the reality of naps and standby through a digital tachograph or daily log is the starting point.

How should you fix the work rules and the 36 Agreement?

Satisfying both the overtime cap and the Improvement Standards Notice requires careful drafting. The points to fix are as follows.

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What to do	Point to review
36 Agreement (special clause)	Design overtime within 960 hours a year, and state the frequency of the special clause (up to 6 times a year), the reasons, and the procedure
Work rules and wage rules	State and align the day-shift / alternating-day on-duty hours and rest periods, the method of calculating commission pay, the guaranteed wage, and the calculation of premium wages
Variable working-hour system	Alternating-day work is commonly designed under a one-month variable working-hour system (Labor Standards Act, Article 32-2). Put the scheduled hours and the placement of days off into the rules
Records of on-duty and working hours	Cross-check the digital tachograph and daily logs against attendance, and run day-to-day management against the lines of 22 hours per two days, 262 hours a month, and a 24-hour rest
Selection of the majority representative	Select someone who is not in a managerial position through a proper procedure, and keep a record (Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act, Article 6-2)

Work rules must be drawn up and filed by a workplace that regularly employs 10 or more workers (Labor Standards Act, Article 89). For how many employees make work rules mandatory, see How many employees make work rules mandatory, and for the basics of the 36 Agreement and the overtime ceiling, see The 36 Agreement and the overtime ceiling.

Whom should you ask, and for what?

The labour response for a taxi business is not completed by labour matters alone. The party in charge differs by task.

What to do	Whose work it is
Drafting the work rules, wage rules and 36 Agreement; putting on-duty and working-hour management in place; calculating commission and premium wages	A Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant) (this office)
Licence applications for a general passenger-car transport business (taxi) and papers for business-plan changes	A Gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist)
Transport-administration decisions on fares, operations, and operation managers	The District Transport Bureau (Un'yu Shikyoku)
Claims for unpaid premium wages, labour disputes, labor tribunal proceedings or litigation	An attorney
Tax decisions on withholding and year-end adjustment of premium and commission pay	A tax accountant

This office is limited to providing information and handling procedures for labour management. For licences and business-plan changes in a taxi business, we can connect you to 四葉行政書士事務所; on the premise that shakai hoken roumushi work and gyoseishoshi work are each carried out by an independent business entity and are contracted separately. We do not take these on together under a single contract.

What can 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 do for you?

四葉社会保険労務士事務所 in Kohinata, Bunkyo Ward, handles, for taxi businesses, aligning the work rules and wage rules with the Improvement Standards Notice, designing a one-month variable working-hour system premised on alternating-day work, designing and filing the 36 Agreement (special clause), calculating commission pay, the guaranteed wage and premium wages, and putting on-duty and working-hour management in place. The initial consultation is free. We quote according to the content and the number of employees; for how fees are thought about, see the fee schedule, and the questions we are asked most often are collected on the FAQ page.

Where a claim for unpaid premium wages or a dispute has already arisen, we will guide you to engage an attorney directly. This office does not accept referral fees.

Frequently asked questions

Q. If the two-day on-duty hours are within 22 hours, is that enough on its own?
A. No. Two-day on-duty hours must be "within 22 hours" and also meet "no more than 21 hours on average per shift across two alternating-day shifts." Even if each shift is within 22 hours, if the average of two consecutive shifts exceeds 21 hours it breaches the Improvement Standards Notice. You must also meet the monthly on-duty hours (262 hours in principle, 270 for up to 6 months a year under a labour-management agreement) and the rest period (based on a continuous 24 hours, not below 22).

Q. If we set pay on commission alone, can we skip overtime pay?
A. No. Even on commission pay (an output-based system), premium wages for overtime, holiday and late-night work are required (Labor Standards Act, Article 37). The premium rate for commission pay is found by dividing the total commission in the wage-calculation period by the total hours worked in that period (Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act, Article 19, paragraph 1, item 6). Also, a progressive commission system that rises in steps with takings is one the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare instructs, by circular, to abolish.

Q. Does garage-standby or customer-waiting time count as on-duty time?
A. Yes. On-duty hours under the Improvement Standards Notice cover the time from start to end of duty, including breaks and standby time. A garage-standby driver may extend on-duty hours where conditions such as giving a nap of 4 hours or more at night are met, but the conditions and frequency are fixed (for alternating-day work, exceeding 22 hours per two days is allowed within 7 times a month). Grasping the reality of standby and naps through records is the starting point.

Q. Can you also handle the taxi licence?
A. Labour management is the work of a shakai hoken roumushi, and the papers for a general passenger-car transport business (taxi) licence or a business-plan change are the work of a gyoseishoshi. On the premise that each is an independent business entity contracted separately, we can connect you to 四葉行政書士事務所. We do not take these on together under a single contract.

Sources for this article

• "Standards for Improving the Working Hours, etc., of Motor Vehicle Drivers" (the Improvement Standards Notice; Labour Ministry Notice No. 7 of 1989, amended by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Notice No. 367 of December 23, 2022, applied from April 1, 2024). On-duty hours and rest periods for hire and taxi drivers: day-shift work (288 hours a month; 13 hours a day, up to 15; rest based on a continuous 11 hours, not below 9), alternating-day work (22 hours per two days and 21 hours on average across two shifts; 262 hours a month, up to 270 for 6 months a year under a labour-management agreement; rest based on a continuous 24 hours, not below 22), the garage-standby special rule, and the treatment of unforeseeable events
• Labor Standards Act (労働基準法, Act No. 49 of 1947), Article 32, Article 34 (breaks), Article 37 (premium wages: 25%+ for overtime, 50%+ over 60 hours a month, 35%+ for holiday work, 25%+ for late-night work), Article 89 (drawing up and filing work rules), and Supplementary Provisions Article 140, paragraph 1 (application of the overtime cap to motor-vehicle driving: up to 960 hours a year even under a special clause)
• Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act (労働基準法施行規則, Ordinance No. 23 of 1947), Article 19, paragraph 1, item 6 (calculation of premium wages under an output-based or other piece-rate system), Article 6-2 (requirements for the majority representative)
• Abolition of the progressive commission system and instruction on the guaranteed wage (Rodo Kijun Kyoku circular Kihatsu No. 93 of 1989); Minimum Wage Act (最低賃金法, Act No. 137 of 1959), Article 4 (application of the minimum wage to commission pay)
• Road Transport Act (道路運送法, Act No. 183 of 1951), Article 4 (licence for a general passenger-car transport business)
• The figures for on-duty hours, rest periods, the garage-standby special rule, and unforeseeable events were checked against the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's portal site on improving long working hours of motor vehicle drivers, the page for taxi drivers, and the old/new comparison of the amended Improvement Standards Notice (referenced October 2026)

This article does not go so far as to decide whom you should consult. Drafting the work rules, wage rules and 36 Agreement, putting on-duty and working-hour management in place, and calculating commission and premium wages are the work of a shakai hoken roumushi. Licence applications for a general passenger-car transport business (taxi) and papers for business-plan changes are the work of a gyoseishoshi; claims for unpaid premium wages and disputes are the work of an attorney; tax decisions on withholding and the year-end adjustment are the work of a tax accountant. Shakai hoken roumushi work and gyoseishoshi work are each carried out by an independent business entity and contracted separately. This office does not accept referral fees. The cost of consulting 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 is set out in the fee schedule, and the questions we are asked most often are collected on the FAQ page.

This article is general information. Judgments that fit your particular circumstances are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant), Gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist), Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).