Japan's Parliament tightened¹ limits on overtime² hours, responding to concerns about karoshi, or death by overwork, and seeking to improve productivity in a country where long hours are often more a custom than business necessity.

日本国会加大了对加班时间的限制力度，以回应对过劳死的担忧，并争取提高该国的生产效率。在日本，加班更多地是一种惯例，而不是出于工作需要。

The legislation, a priority of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, won final approval last Friday in Parliament.

这项得到首相安倍晋三重视的法案，于上周五在国会获得最终通过。

It limits overtime work to less than 100 hours a month and less than 720 hours a year, and it sets penalties for companies that violate the limits.

该法案规定，员工每月加班时间不得超过100小时，每年不得超过720小时，并对违规公司制定了惩处措施。

Until now, employers could effectively ask employees to work without limit if workers' unions and management agreed to it, which they often did without much scrutiny³.

一直以来，在日本，只要工会和管理层同意，雇主其实可以要求员工进行无限制的加班，而工会和管理层通常都会同意，不会详细查问。

"Work-style reforms are the best means to improve labor productivity," Mr. Abe said in Parliament June 4. "We will correct long working hours and improve people's balance between work and life."

6月4日，安倍晋三在国会声称：“改革工作作风是提高劳动生产效率的最佳途径。政府会纠正长时间工作的现象，让人们的工作和生活更加平衡。”

The new law also seeks to improve the lot of Japan's growing pool of "nonregular" workers in temporary or part-time jobs who don't have the job security of full-time⁴ regular employees.

新法案还试图改善日本人数日益增加的“非正式员工”的处境，这些人由于从事临时或兼职工作，因此没有全职员工的就业保障。

It says employers must pay equally for the same work, regardless of workers' status. In a 2016 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Abe said he wanted to "eliminate the word 'nonregular' from the lexicon⁵."

法案规定，无论员工是什么身份，雇主都必须做到同工同酬。安倍晋三在2016年接受《华尔街日报》采访时曾表示，他希望将“非正式员工”一词从词典里除去。