New systems aimed at changing the way people work and bringing in foreign workers are being launched; prices are being raised on food and beverages; and storied firms are changing their names. 
 Major revisions to the Labor Standards Law seek to halt the practice of working excessively long hours. Regulations with penalties covering overtime are being introduced for large companies. In principle, overtime will be capped at 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year. The rules will apply to small and midsize firms next April.
 The new visa status of “specified skilled worker” signals a major change in policy that will grant entry to many more foreign workers, including simple laborers. In the next five years, it is estimated that as many as about 340,000 foreign workers could be admitted to work in 14 fields, including agriculture and nursing care. 
 In food and beverages, prices on fresh noodles are being raised by 4 percent to 9 percent, with prices also being hiked on a wide variety of other items, including beverages and dairy products, reflecting rising costs for raw materials, shipping and labor, among other factors.

■ Work reforms
・Upper limit placed on overtime at large companies.
・Companies required to have employees take at least five days of paid leave per year.
・Non-hourly wage system that falls outside working time regulations can be chosen for some specialized jobs.
■ Foreign workers
・Launch of new “specified skilled worker” residence status. The new system could bring in as many as 47,550 workers in this fiscal year in 14 fields, including farming and nursing care.

■ Public pension
・Pension allowances raised by 0.1 percent.
・National pension premium raised by ¥70 to ¥16,410 per month.

■ Automobile taxes
・Tax cuts for purchasing environmentally friendly autos reduced for some vehicle types.
・Cuts to preferential treatment for motor vehicle tonnage tax in May.

■ Corporate affairs
・Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. becomes Nippon Steel Corp.
・Mitsui Life Insurance Co. becomes Taiju Life Insurance Co.
・Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. integrate management. The new company name is Idemitsu Kosan Co., trade name is Idemitsu Showa Shell.
・Kansai Urban Banking Corp. and Kinki Osaka Bank Ltd., both based in Osaka, merge to form Kansai Mirai Bank Ltd.
・Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc. in Fukuoka integrates with Nagasaki-based Eighteenth Bank Ltd. 

■ Savings
・Japan Post Bank Co. doubles maximum deposit amount from ¥13 million to ¥26 million. 

■ Noodles, chilled foods
・Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd. raises prices on noodles by 4 percent to 9 percent and on dumplings and other chilled foods by 3 percent to 6 percent. 

■ Beverages, dairy
・Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc. raises prices on beverages in large PET bottles by ¥20 before tax.
・Meiji Co., Morinaga Milk Industry Co. raise prices on milk and yogurt.