Rules Without Consequences 掛け声だけならやめて

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Are rules without consequences effective?

The ward where I live prohibits smoking while walking. But I still often see smoking walkers and even cyclists. It's natural because they aren't punished for breaking the rule. Likewise, the Japanese government has been trying to reduce overtime by implementing a work-style reform. But again, employers won't be seriously punished for violating the rule.

There is a common issue. These rules both call for a mindset change, but have almost no consequences, which makes me surprised at the rule makers’ naivety and irresponsibility. Rules need consequences and specific measures. For example, for the first case, why don't they hire staff who find and fine street smokers in exchange for some reward, like JPY1,000 per smoker?

Also, for the work-style reform, how about prohibiting overtime for more than ten hours across the board and the payment of compensation for excess overtime? I'm certain that by doing this, employees not working, but just staying in the office late because of the presence of their lonely supervisors who have no place at home or no idea what to do after work, would go home or at least leave the office. Those doing "real" overtime should of course be paid, but the focus should be on ensuring that employees can live a decent life without depending on overtime payment while changing the current work environment in which the longer you stay in the office (e.g., working for 12, 15, even 20 hours a day ), the more you are promoted.

Are you shocked at the fact that Japanese can't change without being spanked? But it's the same as the racial quotas in the U.S. So, we don't need to be lectured. Just give us a rule.

罰則のない規定に意味などあるのだろうか。

私の住んでいる区は歩きタバコを禁止している。でも歩きながら、自転車に乗りながらタバコを吸っている人はまだ多い。そして日本では働き方改革が進められていることは周知のとおりである。

さてこの二つの共通点は何でしょう。答え。掛け声だけでほとんど何の罰則もないこと。掛け声だけで言うこと聞くなんて思ってるならよっぽどのお馬鹿さんか無責任だと思います。だから例えば歩きタバコ。監視員を雇って歩きタバコ一人見つける度に1,000円払えばすぐに解決しませんかね。

働き方改革も、まずは10時間以上の残業、残業代支払いを禁止したら、家庭に居場所がなくて、または仕事以外にやることのない上司への付き合い残業はなくなると思う。勿論、本当に残業している人には残業代を払う必要はあるだろうけど、それでも1日12時間も15時間20時間も残業するのっておかしくありませんか。そして重要なことは、まともに働いていれば残業しなくてもまともな生活を送れるだけの賃金を保証すべき、ということです。

お尻叩かれないとできないのか、と海外の皆様には驚かれそうですが、アメリカの「アファーマティブ・アクション」と同じだと思っております。偉い人、説教するのはもう止めて、規則を作ってください。