Feb 20 (NHK) - Japan's labor minister has apologized for having provided inaccurate figures to the prime minister in Diet debate on working system reform.
But he rejected the opposition camp's demand to again review the labor reform plan.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration is aiming for working system reform, including expanding a discretionary system on fixed wages regardless of work hours.
But he was forced to retract a remark he made on the issue last month in the Lower House Budget Committee due to a lack of accuracy.
Abe had said some data showed that average workers under the discretionary system put in fewer hours than average employees in general.
Labor Minister Katsunobu Kato told the committee on Monday that the ministry was wrong to make the comparison using two sets of data, compiled using different methods.
Opposition parties demanded that Kato launch debate by its expert panel from scratch on bills related to working system reform.
But Kato said the controversial data have not been submitted to the panel. He said the panelists have given a thumbs-up to the bills after discussing their content from a variety of angles.
Source: ANNnewsCH
