労使

• Reading: ろうし
• Romaji: rōshi
• Kanji breakdown: 労 (rō) — labour (from 労働者, labourer); 使 (shi) — employer (from 使用者)
• Pronunciation: /ɾoːɕi/

Meaning

Labour and management; employees and employers together as the two parties of industrial relations.

A compound abbreviation of 労働者 (labourer) and 使用者 (employer). Used in the context of labour relations and collective bargaining. 労使交渉 (labour-management negotiations), 労使協定 (labour-management agreement — required under the Labour Standards Act for overtime work), and 労使関係 (industrial relations) are core terms in Japanese employment law and HR management.

Examples

1. 今春の労使交渉では、物価上昇を背景に大幅な賃上げが要求された。 In this spring's labour-management negotiations, significant pay rises were demanded against a backdrop of rising prices.
2. 労使協定を締結しなければ、時間外労働をさせることはできない。 Overtime work cannot be required without concluding a labour-management agreement.
3. 労使関係が安定している職場では、従業員の定着率も高い傾向がある。 Workplaces with stable labour-management relations tend to also have higher employee retention rates.

Usage Guide

Context: labour law, HR, collective bargaining, trade unions

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

Portmanteau compound of 労 (labour — abbreviation of 労働者) and 使 (employer — abbreviation of 使用者). The paired abbreviation efficiently captures the two-party nature of the employment relationship in a single two-character compound, established in modern labour law discourse.

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: Adults

Social background: Business/Government