Should employees who were paid for overtime when they worked in their office be also paid for overtime when they are working remotely? If so, how can that be calculated (or verified) by the company?

The very simple answer to this is performance-related pay. Unless physical presence is absolutely necessary, customer-facing jobs etc., overtime pay encourages people to work slowly. You also get extra lighting and HVAC costs from your office staying open longer just so some dawdler can get extra pay for working inefficiently.

The reason this happens, and that Japanese people can't take days off, is because "managers" do not manage.

It can’t be verified so the worker shouldn’t work overtime. They should enjoy family life (if they have one), learn a new hobby or skill, and basically welcome the opportunity to have a good work-life balance.

Unless, of course, they can hanko a company form that ‘proves’ they worked overtime.

how can that be calculated ... by the company?

By having employees report their overtime hours.

(or verified)

By checking their work product.

Don't hire people you can't trust to work honestly.

Work is work. If you're on the clock, you should be paid for it.

People get paid for overtime in Japan?! Huh?!

Yes, in companies worth working for.

In my experience of working for a large company in Japan, it depends on your position - those promoted to a certain level don’t receive overtime pay. Our company clamped down on wasteful overtime a long time ago and we have to justify why overtime is needed.

As stated above, report your hours, justify why these hours are needed and get judged on your output. Same as being at the office.

If you are working for a company which doesn’t pay for overtime, start looking for a new job.

As if overtime is paid here when working in person at any time. snicker, snicker.

It can’t be verified so the worker shouldn’t work overtime. They should enjoy family life (if they have one), learn a new hobby or skill, and basically welcome the opportunity to have a good work-life balance.

this is probably the best advice out there

The verification is in the work produced. Work done is the value not how long you sit there doing it. Results are what matters, effort is meh

Yeah, the nesxt time I get paid for overtime work in Japan (which would be an absolute first,) I'll let you know my answer.

It's a trade off, the employees can't prove that they were at their desk during working hours, so obviously they won't be able to prove any overtime. The employees however should be compensated for utilities cost which otherwise wouldn't accrue if they were at the office.

People get paid for overtime in Japan?! Huh?!

The Labor Standards Act is clear that this overtime should be paid. It’s also clear that employers are responsible for creating a system to keep track of workers’ time

agree. all overtime work should be paid.

Absolutely, you're still working. Some offices have monitoring software installed in the laptops that they issue, the honor code won't work.

I can make my laptop look busy all day long and remotely.

Screenshots, file date stamps, video calls, key-logger, private detectives....there are plenty of possibilities. But it’s all time and money expensive, so better just pay , pay less, don’t pay or fire them, in this sequence. That’s the cheapest, especially during a pandemic or in times with less order book inputs. lol