残業（ざんぎょう、zangiょu）
- overtime work

The Japanese word 残業 （ざんぎょう） means "overtime work" or "working after hours." It refers to the time a person spends working beyond their regular scheduled working hours. It is a common practice in Japan.

⚫︎ 今日は残業があります。 Translation: I have overtime work today. ⚫︎ 彼はいつも残業が多い。 Translation: He always has a lot of overtime. ⚫︎ 残業代はいくらですか？ Translation: How much is the overtime pay?

⚫︎ 残業 （ざんぎょう） is used in situations where someone works beyond their standard working hours. ⚫︎ It's common in discussions about work, schedules, and compensation. ⚫︎ It can be used to describe both the act of working overtime and the overtime work itself.

⚫︎ The word 残業 is typically written in kanji and hiragana: 残業 （ざんぎょう）. ⚫︎ The kanji 残 means "remaining" or "leftover," and 業 means "work" or "business." ⚫︎ The hiragana reading is always ざんぎょう. ⚫︎ There are no variations in okurigana.

There are not many perfect synonyms, as the concept is very specific. However, these words and phrases are related: ⚫︎ 超過勤務 (chouka kinmu) - "excess work," a more formal term for overtime work ⚫︎ 時間外労働 (jikan gai roudou) - "work outside of regular hours," another formal term for overtime work ⚫︎ サービス残業 (saabisu zangyou) - "unpaid overtime" (informal; a major social problem)

⚫︎ 定時 (teiji) - "regular time," meaning working regular hours ⚫︎ 定時退社 (teiji taisha) - "leaving at the regular time"

昨日は残業して、夜遅くまで仕事をしていました。 ・Translation: I worked overtime yesterday and worked until late at night. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the speaker's experience of doing overtime work the previous day.

うちの会社は残業が少ないから、ワークライフバランスが良いです。 ・Translation: Our company has little overtime, so the work-life balance is good. ・Explanation: This sentence talks about the company's policy and its impact on employees' work-life balance.

The word 残業 （ざんぎょう） is a compound word: ⚫︎ 残 (zan) comes from the verb 残る (nokoru), meaning "to remain" or "to be left over." ⚫︎ 業 (gyou) means "work," "business," or "task." Therefore, 残業 （ざんぎょう） literally means "remaining work," referring to the work that remains after the usual working hours have ended.