Tokyo, Nov. 28 (Jiji Press) — The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, will ask member companies to raise the monthly salaries of employees by 3 pct, in line with expectations shown by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, informed sources said Tuesday.

The recommendation will be included in a draft of the largest Japanese business group’s guidelines for member companies in next year’s “shunto” labor-management negotiations, the sources said.

The draft, to be drawn up by Keidanren’s special committee on management and labor policy, will call for the wage growth through a regular salary increase and a pay scale hike.

The draft will be reported at a meeting of the group’s chairman and vice chairmen next Monday. Keidanren plans to set details of the guidelines by January, the sources said. It is unusual for Keidanren to suggest a specific pay hike level.

The draft guidelines will also call on companies to distribute funds for overtime pay to be saved through work-style reforms for allowances and bonuses and to respond to public criticism of rises in their internal reserves, the sources said.