The ruling coalition and the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force, agreed Monday on changes to a bill to revise the Labor Standards Law, including removal of a clause that stipulates employers' rights to fire workers, lawmakers said.

The two sides agreed to preserve a provision in the bill that inhibits employers from abusing their right to lay off workers by saying that dismissals without legitimate reasons will be invalid.

The amended bill is expected to be approved in the House of Representatives' health and labor committee on Wednesday with a majority vote by ruling and opposition party members. It is likely to be enacted during the current Diet session.

Jinen Nagase of the Liberal Democratic Party, who heads the Lower House committee, and Masamitsu Jojima, who is in charge of employment measures in the DPJ's shadow Cabinet, were among the lawmakers who participated in Monday's discussions.

Jojima said that adding the provision that employers can fire workers "will lead to misunderstanding that employers can do so freely." The LDP accepted his argument, according to the lawmakers.