Joseikin or hojokin — which one, and who do you ask?

In short: Broadly, money for "hiring people and changing how they work" is a joseikin (an employment-related subsidy), and that is the field of the shakai hoken roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant). Money for "starting a business and installing equipment" is a hojokin (a grant), and that is the field of the gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist). The names look alike, but the funding source, the way applications are assessed, and the person you ask are all different.

"Which should we apply for, a joseikin or a hojokin?" We are asked this from time to time. Two things have to be settled before the question can be answered: what you want to spend the money on, and who you ask.

What is the difference between a joseikin and a hojokin?

	Employment-related subsidies (joseikin)	Grants (hojokin)
Funding source	The employment insurance premiums employers pay (the employment insurance two-services account)	The budgets of the national government and municipalities
Main jurisdiction	The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Labour Bureaus	The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, municipalities and others
Application windows	Many are open all year round	The public call period is limited
Whether you receive it	Many are paid once you meet the requirements	There is screening and selection; you can meet the requirements and still not be selected
Who may act for you	A shakai hoken roumushi	A gyoseishoshi (preparing the application documents)

The difference that matters most in practice is the second row from the bottom. A joseikin turns on whether you meet the requirements; a hojokin turns on whether you are chosen. That is why there is room for craft in how a business plan is written for a hojokin, and very little of it for a joseikin. In exchange, a joseikin is not paid at all if you drop a single requirement.

Employment-related subsidies are carried out as employment stabilization services under Article 62 of the Employment Insurance Act (雇用保険法, Act No. 116 of 1974). Because the money comes from employment insurance premiums, being an establishment covered by employment insurance is the threshold condition.

Why does the person you ask change?

Appended Table 1 of the Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant Act (社会保険労務士法, Act No. 89 of 1968) lists the laws a shakai hoken roumushi handles. The Employment Insurance Act is on that list. It follows that only a shakai hoken roumushi may, for a fee, prepare the application documents for an employment-related subsidy and file them on your behalf (Article 27 of the same Act).

A hojokin is not based on the Employment Insurance Act, so that restriction does not reach it. Preparing documents to be submitted to public agencies is work under Article 1-2, paragraph 1 of the Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist Act (行政書士法, Act No. 4 of 1951).

In other words, the line is not drawn by the qualification; it is drawn by the statute the money rests on.

Working out which side you are on

The quickest route is to work backwards from what you want to do.

On the joseikin side

• You want to move fixed-term employees onto permanent contracts
• You want to hire older workers, people with disabilities, or people who find it hard to get work
• You want to build arrangements that let staff combine work with childcare or family care
• You want to put employees through training
• Business has fallen off but you want to keep people employed

On the hojokin side

• You want to bring in equipment or machinery
• You want to open new sales channels or build a website
• You want to start a new line of business
• You want to hand the business on to a successor

The borderline case is something like "installing equipment in order to hire people." Here both may apply, and whether they can be received together has to be checked case by case.

How does Yotsuba take this on?

	Who handles it	Fee (tax incl.)
Filing for employment-related subsidies on your behalf	四葉社会保険労務士事務所	No fee up front + a success fee of 20% of the amount granted (retained clients only)
Support with grant applications	四葉行政書士事務所	Please see the fee schedule

The retainer and the fees for individual procedures are on the fee schedule.

Subsidies are limited to retained clients because checking the requirements takes a view of day-to-day labor management. The content of the work rules, the way the written notice of working conditions is drafted, how attendance records are kept — non-payment of a subsidy almost always comes from a stumble at that level. Putting the documents in order as a one-off job does not carry you through to payment.

四葉社会保険労務士事務所 and 四葉行政書士事務所 are separate businesses. Joji Uramatsu represents both, but the contracts, the invoices and the payments are separate: each accepts work separately, under a separate contract. No referral fees are exchanged.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Is a joseikin always paid?
A. That many of them are paid once you meet the requirements is what separates them from a hojokin. But "always" is too strong. A subsidy can go unpaid because the deadline for the payment application passed, because the worker concerned did not meet the requirements, or because there was a breach of the labor laws.

Q. We have had a corrective recommendation from the Labour Standards Inspection Office in the past. Can we still use a joseikin?
A. Most subsidies require that there has been no improper receipt of funds, no delinquency in labor insurance premiums, and no breach of certain labor-related laws. A corrective recommendation does not by itself necessarily disqualify you, but whether the correction has been completed will be asked about. We check after hearing your particular circumstances.

Q. A consulting firm has recommended that we apply for a joseikin.
A. Only a shakai hoken roumushi may, for a fee, prepare and file the application documents for an employment-related subsidy (Article 27 of 社会保険労務士法). If you are told that "a shakai hoken roumushi is involved," please confirm who you will actually be contracting with and who you will be paying. At Yotsuba no referral fees are exchanged, and you contract directly with each office.

Q. Can a joseikin and a hojokin be used at the same time?
A. It depends on the programs. Receiving both against the same expense is generally not allowed. Where what they cover is different, however, they can sometimes be used together. Any particular combination has to be checked against the public call guidelines and the payment guidelines for each.

Sources for this article

• 雇用保険法 (Act No. 116 of 1974), Article 62 (employment stabilization services)
• 社会保険労務士法 (Act No. 89 of 1968), Article 2, paragraph 1, item 1; Article 27; Appended Table 1
• 行政書士法 (Act No. 4 of 1951), Article 1-2, paragraph 1
• The requirements, amounts and deadlines of individual subsidies and grants follow the payment guidelines and public call guidelines of the ministry or municipality with jurisdiction. They are revised each fiscal year, so please check the current version. This article does not name any particular subsidy or grant, or state amounts.

This article is general information. A judgment on your individual circumstances is made by a qualified professional after a consultation. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi, Gyoseishoshi, Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).