What a company must do when an employee dies — unpaid wages, loss of insured status, and survivors' benefits

In short: When an employee dies, the company must complete the loss-of-status procedures for social insurance and employment insurance within the deadlines, pay any unpaid wages and retirement allowance to the heirs, and help with the benefits the bereaved can receive (workers'-accident survivors' benefits, survivors' pensions, and so on). The date of loss of health-insurance and pension status is the day after death; the notice is due within 5 days, and the employment-insurance loss notice within about 10 days. Unpaid wages are subject to inheritance and, if the entitled party (an heir) so requests, must be paid within 7 days (Labor Standards Act, Article 23). This page sets out, from the viewpoint of a shakai hoken roumushi's labour management, what to do and when, whom to pay, the loss-of-status procedures, survivors' benefits, and what to put in place internally.

An employee's death is sudden, and dealing with the bereaved and the procedures run at the same time. This page is for owners and HR staff of small and medium-sized companies when an employee has died, and sets out what the company should do and by when.

When an employee dies, what must the company do and by when?

On being notified of a death, alongside dealing with the bereaved, work through the procedures that have deadlines. The main ones are as follows.

What to do	Guide to the deadline	Where to file
Notification of loss of health-insurance and pension status	Within 5 days of the day after death (the date of loss)	Pension office (Kyokai Kenpo, etc.)
Return of the health-insurance card	Together with the loss notice	Pension office / health-insurance society
Notification of loss of employment-insurance status	Within 10 days of the day after ceasing to be insured	Hello Work
Payment/return of unpaid wages and money and goods	Within 7 days of the entitled party's (heir's) request	To the heirs
Guidance on and help with workers'-accident survivors' benefits	On the bereaved's claim (mind the limitation period)	Labor Standards Inspection Office

The date of loss of social-insurance (health/pension) status is the day after death, not the day of death itself. For the general handling of money and goods on leaving, see also Practicalities of money, goods and leave on leaving.

Whom do you pay unpaid wages and retirement allowance to (confirming the heirs)?

When a worker dies, unpaid wages and retirement allowance cannot be paid to the person. A wage claim is subject to inheritance and passes to the heirs (Civil Code). Labor Standards Act, Article 23 provides that, where a worker has died, on the entitled party's (heir's) request, the employer must within 7 days pay the wages and return the reserve fund, security deposit, savings and any other money and goods belonging to the worker's rights. A breach carries a penalty (a fine of up to 300,000 yen).

Item	Handling
Unpaid wages	Subject to inheritance; paid to the heirs (Labor Standards Act, Article 23; Civil Code)
Retirement allowance	Follow the beneficiary rule in the work rules / retirement-allowance rules; if none, treat it as a matter of inheritance
Deadline for payment	Within 7 days of the entitled party's (heir's) request (Labor Standards Act, Article 23)
When there are several heirs	You must fix who receives how much (division of the estate / statutory shares)

Trouble most readily arises when there are several heirs, or you cannot reach them. Paying the wrong person or amount risks a double payment. Fixing the scope and order of heirs (collecting family registers, etc.) is the realm of inheritance procedures, and the parties in charge differ. The later section sets this out.

How do you handle loss of social-insurance and employment-insurance status?

Death, like leaving, is a cause for losing insured status. The company files as the employer.

Insurance	Procedure	Deadline	Where to file
Health insurance / employees' pension	Notification of loss of insured status (date of loss = the day after death)	Within 5 days	Pension office (Kyokai Kenpo) / health-insurance society
Employment insurance	Notification of loss of insured status	Within 10 days of the day after ceasing to be insured	Hello Work
Health-insurance dependants	Where a bereaved dependant must switch to National Health Insurance, etc.	Promptly	Municipality, etc.

The health-insurance card cannot be used after loss of status. Besides the insured person, if there were family members who were dependent on the deceased employee, they too will need to switch their medical insurance (joining National Health Insurance, or moving to another family member's dependant status, etc.). The company should reliably file the loss notice and return the card, and guide the bereaved to the switch-over counter.

What benefits can the bereaved receive (workers'-accident survivors' benefits, survivors' pensions)?

The benefits the bereaved can receive change with the cause of death. The company informs the bereaved of the benefits that can be claimed and helps with proof and filling in forms.

Benefit	Who	Basis / counter
Survivors' compensation benefit (survivors' compensation pension / lump sum)	Death from a work-related cause (employment injury)	Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, Article 16, etc. / Labor Standards Inspection Office
Survivors' benefit	Death while commuting (commuting injury)	Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act / Labor Standards Inspection Office
Survivors' employees' pension	Where an employees'-pension insured, etc. dies	Employees' Pension Insurance Act, Article 58 / pension office
Survivors' basic pension	A spouse with children, or children, meeting certain conditions	National Pension Act / pension office, municipality
Burial fee / funeral benefit, etc.	Each of the health-insurance and workers'-accident schemes	Kyokai Kenpo / Labor Standards Inspection Office

Whether the death was from a work-related or commuting cause is decided by the Labor Standards Inspection Office, and the eligibility and order for survivors' pensions is judged by the pension office (Japan Pension Service). Because workers'-accident benefits have a limitation period on claims, it is safest to inform the bereaved early. The company's role is not to make the final decision on "who is entitled" or "whether it was work-related," but to help with the necessary proof and entries.

How do you set up internal procedures to avoid trouble?

So you are not at a loss when the time comes, it is safest to put the following in place in normal times.

What to do	Aim
Put a beneficiary rule in the retirement-allowance rules	Make clear whom to pay, and avoid disputes over inheritance
Grasp emergency contacts and family composition	Contact the bereaved and switch dependants' insurance promptly
A manual for loss-of-status and benefit guidance	Do not miss deadlines such as 5 and 10 days
A procedure for confirming to whom unpaid wages are paid	Do not pay casually before the heirs are fixed (preventing double payment)

Where there are several heirs, a will, or a dispute among the heirs, do not judge alone as the company; proceed with the parties in charge separated. The next section sets this out.

Whom should you ask, and for what?

The procedures following an employee's death are not completed by labour matters alone. The party in charge differs by task.

What to do	Whose work it is
Loss of social- and employment-insurance status; procedures for workers'-accident survivors' benefits and survivors' pensions; drawing up work rules and retirement-allowance rules	A Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant) (this office)
Fixing the scope and order of heirs, collecting family registers, drawing up the estate-division agreement, and other inheritance procedures	A Gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist) (or a judicial scrivener / attorney within each one's scope)
Disputes among heirs, or disputes over payment of unpaid wages or retirement allowance	An attorney
Inheritance registration (change of name on real estate)	A judicial scrivener
Inheritance tax and the quasi-final tax return	A tax accountant
Certification of an employment or commuting injury	The Labor Standards Inspection Office

This office is limited to providing information and handling procedures for labour management. We can connect you to 四葉行政書士事務所 for papers relating to fixing the heirs and dividing the estate; on the premise that shakai hoken roumushi work and gyoseishoshi work are each carried out by an independent business entity and are contracted separately. We do not take on everything under a single contract. Where there is a dispute among the heirs or a conflict over payment, we will guide you to engage an attorney directly.

What can 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 do for you?

四葉社会保険労務士事務所 in Kohinata, Bunkyo Ward, handles, when an employee has died, the loss-of-status procedures for social and employment insurance, support with claims for workers'-accident survivors' benefits and survivors' pensions, arranging the handling of unpaid wages, and reviewing the retirement-allowance rules and work rules. The initial consultation is free. We quote according to the content and the number of employees; for how fees are thought about, see the fee schedule, and the questions we are asked most often are collected on the FAQ page.

For the procedures when the owner themselves dies, see Pay and social insurance when the president dies. This office does not accept referral fees.

Frequently asked questions

Q. To whom among the bereaved do we pay the unpaid wages?
A. Unpaid wages are subject to inheritance and pass to the heirs. If there is one heir, pay that person; if several, pay according to statutory shares or the division of the estate. If the entitled party (an heir) requests, you must pay within 7 days (Labor Standards Act, Article 23). Because paying before the heirs are fixed risks a double payment, we recommend confirming the heirs first.

Q. Is the date of loss of social-insurance status the day of death, or the day after?
A. The date of loss of health-insurance and employees'-pension status is the day after death. The notice (loss-of-insured-status notification) is due within about 5 days. The employment-insurance loss notice is due within about 10 days of the day after ceasing to be insured.

Q. What benefits can the bereaved receive?
A. It depends on the cause of death. Death from work is the workers'-accident survivors' compensation benefit; death while commuting is the workers'-accident survivors' benefit; and, meeting the conditions, there are the survivors' employees' pension and the survivors' basic pension. Whether it was work-related or commuting is certified by the Labor Standards Inspection Office, and pension eligibility is judged by the pension office. Because claims have a limitation period, early guidance is safest.

Q. Can you also handle fixing the heirs and dividing the estate?
A. The labour procedures are the work of a shakai hoken roumushi; papers relating to fixing the heirs and dividing the estate are the work of a gyoseishoshi (or a judicial scrivener / attorney within each one's scope); disputes among heirs are the work of an attorney. On the premise that each is an independent business entity contracted separately, we can connect you to 四葉行政書士事務所. We do not take these on together under a single contract.

Sources for this article

• Labor Standards Act (労働基準法, Act No. 49 of 1947), Article 23 (on a worker's death or leaving, within 7 days of the entitled party's request, payment of wages and return of money and goods; a breach carries a penalty)
• Civil Code (民法, Act No. 89 of 1896) (inheritance of a wage claim; payment to the heirs)
• Health Insurance Act (健康保険法, Act No. 70 of 1922) and Employees' Pension Insurance Act (厚生年金保険法, Act No. 115 of 1954) (loss of insured status; loss-of-status notification; date of loss is the day after death)
• Employment Insurance Act (雇用保険法, Act No. 116 of 1974) (loss of insured status; loss-of-status notification)
• Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (労働者災害補償保険法, Act No. 50 of 1947), Article 16, etc. (survivors' compensation benefit for an employment-injury death; survivors' benefit for a commuting-injury death)
• Employees' Pension Insurance Act, Article 58 (requirements for the survivors' employees' pension)
• The deadlines for loss-of-status notices (health/pension within 5 days; employment insurance within 10 days of the day after ceasing to be insured) were checked against the guidance of the Japan Pension Service and Hello Work (referenced September 2026)

This article does not go so far as to decide whom you should consult. Loss of social- and employment-insurance status, procedures for workers'-accident survivors' benefits and survivors' pensions, and drawing up work rules and retirement-allowance rules are the work of a shakai hoken roumushi. Papers relating to fixing the scope and order of heirs and dividing the estate are the work of a gyoseishoshi (or a judicial scrivener / attorney within each one's scope); disputes among heirs are the work of an attorney; inheritance registration is the work of a judicial scrivener; inheritance tax and the quasi-final return are the work of a tax accountant. Shakai hoken roumushi work and gyoseishoshi work are each carried out by an independent business entity and contracted separately. This office does not accept referral fees. The cost of consulting 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 is set out in the fee schedule, and the questions we are asked most often are collected on the FAQ page.

This article is general information. Judgments that fit your particular circumstances are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant), Gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist), Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).