Labor management for opening a convenience-store franchise: 24-hour shifts, the night premium and international-student part-timers

Bottom line first: Labor at a convenience-store franchise comes down to four things: the night premium and breaks in 24-hour shifts, time management for the 28-hour cap on international-student part-timers, social and employment insurance for short-hour and multiple jobs, and the minimum-wage revision. Work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. carries the 25%-or-more night premium under Article 37, paragraph 4 of the Labor Standards Act, even for scheduled work. International students may work up to 28 hours a week with permission to engage in an activity other than that permitted (8 hours a day during long vacations). From 1 October 2026 the wage requirement (88,000 yen a month) for short-hour workers' social insurance was abolished; judge instead by 20 hours a week or more, a prospect of employment over two months, not being a student, and company size. The authoritative record lives in the work rules, the Article 36 agreement and the wage rules; checking and applying for residence status belongs to an administrative scrivener and Immigration.

How do you build the night premium and breaks into a 24-hour shift?

A convenience-store franchise cannot meet the statutory working hours (8 hours a day, 40 a week; Article 32 of the Labor Standards Act) with one person, so you share the 24 hours among several part-timers and staff. The first things that bite in the design are the night premium and breaks.

Item	Content	Basis
Night premium	Work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. carries 25% or more above the ordinary wage, even for scheduled work	Labor Standards Act Article 37, paragraph 4
Overlap of overtime and night	Where overtime (25%+) extends into the night, it overlaps with night (25%+) to make 50% or more	Labor Standards Act Article 37, paragraphs 1 and 4
Breaks	A break of 45 minutes where working hours exceed 6, and 1 hour where they exceed 8, given during working hours	Labor Standards Act Article 34, paragraph 1
Exception to simultaneous breaks	Commerce (retail of goods) etc. is exempt from the principle of giving breaks simultaneously; breaks may be taken in rotation	Labor Standards Act Article 40; Ordinance Article 31

The night premium is a statutory duty separate from whether the company voluntarily sets a "night allowance" or "shift allowance." If a fixed allowance is to cover the night premium, the wage rules must show distinctly that the allowance includes the equivalent of the night premium and does not fall below the premium for the actual night-work hours. For the premium, breaks and working-hour management when one person runs the night band, see sleep breaks and the night premium at a one-person 24-hour store. The franchise owner's own working hours are not regulated by the Labor Standards Act, but those of the employees you hire are.

How do you manage the 28-hour week for international-student part-timers?

The "Student" status of residence is one that does not in itself permit work. Only with permission to engage in an activity other than that permitted may a student do part-time work, in principle up to 28 hours a week (8 hours a day during long vacations). This time counts across all workplaces in the same week, totaled together. Keeping to 28 hours at your store alone does not help if the total with other stores exceeds it.

What to check	Where	Whose field
Whether work is allowed	Front of the residence card, "work restriction" field ("no work" needs the extra-activity permission)	Fact-checking is the employer's
Whether there is extra-activity permission	Back of the card, "extra-activity permission" field (in principle up to 28 hours a week, excluding adult-entertainment work)	Fact-checking is the employer's
Total hours across stores	The person's declaration and shift management	The employer's time management
Status eligibility, change, permission application	Individual residence-status judgment	Administrative scrivener (filing agent) and Immigration

Managing the 28-hour week itself is the employer's (the franchise's) responsibility. Whether the person has a status that permits work, and applying to change the status or for extra-activity permission, are not the labor and social-security attorney's work but the field of an administrative scrivener (filing agent) and the Immigration Services Agency, contracted separately as an independent business. For managing students' time and checking at hiring, see managing the 28-hour week for international-student part-timers. For the whole picture of what the attorney can do in foreign employment, see what a labor attorney can do in foreign employment, and who else to engage.

What about social and employment insurance for short-hour and multiple jobs?

A convenience store carries many short-hour part-timers. The application of social insurance (health and pension) to short-hour workers changed from 1 October 2026: the former wage requirement (88,000 yen a month, the so-called 1.06-million-yen wall) was abolished, and you now judge by the following.

Scheme	Rough threshold	Basis/note
Social insurance (health/pension) for short-hour workers	20 scheduled hours a week or more; a prospect of employment over two months; not a student; company size (pension-insured count across the whole corporation at or above a threshold)	Wage requirement (88,000 yen) abolished from 1 Oct 2026; company size from 51 in principle, to be lowered in stages to 36 from Oct 2027
Employment insurance	20 scheduled hours a week or more; a prospect of 31 days' employment or more	Employment Insurance Act Article 6; daytime students are in principle excluded (except evening/part-time)
Workers' accident insurance	Applies from even one worker, including part-timers and students	Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance Act; regardless of nationality or status

An international student's part-time work, being a student's, is in principle excluded from short-hour social insurance, and daytime students are in principle excluded from employment insurance. Workers' accident insurance, however, applies from even one worker regardless of nationality or status. For why the wage requirement was abolished and what businesses should prepare, see what businesses do now the 1.06-million-yen wall is gone; for judging short-hour workers' social insurance, social insurance for short-hour workers (the three-quarters test). For employment insurance for people working at multiple workplaces (including the multiple-job-holder scheme for those 65 and over), see working at multiple workplaces and employment insurance.

How do you prepare for the minimum-wage revision (fiscal 2026) at opening?

Part-timers' hourly pay may not fall below the regional minimum wage. Tokyo's regional minimum wage became 1,280 yen an hour from 1 October 2026 (a 54-yen rise from the 1,226 yen applied to work up to 30 September 2026). The minimum wage is in principle revised around October each year, so when setting hourly pay at opening, design it not to fall below the minimum either side of the revision.

What to check	Content
Minimum wage (Tokyo)	1,280 yen an hour from 1 October 2026 (revised around October each year)
Minimum for night	The night band is at least the minimum wage x 1.25 (minimum wage x the night-premium floor)
Monthly/daily pay	Divide the wage excluding allowances by the scheduled hours and check the hourly amount is at or above the minimum
Review at revision	If a revision pushes the minimum above your hourly pay, leaving it is a breach; review pay at the revision

Because the night premium stacks on top of the minimum wage, the floor for night-band pay is 1.25 times the minimum. For the fiscal-2026 revision and preparing at opening, see the fiscal-2026 minimum wage (Tokyo's 54-yen rise). Because the amount and effective date differ by prefecture, check the latest figure for the store's location right before writing it.

What work rules and Article 36 agreement do you set up at opening, and who do you ask?

A workplace that regularly employs 10 or more workers must prepare work rules and file them with the head of the competent Labor Standards Inspection Office (Article 89 of the Labor Standards Act). Even under 10, writing down shifts, the night allowance and the method of wage payment stabilizes the operation.

Have a question about your situation?

Tell us about your social insurance, payroll or employment enquiry.

Chat on LINEContact us

Procedure/document	Content	Basis
Preparing and filing work rules	Mandatory from 10 regular workers; set out shift categories, night allowance and wage rules	Labor Standards Act Article 89
Article 36 agreement	Needed to have workers do overtime or holiday work	Labor Standards Act Article 36
Stating working conditions	State wage, hours, place of work and duties at hiring (amendment effective 1 Apr 2024 added the scope of changes)	Labor Standards Act Article 15; Ordinance Article 5
Foreign employment status notification	Notify Hello Work of a foreign national's hiring and separation	Labor Measures Comprehensive Promotion Act Article 28, paragraph 1
Joining labor and social insurance	Workers' accident and employment insurance on hiring; social insurance for a company	Each insurance act

Preparing the work rules, Article 36 agreement and wage rules, designing shifts and the night premium, and joining social and labor insurance are the labor attorney's field. For the ceiling on overtime an Article 36 agreement can extend, see how far overtime can go under an Article 36 agreement; for the basics of the duty to prepare work rules, from how many employees are work rules mandatory; for notifying the hiring and separation of foreign nationals, the practice of foreign employment status notification. Fees are in the fee schedule, and frequently asked questions in the FAQ.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Short-handed at night, the owner (franchisee) works the night themselves. Can I claim my own night premium?
A. The franchise owner (the business operator) is not a worker under the Labor Standards Act, so no duty to pay a night premium to yourself arises. The night premium is one the company owes to the employees it hires. If family members work as employees, you must separately check the treatment of a co-resident relative (whether employment insurance and the Labor Standards Act apply). The owner's own workers' accident cover may be available under the special-enrollment scheme. Whether a particular case qualifies must be checked for each actual pattern of work.

Q. An international student says they "also work at another store." Is it fine if I keep them at 20 hours at my store?
A. It can be a problem. The 28-hour-a-week cap under extra-activity permission is judged by totaling all workplaces worked in the same week. Even at 20 hours at your store, if the total with other stores exceeds 28, it is an over-run of the person's extra activity, and an employer who lets them work beyond it can also touch on facilitating illegal work. Grasp the total with other stores through the person's declaration and shift management. The individual judgment of status eligibility or the scope of the permission is the field of an administrative scrivener (filing agent) and Immigration; consult them separately from the labor attorney.

Q. I hear the "1.06-million-yen wall" is gone for social insurance. Will student part-timers now join too?
A. From 1 October 2026 the wage requirement (88,000 yen a month) for short-hour workers' social insurance was abolished. But the "not a student" requirement remains. A daytime international student's part-time work is in principle excluded from short-hour social insurance (treatment differs for some evening, part-time and correspondence students). The abolition of the wage requirement mainly affects non-student short-hour workers; it does not mean student part-timers uniformly start joining.

Q. Is one-person night operation illegal?
A. No Labor Standards Act provision uniformly bans working one person at night, but night-band work carries the night premium (Article 37, paragraph 4), and where working hours exceed 6 you must give a break (Article 34). Because a break is hard to take with one person, you need a design that secures it through relief staff or the shift pattern. From a safety standpoint, whether one-person night operation is appropriate should be considered case by case in light of the location and crime-prevention setup. The design of hours, breaks and premiums must be checked against the actual pattern of work.

Basis for this article

• Labor Standards Act (Act No. 49 of 1947), Article 32 — statutory working hours (8 a day, 40 a week); Article 34, paragraph 1 — breaks (45 minutes where over 6 hours, 1 hour where over 8, given during working hours); Article 36 — the overtime and holiday-work agreement; Article 37, paragraphs 1 and 4 — premium wages for overtime and night (night is 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., 25% or more); Article 40 — exceptions for breaks and days off; Article 15 — statement of working conditions (amendment effective 1 April 2024 added the scope of changes to place of work and duties); Article 89 — duty to prepare and file work rules (10 or more regular workers)
• Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act, Article 31 — industries exempt from the principle of simultaneous breaks (including commerce = sale of goods etc.); Article 5 — matters to be stated as working conditions
• Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (Cabinet Order No. 319 of 1951), Article 19, paragraph 2 — permission to engage in an activity other than that permitted; Ordinance Article 19, paragraph 5, item 1 — the blanket permission for a student is in principle up to 28 hours a week, item 2 — 8 hours a day during long vacations
• Expansion of social insurance to short-hour workers — under the pension-reform act enacted June 2025, the wage requirement (88,000 yen a month) was abolished from 1 October 2026; the remaining requirements are 20 scheduled hours a week or more, a prospect of employment over two months, not being a student, and company size (pension-insured count across the whole corporation, 51 or more in principle, to be lowered to 36 from October 2027). Confirmed against Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and Japan Pension Service materials on 9 November 2026
• Employment Insurance Act (Act No. 116 of 1974), Article 6 — exclusions (under 20 scheduled hours a week, no prospect of 31 days' employment, daytime students, etc.)
• Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance Act (Act No. 50 of 1947) — applies from even one worker employed (regardless of nationality or status)
• Minimum Wage Act (Act No. 137 of 1959) — wages below the regional minimum are void. Tokyo's regional minimum is 1,280 yen an hour from 1 October 2026 (1,226 before). Confirmed from Tokyo Labour Bureau and Ministry materials on 9 November 2026
• Act on Comprehensive Promotion of Labour Measures and the Stabilization of Employment and Enrichment of Working Lives of Workers (Act No. 132 of 1966), Article 28, paragraph 1 — foreign employment status notification
• Provisions checked on e-Gov Law Search on 9 November 2026. The night premium, breaks and minimum wage are settled, but judging extra-activity eligibility, applying the individual company-size requirement, and managing hours totaled across stores must be confirmed for each pattern of work and status. Individual hourly rates and per-store headcounts that could not be verified are not written

This article does not determine whether any particular case qualifies. 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 can advise on preparing the work rules, Article 36 agreement and wage rules for opening a convenience-store franchise, designing 24-hour shifts and the night premium, managing the working hours of part-timers including international students, joining social and labor insurance, and responding to minimum-wage revisions. Judging residence-status eligibility, change and the extra-activity permission application (filing agent) belong to an administrative scrivener and the Immigration Services Agency, the store premises to a licensed real-estate agent, and negotiation or litigation over unpaid premium wages to a lawyer; each is contracted separately as an independent business. There is no referral fee. Fees are in the fee schedule, and frequently asked questions in the FAQ.

This article is general information. Individual determinations are made by a qualified professional after a consultation, in light of individual circumstances. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi, Gyoseishoshi, Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).