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Useful information on social insurance, subsidies, and labor management.
Delivered in an easy-to-understand manner from the perspective of a labor consultant.
Duty to publish childcare-leave uptake — does it reach companies over 300 from April 2025?
From 1 April 2025 (Reiwa 7), the duty to publish the state of male employees' childcare-leave uptake widened from companies with more than 1,000 ordinarily-employed workers to those with "more than 300". What you publish is the male childcare-leave uptake rate, once a year, for the immediately preceding business year, within roughly three months after that year ends, by a method anyone can view. Preparing the childcare/family-care leave rules and handling the calculation and publication of the uptake rate is a Shakai Hoken Roumushi's work; this office accepts work as an independent business entity, and individual determinations are made by a qualified professional after a consultation.
The 2024 overtime cap for hospital and clinic doctors — how do you comply?
From 1 April 2024 (Reiwa 6), a cap on overtime and holiday work applies to doctors employed at hospitals and clinics. The rule is, in principle, 960 hours a year and under 100 hours a month (Level A); a medical institution with regional-medicine circumstances can be designated by the prefectural governor and allowed up to 1,860 hours a year (Levels Coordinated-B, B and C). In exchange for relaxing the cap, face-to-face guidance and a work-interval become mandatory health-securing measures. Managing doctors' overtime, the Article 36 agreement and work rules is a Shakai Hoken Roumushi's work; the opening permit for a medical institution is a Gyoseishoshi's, contracted separately as an independent business entity.
Hiring Chinese and Taiwanese talent under Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services — labour and residence renewal
When hiring Chinese or Taiwanese talent under the Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services status ("Gijinkoku"), the first thing to confirm is whether the person's academic background or practical experience relates to the duties assigned; if this is off, the eligibility of the status collapses. In labour after hiring, the items to disclose in working conditions increased from 1 April 2024, and social and employment insurance apply regardless of nationality where the requirements are met. And overtime and wage trouble tells, at residence renewal, as the appropriateness of labour management. The residence application is a Gyoseishoshi's work — a Shakai Hoken Roumushi cannot act as an application agent — and it is a separate business entity, contracted separately.
Staffing and labour for Employment Selection Support (newly created October 2025) — what to arrange
In Employment Selection Support, newly created on 1 October 2025, the basic staff are a "manager" and an "employment selection support worker", and the service-management manager required for employment continuation support Type A and Type B need not be placed, because this is a short-term assessment-type service that draws up no individual support plan. Employment selection support workers are placed at a full-time equivalent of at least the user count divided by fifteen, and are people who have completed the employment selection support worker training. Because the staffing skeleton differs from existing services, it is safer to rebuild the work rules, working time and shifts to fit this service type. The designation application belongs to a Gyoseishoshi and the premises to real estate — separate business entities from this office, contracted separately.
Labor design when opening a restaurant — the late-night premium, shifts and fixed overtime pay
For a restaurant, designing three things before you open — the late-night premium, shifts and fixed overtime pay — prevents later unpaid-wage trouble. Work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. needs a late-night premium of 25% or more (Labor Standards Act, Article 37, paragraph 4), and where that time is also overtime it stacks with the 25%-plus overtime premium to reach 50% or more. Even under a shift system the statutory limits of 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week and the breaks (Articles 32 and 34) do not move, and a Article 36 agreement is required to exceed them. Fixed overtime pay (deemed overtime) is valid only when you show "how many hours for how much," separated into ordinary wage and premium, and settle any shortfall when the hours are exceeded.
Labor and social insurance when hiring a highly skilled foreign professional (IT engineer)
Even if you hire an IT engineer under the Highly Skilled Professional or the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status, the labor and social insurance treatment is the same as for a Japanese national. As long as the person is continuously employed at a covered workplace, regardless of nationality or status, they become an insured person under health insurance and employees' pension (accident insurance covers everyone; employment insurance applies if the requirements are met), and premiums are deducted from pay. Double coverage with the home country's system can be adjusted only with a country that has a social security agreement, through a certificate of coverage. Notice of working conditions in Japanese satisfies the law, but showing it in a language the person understands is safer in practice.
When a Chinese or Taiwanese company hires in Japan — how much social insurance does the company pay?
When a Chinese or Taiwanese company hires employees in Japan, the company bears premiums for health insurance, employees' pension, nursing care insurance, employment insurance, and workers' accident insurance, plus the fully employer-borne child and childcare contribution. Health, pension, nursing care, and employment insurance are split with the worker in principle, and the employer's burden often comes to roughly 15–16% of remuneration. This article organizes the enrollment thresholds and the hiring procedures for foreign employees. Company registration is the work of a judicial scrivener, residence status of a Gyoseishoshi, tax of a tax accountant, and property of a real estate agent, each contracted separately as separate, independent entities.
When the president changes in a business succession — how to handle directors' social and labor insurance
When the representative changes in a business succession, the company itself (the applicable workplace) continues, so directors' social insurance is reviewed person by person. A person who newly becomes a director and receives remuneration acquires qualification; a person who leaves the company loses qualification; a person whose remuneration changes may be subject to an occasional revision (a monthly remuneration change notification). For labor insurance, you file a change notification for the representative's name. Registration is the work of a judicial scrivener, tax matters of a tax accountant, and share succession and family disputes of an attorney, each contracted separately as separate, independent entities.
Are users of Type A continuous employment support "workers"? Employment contracts, minimum wage, and the reduction exception
Users of Type A continuous employment support (the "employment type") conclude an employment contract with the office, so they are in principle "workers" under Article 9 of the Labor Standards Act. The Minimum Wage Act therefore applies, and wages at or above the regional minimum wage must be paid. Where a worker's ability is markedly low due to disability, a reduced minimum wage can be applied only after the prefectural labor bureau director grants a reduction exception under Article 7 of the Minimum Wage Act.
Social insurance when you hire or receive on secondment from Taiwan — there is no social security agreement between Japan and Taiwan
When you hire, or receive on secondment, a person from Taiwan, they become an insured person under Japan's health insurance and employees' pension insurance regardless of nationality as long as they are ordinarily employed at an applicable workplace (employment insurance and workers' accident insurance also apply if requirements are met). The point to note is that there is no social security agreement between Japan and Taiwan. The systems covered and totalization rules vary by agreement; the agreement with China does not provide for totalization. Taiwan is not an agreement partner, so neither coordination of coverage nor totalization is available under an agreement.
Employment insurance coverage expands to 10 or more weekly hours from October 2028. Who is covered and how to prepare
The prescribed weekly working hours requirement to become an employment insurance insured person will be lowered from the current 20 or more to 10 or more. It takes effect on October 1, 2028, under the Act Partially Amending the Employment Insurance Act and Other Acts (Act No. 26 of 2024). This is a different system from the October 2027 expansion of social insurance (employees' pension and health insurance): unlike social insurance, employment insurance has no company-size requirement, so companies of any size that employ part-timers working 10 to 20 hours a week will have new procedures from October 2028.
Working hours and social insurance for the "Designated Activities" status (working holiday and internship)
The "Designated Activities" residence status is one where whether a person can work differs from individual to individual. What they can actually do is confirmed by the "designation document" attached to the passport. Working holiday participants can work (some fields such as adult-entertainment businesses are not allowed), and there is no uniform hour cap like the students' "up to 28 hours a week." Workers' accident compensation insurance applies regardless of nationality or residence status; employment insurance and social insurance apply if their respective insured-person requirements are met.
The specific-office addition for home-visit care (the labor side of length of service, training, meetings and emergency response)
Whether you can claim the specific-office addition for home-visit care is decided not by the number of points but by your structure and records. What you put in order are the "people" requirements — length of service, qualifications and the ratio of heavy-care users — and the "operation" requirements — individual training plans, regular meetings, an emergency-response structure and health check-ups (Notice of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare No. 19 of 2000; the points-of-note notice, Roki No. 36 of 2000). Managing length of service, training plans and records, meeting minutes, and putting work rules and wage regulations in order is the work of a Shakai Hoken Roumushi; judging the addition tier and preparing the filing to the designating authority is the work of a Gyoseishoshi. This article sorts out the addition from the side of "which parts of labor to fix."
Succession of labor contracts in a company split or business transfer (the Labor Contract Succession Act and the Article 5 consultation)
In a company split and a business transfer, the way labor contracts carry over is the opposite. In a company split, under the Labor Contract Succession Act (Act No. 103 of 2000), the labor contract of a worker mainly engaged in the succeeded business moves to the succeeding company comprehensively, without the person's consent. In a business transfer, under Article 625, paragraph 1 of the Civil Code, it cannot be moved without each worker's consent. For a company split, three procedures are prescribed — notification, the Article 5 consultation and the Article 7 measure. Labor-management consultation, notification and integrating work rules is for a Shakai Hoken Roumushi; the registration of a company split is for a judicial scrivener; a dispute over a disadvantageous change is for an attorney; and tax is for a tax accountant.
Night-duty (shukujitchoku) permission in medical and care settings: what kind of duty qualifies?
To treat night-time or holiday duty at a clinic, hospital or care facility as "night/day duty (shukujitchoku)" and exempt it from the working-hours rules, you need the permission of the director of the labour standards inspection office (Labor Standards Act, Article 41, item 3; Enforcement Ordinance, Article 23). Permission covers only intermittent work with ordinarily almost no need to work, such as scheduled rounds, receiving urgent calls and documents, and standing by for emergencies (Notice Hatsuki No. 17 of 13 September 1947). Even if it is called "night duty," if the reality is ordinary medical care or nursing, permission cannot be obtained and the time is treated as working time. There is a separate detailed standard for physicians (Notice Kihatsu 0701 No. 8 of 1 July 2019). This article sets out the permission standards, the application, the post-permission work design, and the effect on premium wages.
Where is the line for a "manager or supervisor"? (Manager in name only, premiums and the late-night premium)
Being a "manager or supervisor" under the Labor Standards Act exempts the person from the rules on working hours, breaks and days off, and no overtime or holiday premium is required (Article 41, item 2). But the late-night premium (Article 37, paragraph 3) and annual paid leave (Article 39) still apply even to a manager or supervisor. And whether someone qualifies is not decided by the job title. It is judged by the reality of three points — job content and authority, discretion over working hours, and treatment (Notice Hatsuki No. 17 of 13 September 1947; Notice Kihatsu No. 150 of 14 March 1988). Paying only a post allowance to a store or section manager and no overtime can, where the reality does not match, lead to a retroactive claim for unpaid premium wages as a "manager in name only." This article sets out how to draw the line and how to arrange work rules and wages.
What to prepare when you first hire someone — the three statutory ledgers and how long to keep them
When you first hire, the law requires you to prepare a workers' roster and a wage ledger (Labour Standards Act Articles 107 and 108). In practice an attendance record is added and the three are called the "three statutory ledgers." The retention period is five years under Article 109, read as three years for the time being under supplementary Article 143 (both from the 1 April 2020 amendment). This article sets out what each ledger must record, the retention period and its start date, whether electronic storage is allowed, and how ledger-keeping (a shakai hoken roumushi) divides from tax (a tax accountant).
Did extending childcare-leave benefits get stricter from 2025? The documents and the pitfalls
Childcare-leave benefits run in principle until the child turns one, and can be extended to 18 months and then to two years if the child cannot enter a nursery (Employment Insurance Act). From 1 April 2025 the review for this extension became stricter. Besides the existing "notice of non-admission," you now must submit a copy of the nursery application filed with the municipality and a declaration form the employee fills in, and Hello Work checks whether the application was genuinely aimed at a prompt return to work. This article sets out the changes, the documents, the timing, the substance test, and the division of roles.
Labour when opening a nursery — nursery-teacher staffing ratios, treatment-improvement add-ons, and how to build shifts
Labour for opening a nursery starts from a staffing plan that meets the nursery-teacher ratios in Article 33(2) of the standards for the facilities and operation of child-welfare institutions (Ordinance No. 63 of 1948): roughly 1 per 3 infants, 1 per 6 for ages 1–under-3, 1 per 15 for ages 3–under-4, and 1 per 25 for age 4 and over (at least 2 per nursery). On top of this sit variable-hours shifts for early/late/extended care, a wage regime matching the treatment-improvement add-ons, and the social-insurance test for part-time nursery teachers. This article sets out how the ratios feed the staffing plan, how to build shifts, the wage regime, the social-insurance test, and who handles the setup application and the premises.
Social insurance and labour insurance for staff seconded to Japan from a Taiwanese or Chinese parent company
Foreign staff who come to Japan on an intra-company transfer/secondment from a Taiwanese or Chinese parent company, as long as they are used by a Japanese applicable office, in principle join Japan's health insurance and employees' pension regardless of nationality. However, staff from China can, under the Japan-China Social Security Agreement (in force 1 September 2019), avoid double payment of pension contributions for a temporary posting of up to five years — the agreement covers pension only; medical and workers' accident insurance are outside it. There is no agreement with Taiwan, so this exemption is unavailable. This article sets out the test for whether a secondee joins Japanese social insurance, home-paid and Japan-paid wages, the certificate of coverage, the scope of workers' accident and employment insurance, and who handles residence status and payroll tax.
Shall we start by reviewing how you work?
四葉社会保険労務士事務所 (Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku; a 5-minute walk from Myogadani Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line) helps you, starting with a review of your current labour practices.
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