There is no workers' accident insurance for the president. And with no employees, no special enrollment either.

In short: Directors cannot receive benefits under workers' accident compensation insurance. There is a scheme called special enrollment for owners of small and medium-sized businesses and others, but a company that employs no workers at all cannot join. That an insurance relationship under workers' accident compensation insurance has been established in respect of workers is the condition for joining.

The presidents who are out on site are often the ones who go on without knowing this. An employee's injury is covered by workers' accident compensation insurance, but the president who was doing the same work on the same site is not. And when they look into providing for it, they run into the answer "with one person, you cannot join." Let us take it in order.

If the president is injured at work, does workers' accident compensation insurance pay out?

It does not. Workers' accident compensation insurance is a scheme for workers, and the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (労働者災害補償保険法, Act No. 50 of 1947) provides that a business that uses workers is a covered business (Article 3, paragraph 1 of that Act). The representative of a company is not a worker used by that company, and so falls outside the scope of insurance benefits.

Standing on site doing the same work alongside employees does not change this conclusion. This is the hard part in practice: the degree of danger is the same, and only whether there is compensation is divided by status.

Health insurance can be used. However, injuries and illnesses arising out of work are, as a rule, not covered by health insurance benefits. That a state of neither workers' accident compensation nor health insurance can arise is the heart of this subject.

What is the special enrollment scheme able to do?

What is in place to fill this gap is special enrollment. It is a mechanism by which a person who is not a worker is "deemed to be a worker" upon application and approval by the government, provided for in Article 33 and the following articles of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.

The categories are divided by status. What the representative of a company uses is, as a rule, the category of owners of small and medium-sized businesses and others (中小事業主等).

Category	Who	Basis
Owners of small and medium-sized businesses and others	The owner of a business that meets the size requirements (the representative, in the case of a company)	労災保険法, Article 33, item 1
Same as above	Persons engaged in the business carried on by that business owner (directors, family workers and the like; excluding those who are workers)	Same Act, Article 33, item 2
Sole proprietors without employees and others (一人親方等)	Persons who habitually carry on, without using workers, a business of a kind specified by ordinance	Same Act, Article 33, item 3
Workers posted overseas	Persons dispatched by a domestic business owner to be engaged in a business overseas	Same Act, Article 33, item 7

Where the line for "small and medium-sized" falls differs by industry.

Principal business	Number of workers regularly employed
Finance and insurance, real estate, retail	50 or fewer
Wholesale, services	100 or fewer
Other than the above	300 or fewer

(労働者災害補償保険法施行規則, Article 46-16)

There are administrative practices for counting. Where there are several factories or branches, the numbers of workers at each are added together and the count is taken on an enterprise basis; the industry classification follows, as a rule, the 日本標準産業分類 (Japan Standard Industrial Classification); and even where workers are not employed all year round, a business that uses workers on 100 or more days in a year is treated as employing them regularly. All of these are set out in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's 特別加入制度のしおり（中小事業主等用）(Guide to the special enrollment scheme, for owners of small and medium-sized businesses and others).

Why can a company with no employees not join?

Because the provisions are built on two requirements.

	Requirement	Basis
①	That an insurance relationship under workers' accident compensation insurance has been established in respect of that business	労災保険法, Article 34, paragraph 1 ("based on the insurance relationship established in respect of that business")
②	That the handling of labor insurance administration has been entrusted to a 労働保険事務組合 (labor insurance administration association)	労災保険法, Article 33, item 1

It is ① that trips people up. The insurance relationship under workers' accident compensation insurance comes into existence, for the owner of a business that uses workers, on the day that business is commenced (労働保険の保険料の徴収等に関する法律, Article 3). If there is not a single worker, the business is not a covered business, and there is no insurance relationship in existence at all. Special enrollment is a scheme that rides on an established insurance relationship, so where there is no base to ride on, no application can be made.

For the same reason, if the workers later cease to exist, the standing as a specially enrolled person disappears too. The Ministry's guide states expressly that "when this insurance relationship is extinguished, the standing as a specially enrolled person is also extinguished on the day of that extinguishment." The same applies when the entrustment under ② is terminated.

In other words, the day you take on your first worker is the first day on which the president is protected.

That said, it is not the case that every one-person company is unable to join. Where a person habitually carries on, without using workers, a business of a kind specified by ordinance — construction and the like — they may in some cases enroll as a sole proprietor without employees (一人親方等) (Article 33, item 3). The Ministry's guide likewise explains that where the number of days on which workers are used in a year is fewer than 100 and enrollment as an owner of a small or medium-sized business is not available, a person who meets the requirements for sole proprietors without employees can enroll under that category instead. Which category your own business falls into cannot be settled without looking at both the industry and the way you work.

Where do you start in order to join?

Where you employ workers (or plan to), the order is as follows.

1. Bring an insurance relationship under labor insurance into existence in respect of the workers (submit the 保険関係成立届, notification of establishment of the insurance relationship)
2. Choose a labor insurance administration association and entrust the handling of labor insurance administration to it
3. Apply for special enrollment through the association and obtain approval from the government

The associations at step 2 are run by societies of commerce and industry, chambers of commerce and industry, business cooperatives and the like, under authorization from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. Because entrustment to an association is a requirement for special enrollment, there is no option of not entrusting. Allow in advance for the separate fee the association charges as well.

If you have only just set up the company and the labor insurance filings are still outstanding, the deadlines are set out in Once you set up a company, what has to be filed and by when. If you send employees overseas, the treatment under workers' accident compensation insurance changes, so please see Overseas business trips and overseas postings are entirely different for workers' accident compensation insurance.

Frequently asked questions

Q. There are two directors and both are out on site. Can both of them enroll?
A. Under special enrollment for owners of small and medium-sized businesses and others, in addition to the business owner (the representative, in the case of a company), "persons engaged in the business carried on by that business owner" are also covered (労働者災害補償保険法, Article 33, item 2). Directors other than the representative can therefore be the subject of an application under this category. Approval is, however, a judgment made on each application, so the procedure follows after organizing how the person is actually engaged.

Q. Our only employee is one part-timer. Does an insurance relationship still come into existence?
A. If you use workers, the business is covered by workers' accident compensation insurance regardless of working hours or the form of employment. An insurance relationship comes into existence even with a part-timer. Note that workers' accident compensation insurance, unlike employment insurance, applies even below 20 hours a week. This is a point that is easily confused.

Q. How is the amount of benefit determined?
A. Because a specially enrolled person has no actual wages, the amount of benefit is determined on the basis of the 給付基礎日額 (basic daily benefit amount) applied for and approved in advance (労働者災害補償保険法, Article 34, paragraph 1, item 3). The level at which the daily amount is set changes both the premium and the amount of benefit, so it has to be decided at the time of enrollment.

Q. Once enrolled, is any injury covered?
A. No. For a specially enrolled person, what is covered is what arises in connection with work within the scope approved as business activity. Accidents during management work as a business owner, or during private activities, are not covered. Where this line falls is something to confirm at the time of enrollment; enrolling without checking the substance leaves a discrepancy that shows up at the critical moment. We accept consultations at the rates in the fee schedule.

Sources for this article

• the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (労働者災害補償保険法, Act No. 50 of 1947), Article 3, paragraph 1; Article 33, items 1, 2, 3 and 7; Article 34, paragraph 1; Article 36, paragraph 1
• the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (労働者災害補償保険法施行規則, Ordinance of the Ministry of Labour No. 22 of 1955), Article 46-16, Article 46-17, Article 46-19
• the Act on Collection of Insurance Premiums of Labor Insurance (労働保険の保険料の徴収等に関する法律, Act No. 84 of 1969), Article 3, Article 33, paragraph 1
• the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Collection of Insurance Premiums of Labor Insurance (労働保険の保険料の徴収等に関する法律施行規則, Ordinance of the Ministry of Labour No. 8 of 1972), Article 62, paragraph 2
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 特別加入制度のしおり（中小事業主等用）(Guide to the special enrollment scheme, for owners of small and medium-sized businesses and others) (how the number of workers regularly employed is counted, the 100-day criterion, and the treatment when the insurance relationship is extinguished)
• All of the provisions are the versions in force as confirmed on e-Gov法令検索 (e-Gov Law Search) on August 13, 2026. We confirmed that the size requirements in Article 46-16 of the Ordinance (50, 100 and 300 people) have not changed since the version in force from April 1, 2017, which is as far back as e-Gov goes
• The practice of classifying industries by the 日本標準産業分類 and of aggregating on an enterprise basis is confirmed from materials published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Prefectural Labour Bureaus. We have not checked the original text of the administrative notices that established them (not verified)

This article does not go so far as to decide whom you should consult. Forming a view on whether special enrollment is available, the procedures for bringing labor insurance into existence, and the arrangements for entrustment to an administration association are the work of a Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant). For the tax treatment of directors' remuneration and retirement benefits, a tax accountant; for registration of a change of directors, a judicial scrivener — in each case we suggest that you engage them directly, under a separate contract. We receive no referral fee. The fees for consulting 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 are set out in the fee schedule, and the questions we are asked most often in the frequently asked questions.

This article is general information. Judgments that depend on 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).