The labour of starting a driving-substitution business — licences of the following-car driver, night premium, and the two-person team

In short: The labour of a driving-substitution (daiko) business turns on three things — "managing the licences and working hours of the substitute driver (who drives the customer's car) and the following-car driver separately," "designing night premium and breaks for work centred on the night (10 p.m.–5 a.m.)," and "judging the application of workers' accident, employment and social insurance per person even in a two-person team." The substitute driver, who drives the customer's car, needs a second-class driving licence (Road Traffic Act; the June 2004 amendment made it required for driving a substitute ordinary vehicle), while the driver of the following vehicle is in principle served by a first-class licence. For anyone who is a worker under the Labor Standards Act, night work (10 p.m.–5 a.m.) carries a premium of 25% or more of the ordinary wage (Article 37, paragraph 4), and a break of 45 minutes where work exceeds 6 hours, or 1 hour where it exceeds 8 hours (Article 34, paragraph 1), must be given. Workers' accident insurance applies to workers regardless of nationality or form of employment; employment and social insurance apply where the insured requirements are met. This article organises, within a Shakai Hoken Roumushi's work, licences and working-hour management, night premium and breaks, the two-person team's insurance, and how to use the variable-working-hours system. The public safety commission's certification and the vehicle storage site — licensing and premises — are sorted outside this article (the domain of a Gyoseishoshi and a real estate agent).

"The night is the centre and the coming and going is hard to read," "we run a substitute driver and a following-car driver as a two-person team, but which one needs which licence and overtime management?" — these are questions we often hear from operators starting a driving-substitution business. This page organises the labour of daiko (checking the licence class, night premium and breaks, social and workers' accident insurance, the variable-working-hours system) as a labour design. The public safety commission's certification application and securing the storage site for the following vehicle themselves are outside this article's scope (the domain of a Gyoseishoshi and real estate) and are touched on only in passing.

Which licence and working-hour management does each of the substitute driver and the following-car driver need?

Driving substitution basically runs as a two-person team — a "substitute driver" who drives the customer's car, and a "following-car driver" who drives the operator's accompanying car. Article 2 of the Act on Proper Operation of Automobile Driving Substitution Businesses (Act No. 57 of 2001) defines the customer's car as the "substitute-driven automobile" and the operator's accompanying car as the "following-use automobile."

Role	Car driven	Rough licence needed
Substitute driver	Substitute-driven automobile (customer's car)	Second-class driving licence (Road Traffic Act; because it carries the customer in substitute driving)
Following-car driver	Following-use automobile (operator's car)	In principle a first-class driving licence is said to suffice

A second-class driving licence became required for driving a substitute ordinary vehicle under the amended Road Traffic Act in force from June 2004 (referenced 13 October 2026). The licence class bears directly on staffing, so recruitment and shifts are built on the licence class. The licence class itself is a Road Traffic Act matter; working-hour management premised on the licence class (how many hours one may work, how much the premium is) is a Shakai Hoken Roumushi's work. On the line between employment and business consignment (worker status), see where the line between outsourcing and employment is drawn.

For night-centred work, how do you design premium wage, breaks and the work-interval?

Because daiko takes drinking customers home, work concentrates at night. The Labor Standards Act requires a night premium of 25% or more of the ordinary wage for work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. (Article 37, paragraph 4).

Item	Content	Basis
Night premium	25% or more for work 10 p.m.–5 a.m.	Labor Standards Act Article 37(4)
Overtime premium	25% or more for work over 8 hours/day or 40 hours/week (50% or more over 60 hours/month)	Labor Standards Act Articles 32, 37(1)
Breaks	45 minutes for work over 6 hours, 1 hour over 8 hours	Labor Standards Act Article 34(1)
Night + overtime overlap	Where both night and overtime, premiums add up (e.g. 25% + 25% = 50% or more)	Labor Standards Act Article 37

Night overtime overlaps the night and overtime premiums into a combined rate. Waiting time (waiting for a customer), if bound by the office or instructions and not freely usable, is working time ("standby" time) and subject to wages and premium. Only time fully released from work is a break. The work-interval (keeping a set rest between the end of one day's work and the next day's start) is an effort obligation of the employer under Article 2 of the Act on Special Measures for Improvement of Setting of Working Hours. On the premium and standby-time thinking, see do you pay the night premium even to a manager/supervisor; for shift design in night-centred businesses, how do you design night shifts and deemed overtime in restaurants is also a reference.

With two people moving per job, how do workers' accident and social insurance apply?

Both the substitute driver and the following-car driver, if hired as workers under the Labor Standards Act, have insurance judged per person. It does not change by licence class or by the two-person team.

Insurance	How it applies
Workers' accident insurance	Applies to every worker regardless of nationality, form of employment or working hours
Employment insurance	Joins where the insured requirements are met, such as 20 or more prescribed hours per week
Health insurance / employees' pension	Corporations are covered regardless of headcount; sole proprietors with 5 or more regular employees are covered (part-timers join where prescribed hours/days are 3/4 or more of a regular worker, etc.)

Note that, in a business where many work night-only and short hours, whether each person reaches the line for employment or social insurance divides per person. For the part-timer's social-insurance judgment, see from where does short-time work's social insurance start. For those holding more than one job, the handling of workers' accident benefits also changes, so see how do workers' accident benefits work for those working at multiple companies. Whether an accident during work (injury while substitute driving) is covered is judged by the labour standards inspection office on the individual facts.

In a business with a large busy-slow gap, can you use the variable-working-hours system?

Daiko has a large gap between busy and slow by day of week and season, with demand concentrating on Fridays and year-end. In such a business, the variable-working-hours system lets you allocate hours to the busy and slow periods.

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System	Framework	Basis
Monthly variable working hours	Average within 40 hours/week over a period of up to 1 month	Labor Standards Act Article 32-2
Yearly variable working hours	Average within 40 hours/week over a period over 1 month and up to 1 year; a labour-management agreement and filing are required	Labor Standards Act Article 32-4

The monthly system is introduced by work rules or a labour-management agreement; the yearly system by concluding a labour-management agreement and filing it with the labour standards inspection office. Even under the variable system, the night premium (Article 37(4)) arises separately, and work exceeding the statutory total frame needs an overtime premium. Where the yearly system is adopted, the 44-hour-week special exception cannot be used even for an establishment with fewer than 10 regular workers, and you calculate on 40 hours a week. On which variable system suits your busy-slow pattern, see which to choose, the variable-working-hours system or flextime; on how it differs from an article on the binding-hours of freight transport (the improvement-standards notice), see how did the 2024 problem and the improvement-standards notice change in transport (the improvement-standards notice does not apply to driving substitution).

Whom should you separate the certification, the premises and the labour to?

In starting a daiko business, who decides divides. Separating the roles and entrusting each to its professional is safer.

What is done	Whose domain
Design of work rules, the Article 36 agreement, variable working hours and the night premium; application and procedures for social and labour insurance	Shakai Hoken Roumushi (四葉社会保険労務士事務所)
The public safety commission's certification application and preparing documents to confirm the office / following-vehicle requirements	Gyoseishoshi
The premises for the office and the following-vehicle storage site	Real estate agent
Disputes over unpaid wages or dismissal	Attorney

四葉社会保険労務士事務所 handles labour as an independent business entity. The public safety commission's certification application goes to a Gyoseishoshi, the premises to a real estate agent, and disputes to an attorney, each under a separate contract — a separate-engagement arrangement. No referral fees are exchanged. On the daiko certification requirements (such as the following-vehicle requirements), see the Gyoseishoshi's article what do the office and following-use automobile need for daiko certification. Consultation is free. For fees, see the fee schedule; for FAQs, see the FAQ.

FAQ

Q. Do the substitute driver and the following-car driver need different licences?
A. Yes. The substitute driver, who drives the customer's car (the substitute-driven automobile), needs a second-class driving licence under the Road Traffic Act (required for driving a substitute ordinary vehicle since the June 2004 amendment). The following-car driver, who drives the following-use automobile, is in principle served by a first-class licence. Recruitment and shifts are designed on the licence class.

Q. Is the premium needed even for a part-timer who only works at night?
A. Yes, if they are a worker under the Labor Standards Act. Work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. carries a night premium of 25% or more of the ordinary wage (Article 37(4)). Where it is both night and overtime (over 8 hours/day, 40 hours/week), it becomes a combined rate with the overtime premium.

Q. Even in a two-person team, is social and workers' accident insurance judged separately?
A. Yes, per person. Workers' accident insurance applies to every worker; employment insurance requires 20 or more hours a week, etc.; health insurance and employees' pension apply for corporations regardless of headcount (sole proprietors with 5 or more regular employees), with part-timers joining where prescribed hours/days are 3/4 or more of a regular worker. The two-person team does not change this.

Q. The busy-slow gap is large — can we use the variable-working-hours system?
A. Yes. The monthly (Article 32-2) and yearly (Article 32-4) variable systems let you allocate longer in the busy season and shorter in the slow season. But the night premium arises separately, and work exceeding the statutory total frame needs an overtime premium. Under the yearly system the 44-hour-week exception cannot be used, and you calculate on 40 hours a week.

Sources

• Labor Standards Act (Act No. 49 of 1947), Article 32 (working hours — 40 hours/week, 8 hours/day excluding breaks), Article 34(1) (breaks — 45 minutes over 6 hours, 1 hour over 8 hours), Article 37(1) (overtime/holiday premium — a rate between 25% and 50% set by Cabinet Order; 50% or more over 60 hours a month), Article 37(4) (night — 25% or more for work 10 p.m.–5 a.m.), Articles 32-2 and 32-4 (monthly and yearly variable working hours). Articles confirmed on e-Gov law search (referenced 13 October 2026)
• Act on Proper Operation of Automobile Driving Substitution Businesses (Act No. 57 of 2001), Article 2 (definitions of the "substitute-driven automobile" = the customer's car that is the object of substitute driving, and the "following-use automobile" = the operator's car used to follow the substitute-driven automobile), Article 4 (certification by the prefectural public safety commission). Articles confirmed on e-Gov law search (referenced 13 October 2026)
• The second-class driving licence under the Road Traffic Act (Act No. 105 of 1960). The requirement of a second-class driving licence to drive a substitute ordinary vehicle was introduced by the amendment in force from June 2004 (National Police Agency published materials; referenced 13 October 2026). Whether a first-class licence suffices for the following-use automobile depends on the individual operation and facts, so confirm with the competent public safety commission (police) before starting
• Article 2 of the Act on Special Measures for Improvement of Setting of Working Hours (the work-interval effort obligation)
• The application requirements for workers' accident, employment, health and employees' pension insurance are per the guidance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Japan Pension Service and Hello Work. Individual eligibility and whether an accident is covered are confirmed with the competent labour standards inspection office, pension office and Hello Work

This article does not decide whom to consult. Design of work rules, the Article 36 agreement, variable working hours and the night premium, and the application and procedures for social and labour insurance are the work of a Shakai Hoken Roumushi. The public safety commission's certification application is for a Gyoseishoshi, the premises for the office and following-vehicle storage for a real estate agent, and disputes over wages or dismissal for an attorney. 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 is an independent business entity, contracted separately from the Gyoseishoshi, real estate agent and attorney.

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