Customer harassment (カスハラ): Abusive conduct by customers or clients towards employees, which employers must now prevent

Customer harassment covers abuse of employees by people outside the company: shouting, threats, prolonged or repeated complaints, demands for kneeling apologies, unreasonable demands for compensation, and similar conduct. It became a public issue in Japan through retail, transport, call centres, healthcare and local government, where frontline staff had little protection and the customer was assumed to be right.

Local government moved first. Tokyo's customer harassment ordinance, along with ordinances in Hokkaido and Gunma, came into force on 1 April 2025. They declare customer harassment unacceptable and set out duties for businesses, but carry no penalties.

National law followed. An amendment to the Comprehensive Labour Policy Promotion Act, promulgated on 11 June 2025, requires employers to take employment management measures against customer harassment, in the same way they must already do for power harassment and sexual harassment. The duty took effect on 1 October 2026 and applies to every employer, with no grace period for small companies. A Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare guideline published in February 2026 sets out what is expected: a clear company policy, a consultation system, a response procedure for incidents, including support for the affected employee and coordination with the police, and measures to deter it.

What it means for a foreign employer

It applies to B2B companies too. The definition covers clients and business partners, not only retail customers. An abusive client contact is now your compliance issue.
Write the policy down. You need a published policy, a reporting route and a procedure for incidents, in Japanese, aligned with your existing harassment framework.
Account managers need backing. Staff need to know they can escalate and that the company will support them, even with an important client.
Expect questions from candidates. Frontline and client-facing candidates increasingly ask how employers handle difficult customers.

Sources

Comprehensive Labour Policy Promotion Act, as amended by Act promulgated 11 June 2025, in force 1 October 2026.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, guideline on measures against customer harassment, February 2026.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Customer Harassment Prevention Ordinance, in force 1 April 2025.

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General information for employers, not legal advice. Thresholds and dates are checked against the sources listed and dated above; confirm anything you act on with a Japanese employment lawyer or a licensed labour and social security attorney.