Japan has no statutory sick leave. An employee who is ill uses annual leave first, and if the illness lasts, moves onto kyushoku, a leave of absence the employer provides through its work rules. Most large companies have one. The rules set the length, often scaled by service from a few months to a year or more, and whether any salary is paid. Kyushoku can also cover other situations, such as secondment, study or a period of detention, but private illness is the main use, and mental health conditions now account for a large share.
The money usually comes from health insurance. If the employee is not paid, the sickness allowance pays about two-thirds of their standard daily pay from the fourth day off work. Since January 2022 it can be claimed for up to 18 months in total, counting only the days actually claimed, so a relapse after a return does not use up the period.
The critical point is the end. Most work rules say that if the employee has not recovered when the period ends, they are retired automatically. Because this works like a dismissal, courts look at whether recovery was really impossible. In the Katayama Gumi case of 1998, the Supreme Court held that an employee hired without a fixed job who cannot do their old work but can do other work the employer could realistically assign is still able to work. The industrial physician's opinion on fitness to return carries weight.
What it means for a foreign employer
- Your work rules decide everything. Length, pay, return procedures and what happens at the end should be written before you need them.
- Plan for mental health cases. They are long, they relapse, and return-to-work decisions need medical input. Do not decide them from headquarters.
- Automatic retirement is not a shortcut. If the employee could return to a different role, ending employment at the end of the period can be challenged.
- Senior hires ask about it. A candidate leaving a Japanese company with generous paid sick leave may compare it with yours.
Sources
- Health Insurance Act, Article 99 (sickness allowance), as amended (cumulative 18-month period from 1 January 2022).
- Supreme Court, Katayama Gumi case, 9 April 1998.
- Labour Contract Act, Article 16.