In everyday use, shakai hoken means the health and pension insurance that every corporation must provide for its employees. In the broader sense it also covers employment insurance and workers' accident insurance, which together are called labour insurance. A Japanese subsidiary with even one employee must enrol in all of them; there is no small-company opt-out for corporations.
Health insurance and pension are calculated on a standard monthly remuneration, a banded figure set once a year from April to June pay, and are split equally between employer and employee. Employment insurance is split unequally, and accident insurance is paid entirely by the employer. Bonuses carry contributions too.
For fiscal 2026, the main employer rates in Tokyo are: pension 9.15%, health insurance (Japan Health Insurance Association) 4.925%, long-term care 0.81% for employees aged 40 to 64, employment insurance 0.85%, the employer-only child-rearing contribution 0.36%, and the new child and child-rearing support levy, 0.115%. Accident insurance adds from 0.25% upwards depending on the industry. Because health and pension contributions are capped, the effective rate falls for high earners.
What it means for a foreign employer
- Budget for it on top of salary. For most staff, plan on roughly 16% above gross pay. For senior people above the pension cap of 650,000 yen a month, the percentage is much lower.
- It applies to part-timers too. Employees working 20 hours or more a week at employers with 51 or more insured staff are covered. The 88,000-yen monthly wage test was abolished on 1 October 2026, the size threshold falls to 36 or more from October 2027, and it is being phased out entirely by 2035.
- Expats are not automatically exempt. Unless a totalisation agreement applies, an assignee on the Japanese payroll joins the Japanese system.
- It shapes net pay comparisons. Employees pay roughly 15% of their own pay too, so moving a candidate from overseas gross to Japanese net needs a proper calculation.
Sources
- Health Insurance Act; Employees' Pension Insurance Act; Employment Insurance Act; Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.
- Japan Health Insurance Association, fiscal 2026 contribution rates (from March 2026); Japan Pension Service, child-rearing contribution rate for fiscal 2026.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, fiscal 2026 employment insurance rates.