For a seishain at a large Japanese company, being sent to another city is a normal part of a career. Banks, trading houses, manufacturers and insurers rotate staff between head office, regional branches and overseas posts, and sogoshoku, the career-track employees, generally accept on hiring that they can be posted anywhere. The employer's broad right to order transfers is part of the bargain that comes with job security.
The courts have accepted this. In the Toa Paint case in 1986, the Supreme Court held that where the work rules provide for transfers and there is no agreement limiting the place of work, the employer can order a move without consent. An order is invalid as an abuse of rights only if there is no business necessity, if it is made for an improper purpose such as forcing someone out, or if it causes a disadvantage that substantially exceeds what an employee would normally be expected to bear. Since 2001, the Childcare and Caregiver Leave Act has also required employers to consider an employee's childcare or caregiving situation before a transfer that would make it hard to continue.
Attitudes have shifted. Dual-career couples and caregiving duties make relocation harder, and a number of large employers have introduced region-limited tracks or made transfers subject to consent.
What it means for a foreign employer
- Unwillingness to relocate drives job moves. An imminent or feared transfer is one of the common reasons strong candidates at Japanese companies are open to a move to a Tokyo-based foreign employer.
- State the location in writing. Since April 2024, the labour conditions notice must state the scope of possible changes to workplace and duties. If you will never relocate someone, say so.
- Narrow scope cuts both ways. A location-limited contract makes redeployment harder if the office closes, which matters in a restructuring.
- Expatriate assignments are tenkin too. Overseas postings follow the same legal logic, so a global mobility clause still needs Japanese work rules behind it.
Sources
- Supreme Court, Toa Paint case, 14 July 1986.
- Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave and Other Measures, Article 26.
- Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labour Standards Act, Article 5, as amended in force April 2024.