Japan Labour Law Tracker

What changes, when, and what to do

Every Japanese employment rule change, council decision and key court ruling that matters to employers, in English. Each one with its effective date, who it applies to and the action it calls for.

44 changes · 11 coming up · Updated weekly · RSS

Coming up11

1 December 2026Corporate DC and iDeCo: contribution limit rises to 62,000 yen a monthPay · Employers with a corporate defined contribution plan, and all employees who use or could use iDeCo
1 December 2026Whistleblower Protection Act: criminal penalties for retaliationEmployment law · All employers; the internal reporting system duty applies above 300 employees
1 December 2026Year-end adjustment 2026: higher basic and employment deductions, 1.78 million yen thresholdTax and social insurance · All employers that run the year-end adjustment, and employees with dependants who earn
1 January 2027Income tax: 1% defence surtax added, reconstruction surtax cut to 1.1% and extended to 2047Tax and social insurance · All employers and other withholding agents, and all income taxpayers
1 April 2027Employment for Skill Development: technical intern training replaced from April 2027Foreign talent · Employers that take on technical interns, or plan to hire foreign workers in the labour-short fields
1 April 2027Facilitating illegal employment: penalties rise to five years and 5 million yenForeign talent · All employers that hire foreign nationals, and staffing and placement agencies
1 April 2027Permanent residency: revocation for deliberate non-payment of taxes and contributionsForeign talent · Permanent residents, and the employers that withhold their taxes and social insurance
1 September 2027Employees' Pension: remuneration cap rises from 650,000 yen to 750,000 yen in three stepsTax and social insurance · All employers, for employees with monthly pay above about 635,000 yen
1 October 2027Part-timer social insurance: employer-size threshold falls to 36 employees, then disappearsTax and social insurance · Employers with 36 to 50 employees from October 2027; all employers by October 2035
1 April 2028Industrial Safety and Health Act: stress checks become mandatory at workplaces under 50Working time and leave · Every workplace with fewer than 50 workers; larger workplaces have been covered since December 2015
1 October 2028Employment insurance: coverage extended to people working 10 hours a weekTax and social insurance · All employers, for employees with scheduled hours of 10 to under 20 a week

Passed, date not yet set2

Proposed1

ProposedLabour Standards Act overhaul: limits on consecutive working days, rest intervals and discretionary work under discussionWorking time and leave · All employers, if enacted

Recently in force18

Key court rulings7

Earlier changes still worth knowing5

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