What changes
The statutory employment rate for people with disabilities in the private sector rose from 2.5% to 2.7% on 1 July 2026. It was the second step of an increase fixed by Cabinet Order No. 44 of 2023, promulgated on 1 March 2023, which raised the rate from 2.3% to 2.5% on 1 April 2024. The increase was phased so employers could plan their recruitment.
Because the rate went up, the size at which the duty starts went down. An employer must now employ at least one person with a disability once it has 37.5 regular workers, down from 40. Part-time staff working 20 to 30 hours a week count as half a worker in the headcount. In the quota count, people with severe disabilities count double, and since April 2024 people with severe disabilities or mental disabilities working 10 to 20 hours a week count as a half.
The levy is unchanged. An employer with more than 100 regular workers that falls short pays 50,000 yen a month per missing person, collected annually. Employers report their numbers to Hello Work as at 1 June each year, and those that stay well short after guidance can be publicly named. Separately, the exclusion rates that reduce the quota for some industries were cut by ten points from April 2025.
Who it applies to
Private employers with 37.5 or more regular workers, counted at company level, not by site.
Action for employers
- Recalculate your quota. A 150-person entity now needs four people, not three.
- Check whether the threshold now catches you. Entities with 37.5 to 39.5 workers were brought in on 1 July 2026.
- Budget for the levy if you are short. Above 100 workers, each missing person costs 600,000 yen a year.
- Look at shorter-hours roles. Jobs of 10 to 20 hours a week can count, and suit some candidates who cannot work full time.
Sources
- Act on Promotion of Employment of Persons with Disabilities; Cabinet Order No. 44 of 2023, promulgated 1 March 2023.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and prefectural labour bureaus, notices on the statutory employment rate rising to 2.7% from 1 July 2026.
- Japan Organisation for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers, levy and grant system.