What changes
The 2025 pension reform law (Act No. 74 of 2025, promulgated 20 June 2025) removed the wage requirement for part-time workers to join employees' health and pension insurance, on a date to be set within three years. That date was 1 October 2026. Until then a part-timer had to earn at least 88,000 yen a month in scheduled wages, the so-called 1.06 million yen wall.
The remaining tests for a part-timer are now: 20 hours or more of scheduled work a week, an employer with 51 or more insured employees, and not being a student. The general rule that the employment must be expected to last more than two months still applies. Contributions follow the normal rules, so the lowest pension grade applies to low earners.
To soften the cost, the reform also introduced a three-year support measure from October 2026: an employer can pay more than its half of the contributions of newly covered lower-paid part-timers, and the extra is reimbursed in full from the system.
Who it applies to
Employers with 51 or more insured employees, including foreign subsidiaries, and employers below that size that have already extended coverage by agreement with staff. Smaller employers will come into scope as the size threshold falls from October 2027.
Action for employers
- Run a headcount check now. List every part-timer working 20 hours or more a week who was outside insurance because of pay, and file the enrolment notices with the Japan Pension Service.
- Recost part-time roles. The employer pays roughly 15% on top of pay for each newly enrolled person. Build it into the fiscal 2027 budget.
- Talk to affected staff before payroll changes. Some will lose dependant status with a spouse and see lower take-home pay; some may ask to cut hours below 20.
- Decide on the support measure. If you want to cushion take-home pay for low earners, confirm with your payroll provider how to apply the employer top-up.
Sources
- Act Partially Amending the National Pension Act and Related Acts (Act No. 74 of 2025).
- Japan Pension Service, notice on the abolition of the wage requirement for short-time workers in October 2026.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, explanatory materials on the 2025 pension reform law (social insurance coverage expansion and support measures).