Labor standards inspector

An official who carries out the Labor Standards Act, stationed in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Labor Standards Management Bureau (労働基準主管局), in the prefectural labor bureaus and in the labor standards inspection offices (労働基準監督署) (Labor Standards Act, Article 97, paragraph (1)). An inspector may enter and inspect workplaces, dormitories and other associated buildings, demand books and records, and question employers and workers, carrying identification while doing so (Article 101); carries out the duties of a judicial police officer (司法警察官) under the Code of Criminal Procedure for offences against that Act (Article 102); and must not reveal secrets learned on the job, even after leaving it (Article 105). Where the Ministry has set up a Labor Standards Inspector Dismissal Council (労働基準監督官分限審議会), an inspector cannot be dismissed without its consent (Article 97, paragraphs (4) and (5)). A worker may report a violation of the Act to an inspector, and the employer must not dismiss the worker or treat the worker unfavourably for it (Article 104). The Act on Ensuring Wage Payment also has inspectors carry out the duties of a judicial police officer (司法警察員) for offences against it (Act on Ensuring Wage Payment, Article 11), lets them enter workplaces, question people and inspect books and documents to carry it out — a power not granted for criminal investigation (Article 13, paragraphs (1) and (4)) — and lets a worker report an employer's violations of it to them (Article 14, paragraph (1)).