About the Act on Employment Security of Elderly Persons

What this law does

An employer that sets a mandatory retirement age (定年) for its workers cannot set it below 60, except for workers in jobs an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare names as work older people find hard to do.(Art. 8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Read the full overview

An employer whose mandatory retirement age is under 65 must, to keep its older workers in stable employment until 65, do one of three things: raise the retirement age, introduce a continuous employment system (継続雇用制度) that keeps on after retirement age any worker who wishes it, or abolish the retirement age. A continuous employment system may include a contract under which a specially related employer (特殊関係事業主) — one in a relationship of substantial control with the employer, or another the Ministry's Order names — takes on the workers who wish it after retirement age.(Art. 9(1), Art. 9(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
An employer whose retirement age is 65 or over but under 70, or whose continuous employment system stops before 70, must endeavor (努めなければならない) to keep its older workers in stable employment from 65 to 70 — including those working for a specially related employer under a continuous employment contract with it. It can do this by raising the retirement age, introducing a system that keeps on any worker who wishes it after the retirement age or after the existing system's upper age, or abolishing the retirement age; that system may include a contract under which another employer takes on the workers who wish it. Workers an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare names are left out of this duty.(Art. 10-2(1), Art. 10-2(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
An employer under that duty may instead secure work until 70 — from retirement age, or from the upper age of a system that keeps workers on — through start-up support measures (創業支援等措置), with the consent, obtained as an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare provides, of a union of a majority of its workers or, where there is none, of a person representing a majority. These measures apply only where the worker wishes it, and are a paid contract other than an employment contract: for a business the worker starts, or for social contribution work run by the employer, or by an organization the employer entrusts with it or funds or otherwise assists. For an organization's work, the employer must also have a contract with it under which the organization offers the worker that work.(Art. 10-2(1), Art. 10-2(2), Art. 10-2(2)(i), Art. 10-2(2)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
When an older worker of the kind an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare names is to leave because of a dismissal that is not their own fault, or another reason the Order names, the employer must endeavor to help them find new work if they wish it. If the worker asks, the employer must give them a Support Plan for Job-Seeking (求職活動支援書), a document setting out their work history, skills and the employer's re-employment help, but not the reason for the dismissal. The employer is then to appoint one of its employees to help the worker find new work on the basis of the plan, working with the Public Employment Security Office, and the worker may show the plan to the Office when applying for work there.(Art. 15(1), Art. 17(1), Art. 17(2), Art. 19(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
An employer that, for an unavoidable reason, recruits or hires only people below a certain age of 65 or under must show job seekers that reason, in the way an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare sets.(Art. 20(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Mandatory retirement ageEmployment until 65Work until 70Support Plan for Job-SeekingAge limits in recruitingJob-search pocketbookSilver Human Resources CentersYearly employment report

Amendments

A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . No amendment to this law is waiting to come into force. Its amendment history is below. The amendments this site has read the changes of are on this law's amendments page, provision by provision, in Japanese and English.

9 amendments already in force

1 October 2022
The text on this site
Act Partially Amending the Employment Insurance Act, etc.
雇用保険法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
31 March 2022
Act Partially Amending the Employment Insurance Act, etc.
雇用保険法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2021
Act Partially Amending the Employment Insurance Act, etc.
雇用保険法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2020
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote Work Style Reform
働き方改革を推進するための関係法律の整備に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
14 September 2019
Act on the Development of Related Acts to Rationalize Measures concerning the Restriction of Rights of Adult Wards, etc.
成年被後見人等の権利の制限に係る措置の適正化等を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2019
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote Work Style Reform
働き方改革を推進するための関係法律の整備に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
6 July 2018
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote Work Style Reform
働き方改革を推進するための関係法律の整備に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 January 2018
Act Partially Amending the Employment Insurance Act, etc.
雇用保険法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2017
Act Partially Amending the Employment Insurance Act, etc.
雇用保険法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

Who it applies to

It applies to

Employers (事業主): they must keep the retirement-age floor, take the measures to 65, issue Support Plans for Job-Seeking, show the reason for an age limit in recruiting and report yearly, and must endeavor to secure work to 70 and to help departing older workers find new work.(Art. 8(1), Art. 9(1), Art. 10-2(1), Art. 15(1), Art. 17(1), Art. 20(1), Art. 52(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Older persons (高年齢者) — people at or above an age an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare sets — and, with them, middle-aged job seekers and middle-aged and older unemployed people in age ranges or situations the Order sets (together, 高年齢者等, "Elderly Persons, etc.").(Art. 2(1), Art. 2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

4 more

Workers in general, who are to plan their working lives for older age and keep up their skills and health.(Art. 3(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Middle-aged and older unemployed people given, on their application, a job-search pocketbook (中高年齢失業者等求職手帳) by the chief of the Public Employment Security Office: it is issued only to those who have applied for work at the Office, are judged willing to look for work in earnest, need the job-search measures, and meet requirements the Minister sets. Holders must follow the instructions of the officials running their job-search measures, try to find work promptly, and may be asked to report on their job search. The pocketbook lasts for a period a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets and may be extended; it lapses when the chief finds the holder has taken stable work, no longer meets a condition for it, or meets another condition the Minister sets, and the holder is told so.(Art. 22(1), Art. 23(1), Art. 23(2), Art. 24(1), Art. 24(2), Art. 26(1), Art. 27(2), Art. 30(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Those carrying out public works in a specified area (特定地域) — where middle-aged and older unemployed people find it very hard to get work — for which the Minister has set the share of the workforce that must be such people: the State and public corporations a Cabinet Order names, and local and other bodies doing works funded by state contributions or subsidies, contractors included. They must always employ that share, referred by the Public Employment Security Office.(Art. 2(3), Art. 32(1), Art. 32(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Silver Human Resources Centers (シルバー人材センター) and their federations: designated bodies that find temporary and short-term work, or light work of kinds the Minister sets, for older retirees, run job placement for them and train them. The national association of Centers (全国シルバー人材センター事業協会), designated by the Minister, supports them through awareness-raising, training of their staff, guidance and information.(Art. 37(1), Art. 38(1), Art. 44(1), Art. 45(1), Art. 46(1), Art. 47(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

It does not apply to

Seafarers (船員) as defined in Article 6(1) of the Mariners Employment Security Act (船員職業安定法): the Act does not apply to them at all.(Art. 7(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Special rules and exceptions (8)

For national and local public servants (国家公務員, 地方公務員), the basic policy (Article 6), the rules on retirement age and keeping older workers on (Chapter 2), the employer duties of Chapter 3, Section 2 — re-employment help, the Support Plan for Job-Seeking, stating the reason for an age limit in recruiting and help preparing for retirement — state support (Article 49) and yearly reporting (Article 52) do not apply; the rest of the Act does.(Art. 7(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
The floor of 60 for a retirement age does not cover workers in jobs an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare names as work older people find hard to do.(Art. 8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
An employer that secures work until 70 through start-up support measures, with the consent of a majority union or majority representative, is released from the duty to endeavor to keep workers employed from 65 to 70 — whether the measures start at retirement age or after a system keeping workers on ends.(Art. 10-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A Silver Human Resources Center may, by notifying the Minister as a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order provides, charge fees for placing older retirees in temporary and short-term, or light, jobs, without the licence the Employment Security Act (職業安定法) Article 30(1) otherwise requires; much of that Act then applies to it as if it held one.(Art. 38(1)(ii), Art. 38(2), Art. 38(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
A Silver Human Resources Center may also run a worker dispatching business for its own retiree members only, by notifying the Minister instead of obtaining the licence of the Worker Dispatching Act (労働者派遣法) Article 5(1). Some of that Act's provisions are switched off for it, and the rest apply with the Center treated as a dispatching employer and its notification as the licence.(Art. 38(5), Art. 38(6)) (the provisions it rests on)
In municipalities where the prefectural governor has designated industries and occupations short of labor, a Silver Human Resources Center's placement and dispatch in those industries and occupations, for work located in that municipality, may cover work that uses the retirees' abilities, not only light work.(Art. 39(1), Art. 39(5), Art. 39(6)) (the provisions it rests on)
A body carrying out public works with a set share of middle-aged and older unemployed workers that cannot hire enough of them through the Public Employment Security Office may hire that shortfall directly, with the Office's written consent.(Art. 32(2), Art. 32(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
For the time being, the hiring of middle-aged people (中高年齢者) by the State, local governments and public corporations a Cabinet Order names still follows Articles 7 to 9 of this Act as they read before Act No. 36 of 1976 amended them.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it is enforced (8)

This Act's penalty provisions (Articles 55 to 57) do not cover failing to take the measures to keep workers until 65. Instead, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may give an employer in breach guidance and advice, then, if it is still in breach, recommend that it take the measures, and may publish the fact that it did not follow the recommendation.(Art. 10(1), Art. 10(2), Art. 10(3), Chapter 9) (the provisions it rests on)
Where the Minister finds it necessary, in light of the basic policy, for securing work for older people from 65 to 70, the Minister may give an employer guidance and advice on the measures to 70, and if things do not improve, recommend that it draw up a plan for the measures, which it is to submit to the Minister; a plan that is clearly unsuitable can be met with a recommendation to change it.(Art. 10-3(1), Art. 10-3(2), Art. 10-3(3), Art. 10-3(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
The Minister may give guidance and advice to an employer that does not issue a Support Plan for Job-Seeking as required, and then recommend that it do so; on whether, and what, reason was shown for an age limit in recruiting, the Minister may, where it finds it necessary, ask the employer for a report or give advice, guidance or a recommendation.(Art. 18(1), Art. 18(2), Art. 20(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
When at least the number of older workers an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare sets are to leave for reasons such as dismissal, the employer must notify the chief of the Public Employment Security Office (公共職業安定所長) in advance. Failing to notify, or notifying falsely, is punished by a non-penal fine (過料) of up to 100,000 yen, imposed on the representative where the employer is a corporation.(Art. 16(1), Art. 57(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Every employer must report once a year to the Minister on its retirement age, its continuous employment systems, its start-up support measures and how it secures work for older people, and the Minister may ask for further reports where needed.(Art. 52(1), Art. 52(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Where the Japan Organization for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers (独立行政法人高齢・障害・求職者雇用支援機構) handles payments (給付金) to employers, it may ask an employer for reports. Failing to report, or reporting falsely, is punished by a criminal fine of up to 500,000 yen. Where a representative, agent, employee or other worker commits it in the course of the business of a corporation or individual, that corporation or individual is fined as well.(Art. 49(1)(i), Art. 49(2), Art. 49(3), Art. 55(1), Art. 56(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The Minister's powers under this Act may in part be delegated, as an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare provides, to the directors of the Prefectural Labor Bureaus (), and from them to the chiefs of Public Employment Security Offices.(Art. 54(1), Art. 54(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Silver Human Resources Centers are designated by the prefectural governor on their application, must submit yearly plans, budgets and reports to the governor, and may be given the supervisory orders on their work that enforcing the rules on Centers requires. The governor may revoke a designation if the Center cannot carry out its work properly and reliably, acted wrongfully in connection with it, breaks the rules on Centers in this Act or an order under them, or breaches a supervisory order or a condition attached to the designation.(Art. 37(1), Art. 41(1), Art. 41(2), Art. 42(1), Art. 43(1), Art. 53(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it connects to other laws

Cites this lawLawThis law cites it

It also names 12 laws not yet held here.

Where the translation comes from

291
180

The Ministry of Justice's translation is shown only where the Japanese it translates matches the law in force today. Everywhere else the English is a machine translation, marked on the paragraph itself.

Only the Japanese is the law, and no lawyer has reviewed the machine translation.

Sources

Everything this page rests on

e-Gov (Digital Agency)高年齢者等の雇用の安定等に関する法律 — the text in force from 2022-10-01Original
e-Gov (Digital Agency)高年齢者等の雇用の安定等に関する法律 — revision historyOriginal
Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeAct on Employment Security of Elderly Persons — Ministry of Justice translationOriginal
Machine translation, not official
Written for this site with AIEnglish titles of amending laws, written for this site
Written for this site with AIDescriptions of each law, written for this site
Written for this site with AICorrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of paragraphs
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