Employees' Pension Insurance Act

The right to collect insurance premiums and other monies to be collected under the provisions of this Act or to receive a refund of them is extinguished by prescription when two years have passed from the time when it becomes exercisable; the right to receive pension insurance benefits is extinguished by prescription when five years have passed from the day on which the grounds for their payment arose; the right to receive payment of pension insurance benefits that are to be paid in each payment month based on that right is extinguished by prescription when five years have passed from the first day of the month following the payment month prescribed in Article 36, paragraph (3), main clause that relates to the payment of those pension insurance benefits and arrives in or after the month following the month that includes that day; and the right to receive the return of pension insurance benefits is extinguished by prescription when five years have passed from the time when it becomes exercisable.

With regard to prescription of the right to collect insurance premiums and other monies to be collected under the provisions of this Act or to receive a refund of them, or of the right to receive the return of pension insurance benefits, it is not necessary to invoke prescription, and the benefit of it cannot be waived.

The period of prescription of the right to receive pension insurance benefits does not run during any time in which the payment of the entire amount of pension insurance benefits has been suspended.

Payment notices for insurance premiums and other monies to be collected under the provisions of this Act and demands for payment under the provisions of Article 86, paragraph (1) have the effect of renewing prescription.

The provisions of Article 31 of the Public Accounting Act (Act No. 35 of 1947) do not apply to the right to receive pension insurance benefits as provided in paragraph (1) or to the right to receive payment of pension insurance benefits that are to be paid in each payment month based on that right.

Unless otherwise provided for in this Act, the provisions of the Civil Code (Act No. 89 of 1896) concerning periods of time apply mutatis mutandis to the calculation of periods of time provided for in this Act and orders issued hereunder.

Deleted.

A mayor of municipality may provide free certification to the implementing organization or to the beneficiary, in connection with the family register of an insured, former insured, or a beneficiary, as prescribed by the relevant municipal ordinance.

On finding it to be necessary to do so, an implementing organization may order a beneficiary of pension insurance benefits to submit documents or other items in connection with the particulars related to the beneficiary's family relationships, severity of a disability, extinguishment of a right to benefits, revision of the amount of pension, or the suspension of its payment, and may have a competent official question the beneficiary regarding those particulars.

The competent official who carries out questioning pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph must carry identification and present it if requested by the person concerned.

The provisions of paragraph (2) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to diagnosis by a competent official under the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

As prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, an employer must file a notification with the Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare of the particulars prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, beyond those that are otherwise provided for in Article 27.

As prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, an insured must file a notification with the Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare of, or report to the employer thereof, the particulars prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

As prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, a beneficiary or the householder or any other member of the family to which the beneficiary belongs must file a notification with the Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare of the particulars prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and must submit thereto the documents and other items prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

If a beneficiary has died, the person obligated to report the beneficiary's death pursuant to the provisions of the Family Registration Act (Act No. 224 of 1947) must file a notification of this with the Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare within 10 days; provided, however, that this does not apply if that person has filed a death notification under the provisions of that Act for the death of a beneficiary as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (limited to the cases provided for by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).

The provisions of each of the preceding paragraphs do not apply to a category II EPI insured, category III EPI insured, or category IV EPI insured; the employer of any such person; or a beneficiary of insurance benefits based on a category II EPI insured period, category III EPI insured period, or category IV EPI insured period.

The relevant person, pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, may have an employer carry out part of the administrative functions that are necessary for the implementation of employees' pension insurance.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply to the employer of a category II EPI insured, category III EPI insured, or category IV EPI insured.

On finding it to be necessary to do so in connection with a decision on a person's status as an insured, standardized remuneration, insurance premiums, or insurance benefits, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may order the employer of an applicable place of business or of a place of business found to be an applicable place of business, or an employer that has given the consent referred to in Article 10, paragraph (2) (referred to in paragraph (4), Article 102, paragraph (2) and Article 103 as an "employer of an applicable place of business, etc."), to submit documents and other items or may have a competent official enter into the place of business and question those concerned or inspect books, documents and other items.

The provisions of Article 96, paragraph (2) apply mutatis mutandis to questioning and inspection under the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

The authority under the provisions of paragraph (1) must not be interpreted as being conferred for a criminal investigation.

The provisions of the preceding three paragraphs do not apply to a category II EPI insured, category III EPI insured, or category IV EPI insured; nor do they apply to the employer of an applicable place of business, etc. of such a person.

Implementing organizations are to provide one another with the particulars of persons' statuses as insureds, the particulars of standardized remuneration, the payment status of insurance benefits to insureds, and other information necessary for conducting the business of the implementing organizations.

On finding it to be necessary to do so in connection with a person's status as an insured, standardized remuneration, or insurance premiums, an implementing organization may request a public agency (other than an implementing organization) to provide necessary materials on the name and address of a place of business and other particulars.

On finding it to be necessary to do so in connection with a disposition involving pension insurance benefits, an implementing organization may request the Chairperson of the House of Representatives, the Chairperson of the House of Councillors, or the chairperson of the assembly of the local governments to submit the necessary materials.

On finding it to be necessary to do so in connection with a person's status as a category I EPI insured or in connection with the standardized remuneration or insurance premiums of a category I EPI insured, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may ask a public agency, the Health Insurance Society, or the National Health Insurance Society to submit the necessary materials on the name and address, individual number (meaning the individual number provided for in Article 2, paragraph (5) of the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures (Act No. 27 of 2013)), dates of acquisition and forfeiture of status, employment status, or income status of a person who is or was a category I EPI insured (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as a "current or former insured") or of a person who is or was an insured covered by health insurance or national health insurance, or other particulars; or may ask a bank, trust company, or other such institution, or the employer or other relevant person to report those particulars.

On finding it to be necessary to do so in connection with the status of a category I EPI insured, standardized remuneration, or insurance premiums, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may request a bank, trust company, or other institution to make a report on the income status and other particulars of a category I EPI insured or a person found to be a category I EPI insured.

Pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, an implementing organization (excluding the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare; the same applies hereinafter in this Article), through the minister with administrative jurisdiction over that implementing organization, is to report to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare the particulars specified by Order of the Ministry the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare as necessary for the calculation of the average standardized amount of remuneration provided for in Article 43-2, paragraph (1), item (ii), (a).

Pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare is to report the average standardized amount of remuneration provided for in the preceding paragraph and the particulars related to this that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, to the minister with administrative jurisdiction over an implementing organization.

An implementing organization is to report, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, via the minister with administrative jurisdiction over the implementing organization, to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare on the particulars specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as necessary for ascertaining the state of operations relating to employees' pension insurance.

A report under the provisions of the preceding paragraph may be made without going through the minister with administrative jurisdiction over an implementing organization, if the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare and the minister with administrative jurisdiction over an implementing organization find it appropriate.

In the case where the matters necessary for ascertaining the state of the business related to employees' pension insurance as referred to in paragraph (3) can be ascertained by using the administrative record information prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (10) of the Statistics Act (Act No. 53 of 2007) that is held by an administrative organ with jurisdiction over an implementing organization, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may, pursuant to Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, request the head of that administrative organ to report on those matters; in this case, an implementing organization is not required to make a report under the provisions of paragraph (3) on the matters that the head of that administrative organ has reported.