Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act

• An employer must notify the Public Employment Security Office for the workplace that a worker has become an insured person (被保険者) by the 10th of the following month, and that a worker has stopped being one within 10 days counting from the day after. The notice of loss of insured status comes with papers proving it and its date, such as the labor contract, the roster of workers or the wage ledger, and, where the worker left the job, a separation certificate (離職証明書) and proof of the wages paid before leaving, unless the Director-General of the Employment Security Bureau (職業安定局長) lets them be left off. A corporation whose capital exceeded 100 million yen at the start of its business year, a mutual company, an investment corporation or a special purpose company must file both notices online, unless a line failure, a disaster or a similar reason makes that difficult and the notice can be given otherwise.(Art. 6(1), Art. 7(1), Art. 7(1)(i), Art. 7(6), Art. 6(9), Art. 7(7)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A worker who has left can ask the former employer for a separation certificate, which the employer must give unless it already sent one with the notice of loss; from it the office issues the worker a separation slip (離職票). To claim the basic allowance, the person takes the separation slip to the Public Employment Security Office for where they live, with proof of identity or by showing their My Number card (個人番号カード), and applies for employment there (求職の申込み), as the Act requires. If the office finds them qualified, it fixes the days on which their unemployment is to be recognized (失業の認定日) and gives them a qualified recipient's certificate (受給資格者証), or a notice of recipient qualification (受給資格通知) instead if they showed the My Number card and ask for one.(Art. 16(1), Art. 17(1), Art. 17(2), Art. 1(5)(i), Art. 19(1), Art. 19(3), Employment Insurance Act Art. 15(2), Employment Insurance Act Art. 76(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On each recognition day the qualified recipient (受給資格者) attends the office with the qualified recipient's certificate — or, if given a notice of recipient qualification, shows the My Number card — hands in a written declaration for recognition of unemployment (失業認定申告書) and asks to be introduced to work; the office checks the job-seeking activities written on the declaration and gives job placement or vocational guidance. Income the recipient earned from their own work during the recognized period is reported on that declaration at the first recognition day after they began earning it, as Article 19(3) of the Act requires. The allowance is paid into the recipient's own bank or savings account, or at the office where the office accepts that there is an unavoidable reason and the recipient asks.This is the rule until 30 September 2028.(Art. 22(1), Art. 28-2(1), Art. 28-2(3), Art. 29(1), Art. 44(1), Art. 45(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 19(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On each recognition day the qualified recipient (受給資格者) attends the office with the qualified recipient's certificate — or, if given a notice of recipient qualification, shows the My Number card — hands in a written declaration for recognition of unemployment (失業認定申告書) and asks to be introduced to work; the office checks the job-seeking activities written on the declaration and gives job placement or vocational guidance. The allowance is paid into the recipient's own bank or savings account, or at the office where the office accepts that there is an unavoidable reason and the recipient asks.This is the rule from 1 October 2028.(Art. 22(1), Art. 28-2(1), Art. 28-2(3), Art. 44(1), Art. 45(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A qualified recipient — other than one whose finding of work Article 22(2) of the Act treats as especially difficult — is a specific qualified recipient (特定受給資格者), given the benefit days of Article 23 of the Act, more than the ordinary days of Article 22(1), once insured for a year or more (five years for those under 30), if they left through a petition for the employer's bankruptcy or similar proceedings, a mass redundancy reported to the authorities or the departure of more than a third of the employer's insured workers, the closure of the workplace, or its move to where commuting became difficult. The same holds for those who left because of a dismissal not for a serious fault of their own, terms far from those stated at hiring, more than a third of their wages (retirement allowance aside) unpaid on the payday, an unforeseen fall in monthly wages below 85% of an earlier month's, overtime and holiday work in the six months before leaving of 100 hours or more in a month or averaging over 80 hours across two months in a row, conduct by the employer or co-workers that seriously harmed their working environment, being urged to resign, or a fixed-term contract not renewed after three years or more of renewals or despite a promise of renewal. Other reasons on the list include leave imposed for the employer's reasons lasting three months or more, and the workplace's business breaking the law.(Art. 34(1), Art. 35(1), Art. 36(1), Art. 36(1)(i), Art. 36(1)(ii), Art. 36(1)(iii), Art. 36(1)(iv), Art. 36(1)(v), Art. 36(1)(vii), Art. 36(1)(vii-2), Art. 36(1)(viii), Art. 36(1)(ix), Art. 36(1)(x), Art. 36(1)(xi), Employment Insurance Act Art. 22(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 22(2), Employment Insurance Act Art. 23(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 23(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The employment adjustment grant (雇用調整助成金) goes, on the conditions Article 102-3 sets, to an employer forced by economic reasons to cut back its business that keeps insured workers on through time off work (休業) on which it pays them an allowance, through training during working hours, or by lending them to another employer (出向) with their consent for three months to a year before they return. The time off or training must reach at least a fifteenth of the covered workers' scheduled working days in the month (a twentieth for a small or medium-sized employer), and all of it must follow a prior written agreement with the workplace's majority union or worker representative and be notified in advance to the Director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau (都道府県労働局長). Other grants go to employers who take on as continuing employees, through the Public Employment Security Office or a placement business meeting the Director-General's criteria, people who find work especially hard to get, such as people 60 or over receiving job-search support, disabled people and single parents (特定求職者雇用開発助成金); who help workers balance work with childbirth, childcare, family care or fertility treatment (両立支援等助成金); who improve the careers of fixed-term and other non-regular workers, for instance by moving them into regular jobs (キャリアアップ助成金); and, with employer bodies, who train workers (人材開発支援助成金).(Art. 102-2(1), Art. 102-3(1)(i), Art. 102-3(1)(ii)(a), Art. 102-3(1)(ii)(b), Art. 102-3(1)(iii), Art. 110(1), Art. 110(2)(i)(a), Art. 116(1), Art. 118-2(1), Art. 118-2(2)(i), Art. 125(1), Art. 125(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 22 October 2026

  The text on this site

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act

  雇用保険法施行規則の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 149 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2026

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act

  雇用保険法施行規則の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 147 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 30 September 2026

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act

  雇用保険法施行規則の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 145 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 25 August 2026

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act

  雇用保険法施行規則の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 134 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 August 2026

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act

  雇用保険法施行規則の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 31 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 14 June 2026

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act

  雇用保険法施行規則の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 100 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 21 May 2026

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Social Insurance Examiners and the Examination Committee of Social Insurance, etc.

  社会保険審査官及び社会保険審査会法施行規則等の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 88 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 13 May 2026

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act

  雇用保険法施行規則の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 92 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 May 2026

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act, etc.

  雇用保険法施行規則等の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 74 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 8 April 2026

  Ministerial Order Partially Amending the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Employment Insurance Act and the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on the Improvement of Employment of Construction Workers

  雇用保険法施行規則及び建設労働者の雇用の改善等に関する法律施行規則の一部を改正する省令

  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order No. 77 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 163 amendments already in force

• An employer need not attach the separation certificate to the notice of loss when the worker does not want a separation slip, unless the worker is 59 or over on the day they left.(Art. 7(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A former worker asking the office for a separation slip need not attach the separation certificate where the former employer cannot be found or another unavoidable reason prevents it.(Art. 17(1)(ii), Art. 17(1)(iii), Art. 17(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A qualified recipient who cannot attend on a recognition day in order to take up work or for another unavoidable reason, and tells the office, is recognized on the day they tell it; one in public vocational training the office directed is recognized once a month, and paid once a month.(Art. 23(1)(i), Art. 24(1), Art. 24(2), Art. 43(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A qualified recipient who, within the period for receiving the basic allowance, is unable to work for 30 days or more in a row because of pregnancy, childbirth or childcare, illness or injury — other than one for which they get the injury and disease allowance (傷病手当) — or another reason the office accepts as unavoidable, can have that period lengthened by those days, to no more than four years in all, by applying with a doctor's certificate or other proof. The application can be made until four years have passed counting from the day after the day they left, or until the end of the lengthened period if that is shorter. Where a disaster or other unavoidable reason kept them from applying in time, they apply within 7 days after that reason ends.(Art. 30(1), Art. 30(1)(i), Art. 31(1), Art. 31(3), Art. 31(4), Employment Insurance Act Art. 20(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A qualified recipient who left on reaching a retirement age of 60 or over (50 or over for a seafarer), or at the end of continued employment for a set term after it, and does not want to apply for work for a while, can ask within two months of leaving to have the period for receiving the allowance lengthened by the time they choose, up to one year, which ends early if they apply for work within it. If a disaster or other unavoidable reason kept them from asking in time, they ask within 7 days after it ends.(Art. 31-2(1), Art. 31-2(2), Art. 31-3(1), Art. 31-3(2), Art. 31-3(4), Art. 31(4), Art. 144-2(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 20(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A qualified recipient who starts a business after leaving, or begins after leaving to work full time on one they started before, can ask within two months of starting to have the time spent on it left out of the period for receiving the allowance, so long as the period and the time left out together come to no more than four years; a disaster or other unavoidable reason excuses lateness. The Act leaves out a business run for under 30 days, and this Order also one whose 30th day falls after the end of that period, one for which they received the re-employment allowance (再就職手当), and one the office finds they cannot support themselves on.(Art. 31-4(1), Art. 31-5(1), Art. 31-5(1)(i), Art. 31-6(1), Art. 31-6(3), Employment Insurance Act Art. 20-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• For seafarers (船員), a District Transport Bureau (地方運輸局) and offices the Minister names deal, as well as the Public Employment Security Office, with many of the steps this Order gives to that office, such as recognizing unemployment.(Art. 144-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The employment-related grants are not paid to the state, local governments (except the public enterprises they run), executive agencies or specified local incorporated administrative agencies (特定地方独立行政法人).(Art. 120(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• The powers the Act gives the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to receive notices of insured status and to confirm it, among others, are delegated to the Director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau and from there to the chief of the Public Employment Security Office. The office chief's work is done at the office for the workplace, and for claimants of the basic allowance and similar benefits at the office for where they live.(Art. 1(1), Art. 1(2), Art. 1(5), Art. 1(5)(i), Employment Insurance Act Art. 81(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 81(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The notices of insured status are the employer's duty under Article 7 of the Act, and Article 76(3) of the Act obliges a former employer to issue, on request, the certificate a person needs to claim job applicant benefits; the authorities can also order an employer in writing to report, hand in papers or appear, and send officials in to question people and inspect its books. An employer who fails to give a notice or gives a false one, refuses that certificate, ignores an order to report or reports falsely, or refuses an inspection or answers an official falsely faces up to six months' imprisonment (拘禁刑) or a fine of up to 300,000 yen under Article 83 of the Act. Where the act was done for a corporation or another employer, that corporation or employer is fined as well (Article 86).(Art. 6(1), Art. 7(1), Art. 16(1), Art. 143-3(1), Art. 144(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 7(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 76(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 76(3), Employment Insurance Act Art. 79(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 83(1)(i), Employment Insurance Act Art. 83(1)(iii), Employment Insurance Act Art. 83(1)(iv), Employment Insurance Act Art. 83(1)(v), Employment Insurance Act Art. 86(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person can ask the Public Employment Security Office for the employer's workplace to confirm (確認) that they became, or stopped being, an insured person, in writing or orally, and must hand in any evidence they have. The office tells the person and the employer what it has confirmed; where it finds no such fact, it tells the person and the employer if the employer gave notice, or the person if the person asked. It gives a newly insured person an insured person's certificate (被保険者証), which it may pass on through the employer.(Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2), Art. 8(3), Art. 9(1), Art. 10(1), Art. 10(2), Art. 11(1), Art. 12(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Benefits a person is ordered under Article 10-4 of the Act to return, or to pay on top, for getting them wrongly are collected on a notice that sets a payment deadline. An employer, a placement business, a recruitment information provider or a designated training provider whose false notice, report or certificate led to the benefits being paid can be ordered to pay those sums jointly with the person. An amount still unpaid is pursued by a demand letter (督促状) giving a deadline and, through an official carrying identification, by seizure of property, under the provisions of the Act on the Collection, etc. of Labor Insurance Premiums (労働保険の保険料の徴収等に関する法律) that Article 10-4(3) applies.(Art. 17-5(1), Art. 17-6(1), Art. 17-7(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 10-4(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 10-4(2), Employment Insurance Act Art. 10-4(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An insured person, a claimant or a relative claiming unpaid benefits who, ordered under Article 77 of the Act to report, hand in papers or appear, does not, or reports falsely, faces up to six months' imprisonment (拘禁刑) or a fine of up to 200,000 yen under Article 85 of the Act; so does one who refuses to answer, or answers falsely, an official's questions in an inspection.(Employment Insurance Act Art. 77(1), Employment Insurance Act Art. 85(1)(ii), Employment Insurance Act Art. 85(1)(iii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An employer or employer body that got a benefit under Chapter IV of the Act by deception or other wrongdoing can be ordered by the Director of the Prefectural Labor Bureau to return all or part of it and, for the employment-related grants (雇用関係助成金), to pay a further sum of up to 20% of the amount to be returned. Where an agent's or training body's false paperwork led to an employment-related grant being paid, it can be ordered to pay jointly with the employer. Where an employer got or tried to get such a benefit by deception, or an agent or training body made false statements for one, the Director can publish its name and the name and location of its office, the benefit, the day it was cancelled, the amount ordered back and how much has been returned, and what was done wrong — and, for an employer, what its business does.(Art. 140-3(1), Art. 140-3(2), Art. 140-4(1), Art. 140-4(2)(i), Art. 140-4(2)(ii), Art. 140-4(2)(iii)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The employment-related grants are not paid to an employer whose payment of labor insurance premiums (労働保険料) is seriously deficient, or who in the past five years got or tried to get one of the Act's Chapter IV benefits by deception. They are also refused where an officer involved in such deception is now an officer of the employer, or where an agent or training body that made false statements in the past five years is involved in the grant.(Art. 120-2(1), Art. 120-2(2), Art. 120-2(3)) (the provisions it rests on)