Employment Insurance Act

雇用保険法（こようほけんほう）

Japan's public employment insurance (雇用保険): money for workers who lose their job, take training, earn less after 60, take leave to care for family or bring up a child, or work shorter hours for a child, and programs the government can run to keep people in work — grants to employers who keep workers on, help departing workers find new jobs, or hire — and to develop workers' skills, paid for mainly by premiums and the state.

Text in force since
Promulgated
Articles: 120
Amendments on the way: 1

Read the text Open on e-Gov

What this law does

Until 30 September 2028: An insured person who has left their job and is willing and able to work but cannot find a job is unemployed (失業), and can get the basic allowance (基本手当) if they were insured for at least 12 months in total in the two years before leaving — a window lengthened, up to four years, by the days they could not be paid for 30 days or more in a row through illness, injury or another reason a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets. The bar is 6 months in the one year before leaving (lengthened the same way) for someone whose employer went bankrupt, shrank or closed the business, or who was dismissed other than for a serious reason of their own or left for another reason such an Order sets, and for someone who left for an unavoidable reason such an Order sets, such as a fixed-term contract not renewed although they wanted it renewed. A month counts toward these totals when wages were paid for at least 11 days in it, or, where that count falls short, for at least 80 hours; time insured up to the leaving of a job that already gave an entitlement is not counted again.(Art. 4(3), Art. 13(1), Art. 13(2), Art. 13(3), Art. 23(2), Art. 14(1), Art. 14(2)(i), Art. 14(3)) (the provisions it rests on)

Read the full overview

From 1 October 2028: An insured person who has left their job and is willing and able to work but cannot find a job is unemployed (失業), and can get the basic allowance (基本手当) if they were insured for at least 12 months in total in the two years before leaving — a window lengthened, up to four years, by the days they could not be paid for 30 days or more in a row through illness, injury or another reason a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets. The bar is 6 months in the one year before leaving (lengthened the same way) for someone whose employer went bankrupt, shrank or closed the business, or who was dismissed other than for a serious reason of their own or left for another reason such an Order sets, and for someone who left for an unavoidable reason such an Order sets, such as a fixed-term contract not renewed although they wanted it renewed. For a job left on or after 1 October 2028, a month counts toward these totals when wages were paid for at least 6 days in it, or, where that count falls short, for at least 40 hours (for a job left earlier, the earlier count still applies); time insured up to the leaving of a job that already gave an entitlement is not counted again.(Art. 4(3), Art. 13(1), Art. 13(2), Art. 13(3), Art. 23(2), Art. 14(1), Art. 14(2)(i), Art. 14(3), Suppl. Prov. Art. 8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
To claim, the person goes to the Public Employment Security Office () after leaving and applies for a job there; the office then recognizes their unemployment (失業の認定) once every four weeks for each of the previous 28 days, checking the job-seeking they did, and the allowance is paid for the recognized days. Nothing is paid for the first 7 days of unemployment after that first application (待期). The allowance can only be paid within one year from the day after leaving (longer for some groups), extended by the days the person could not work for 30 days or more in a row because of pregnancy, childbirth, childcare or another reason a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets, if they tell the office, up to four years in all.(Art. 15(1), Art. 15(2), Art. 15(3), Art. 15(5), Art. 21(1), Art. 20(1), Art. 30(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The daily amount of the basic allowance is 50% to 80% of the person's daily wage (賃金日額), the higher rates going to lower wages, and 45% to 80% for someone aged 60 to 64 on the day they left. The daily wage is the wages of the last six months counted as insured, divided by 180, leaving out wages paid irregularly as one-offs and those paid at intervals of more than three months; it has one floor and an age-banded ceiling. The bands and limits change from 1 August when the past fiscal year's average wage has risen or fallen, and none may fall below a daily figure based on the regional minimum wage.(Art. 16(1), Art. 16(2), Art. 17(1), Art. 17(4), Art. 18(1), Art. 18(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
Until 30 September 2028: A claimant who earns income from their own work during a period being recognized must report it to the office chief. For the days that income was earned, the allowance is cut by the amount that the day's income, less a deduction the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare adjusts when average wages move, plus the allowance goes past 80% of the daily wage, and not paid at all where that excess reaches the allowance itself.(Art. 19(1), Art. 19(2), Art. 19(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
The number of days the basic allowance is paid for (所定給付日数) is 90, 120 or 150, for under 10 years, 10 to 20 years, or 20 years or more of insured employment. Someone who lost their job through the employer's bankruptcy, a cutback or closure, or a dismissal not for a serious reason of their own (特定受給資格者) gets between 90 and 330 days, set by their age and years insured, and someone a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order finds hard to place in work gets 150 days, or 300 days (under 45) or 360 days (45 to 64) once insured for a year or more.(Art. 22(1), Art. 22(2), Art. 22(3), Art. 23(1), Art. 23(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Someone who quit for their own reasons without a justifiable reason, or was dismissed for a serious reason of their own, gets no basic allowance for a period of one to three months after the 7-day waiting period, which the chief of the Public Employment Security Office sets; this does not apply while and after they take public vocational training the chief directs, nor, for someone who quit, where they took education and training a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets in the year before leaving or take it afterwards. Someone who refuses a job the office refers them to, or public vocational training the chief directs, gets nothing for one month from the refusal, unless the job or training is unsuited to their abilities, would need a move that is hard to make, pays unfairly low wages for that kind of work in the area, is at a workplace covered by Article 20 of the Employment Security Act (職業安定法), a separate Act, or there is another justifiable reason; refusing, without a justifiable reason, the vocational guidance the office gives stops the allowance for up to one month the chief sets. A claimant on an individual, wide-area or nationwide extension of benefit days, or on a training extension after the training has ended, who refuses any of these without a justifiable reason gets no basic allowance at all from that day on, unless they later qualify afresh.(Art. 33(1), Art. 33(2), Art. 32(1), Art. 32(2), Art. 32(3), Art. 29(1), Art. 29(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
A claimant who takes public vocational training the office chief directs gets a skill acquisition allowance (技能習得手当), and a lodging allowance (寄宿手当) if they must live away from the family they support to take it, on terms a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets, but not during a period of restriction under Article 32 or 33. A claimant who, after applying for a job, cannot work because of illness or injury gets the injury and disease allowance (傷病手当) for the recognized days within their benefit period, at the rate of their basic allowance and up to the days of basic allowance they have left — but not during such a restriction, nor for days they can get health insurance sickness allowance, workers' accident compensation for absence or another such benefit a Cabinet Order lists.(Art. 36(1), Art. 36(2), Art. 36(3), Art. 36(4), Art. 37(1), Art. 37(3), Art. 37(4), Art. 37(5), Art. 37(8)) (the provisions it rests on)
Insured people aged 65 or over (高年齢被保険者), other than insured seasonal and day workers, who lose their job get a lump sum instead of the basic allowance: 50 days' worth of the basic allowance if insured for a year or more, 30 days' worth if not, provided they were insured for 6 months in the year before leaving (lengthened, as for the basic allowance, by long unpaid absence through illness or injury, up to four years) and are recognized as unemployed within one year of leaving — and only as many days' worth as remain between recognition and the end of that year. Insured seasonal workers (短期雇用特例被保険者) with 6 months in the year before leaving get a special lump sum (特例一時金), to be claimed within six months of leaving, which the Act sets at 30 days' worth and its Supplementary Provisions (附則) raise to 40 days' worth for the time being — again cut to the days left in those six months if fewer.(Art. 37-2(1), Art. 37-3(1), Art. 37-4(1), Art. 37-4(5), Art. 38(1), Art. 39(1), Art. 40(1), Art. 40(3), Suppl. Prov. Art. 8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Day workers — people hired day to day or for 30 days or less, but not those employed by the same employer 18 days or more in each of the two previous months or 31 days or more in a row, unless an office chief approves — who are insured day workers (日雇労働被保険者) must get an insured day worker's benefits book (日雇労働被保険者手帳) at the Public Employment Security Office. When out of work, they get the job applicant benefit for day workers (日雇労働求職者給付金) if stamp premiums (印紙保険料) for at least 26 days were paid for them in the two months before the month they are out of work, paid for recognized days, for 13 to 17 days a month depending on the premium days paid, at one of three daily rates set by the grade of stamps, and not for the first day each week they did not work. Refusing work the office refers them to stops it for 7 days, unless the work is unsuited to their abilities, pays unfairly low wages for that kind of work in the area, is at a workplace covered by Article 20 of the Employment Security Act (職業安定法), a separate Act, or there is another justifiable reason.(Art. 42(1), Art. 43(1), Art. 43(2), Art. 44(1), Art. 45(1), Art. 47(1), Art. 48(1), Art. 50(1), Art. 50(2), Art. 52(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A person entitled to the basic allowance who takes a stable job of a kind a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order defines, with at least a third of their benefit days left, can get the employment promotion allowance (就業促進手当) where the office chief finds it necessary by that Order's standards: 60% of the remaining days' allowance, or 70% if two thirds or more were left, with more, set by such an Order, for those it names among people who stay with that employer six months or longer. Those with less left, and older, seasonal and day-worker claimants, can get up to 40 days' worth if an Order finds them hard to place, such as people with physical disabilities; nobody gets the allowance again for a job taken within a period an Order sets after an earlier one. Relocation expenses (移転費) help a claimant move for a job the office, a specified local public body or a job placement business refers them to, or for training the chief directs, and job-seeking support expenses (求職活動支援費) help with a wide-area job search, training or services, where the office chief finds it necessary.(Art. 56-3(1), Art. 56-3(2), Art. 56-3(3), Art. 58(1), Art. 59(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A general or elderly insured person (一般被保険者, 高年齢被保険者), or someone who stopped being one within a period a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets, who completes a course of education and training the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare has designated gets the education and training benefit (教育訓練給付金): 20% to 80% of the fees they paid, at a rate and up to a limit such an Order sets, and nothing where the amount would not exceed a minimum the Order sets. They need at least three years of insured employment — for the time being one year if they have never had this benefit before, under the Supplementary Provisions (附則) — and cannot get it again within a period the Order sets.(Art. 60-2(1), Art. 60-2(4), Art. 60-2(5), Suppl. Prov. Art. 11(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A general insured person (一般被保険者) who takes leave from work to receive job-related education and training (教育訓練休暇) can get the education and training leave benefit (教育訓練休暇給付金) for recognized days of leave within one year of its start (longer, up to four years, if pregnancy, childbirth, childcare or another reason an Order sets keeps them from training for 30 days or more and they tell the office chief), at the daily rate of the basic allowance, for up to 90, 120 or 150 days according to their years insured; they need at least 12 months insured in the two years before the leave (a window lengthened, up to four years, by any run of 30 days or more they could not be paid through illness, injury or another reason a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets) and at least five years of insured employment. Once they have had it, the time insured before the leave no longer counts toward a later basic allowance, and neither that time nor the leave counts toward its number of days. But someone who then loses their job within six months of the leave's end through bankruptcy, a cutback, closure, dismissal or another reason an Order sets, and has no entitlement otherwise, gets the basic allowance for a flat 90 days (150 if hard to place); for the time being, the same goes for someone who left on or before 31 March 2027 for a reason such as a fixed-term contract not renewed although they wanted it, where a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order names them.(Art. 60-3(1), Art. 60-3(3), Art. 60-3(4), Art. 60-3(5), Art. 60-3(6), Art. 14(2)(iii), Art. 22(3)(iii), Art. 60-4(1), Art. 60-4(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 11-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
An insured person aged 60 to 64, other than an insured seasonal or day worker, with at least five years of insured employment whose wages in a month fall below 75% of their wages at age 60 gets the basic continuous employment benefit for the elderly (高年齢雇用継続基本給付金) for that month, unless the month's wages reach a payment limit the Act sets and revises in line with average wages; only whole months insured without leave paid by a care, childcare or training-leave benefit count. Someone who drew the basic allowance after at least five years insured and, at 60 or over, takes a stable job with 100 or more benefit days left, can get the re-employment benefit for the elderly (高年齢再就職給付金) where their monthly wages fall below 75% of the daily wage their basic allowance was based on, times 30, for up to two years (one year if under 200 days were left), not past the month they turn 65.(Art. 61(1), Art. 61(2), Art. 61(7), Art. 61-2(1), Art. 61-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
An insured person, other than an insured seasonal or day worker, who takes leave to care for a family member — spouse (including a partner not formally married), parent, child, spouse's parent, or someone a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order treats as equivalent — gets the nursing care leave benefit (介護休業給付金) if they were insured for 12 months in the two years before the first such leave (a window lengthened, up to four years, by any run of 30 days or more they could not be paid through illness, injury or another reason a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets). It is 40% of their daily wage at the start of the leave in the Act, raised to 67% for the time being by its Supplementary Provisions (附則), reduced where wages paid for the leave period would take the two together past 80% of that daily wage; it covers up to three leaves and 93 days in all for each family member.(Art. 61-4(1), Art. 61-4(4), Art. 61-4(5), Art. 61-4(6), Suppl. Prov. Art. 12(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
An insured person, other than an insured seasonal or day worker, on leave to bring up a child under one — to one and a half, or two, where a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order finds leave especially needed to keep the job, and to one year and two months where the spouse also takes leave before the child's first birthday — gets the childcare leave benefit (育児休業給付金) if insured for 12 months in the two years before the first leave (a window lengthened, up to four years, by any run of 30 days or more they could not be paid through illness, injury or another reason a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets). It is 67% of their daily wage for the first 180 days of leave and 50% after, reduced where wages paid for the leave period would take the two together past 80% of that daily wage, and is not paid for a third or later leave for the same child except in cases such an Order sets.(Art. 61-7(1), Art. 61-7(2), Art. 61-7(6), Art. 61-7(7), Art. 61-7(8)) (the provisions it rests on)
Leave of up to four weeks within eight weeks after a child's birth, which an insured person (other than an insured seasonal or day worker) has asked the Public Employment Security Office chief to pay for, brings the birth-time childcare leave benefit (出生時育児休業給付金) if they were insured for 12 months in the two years before the first such leave (lengthened, up to four years, by any run of 30 days or more unpaid through illness, injury or another reason an Order sets; the same for the benefit below): 67% of the daily wage for up to 28 days, in at most two periods, reduced where wages paid for the leave would take the two together past 80%. On top, the post-birth leave support benefit (出生後休業支援給付金) pays 13% of the daily wage for up to 28 days to a parent insured for 12 months in the two years before their first such leave who takes 14 days or more of leave in the eight weeks after the birth (16 weeks for a mother who took postnatal leave), where the spouse also takes 14 days or more within eight weeks of the birth — a condition waived for a single parent, a spouse who is not an employee in a covered undertaking, a spouse who took postnatal leave, and other cases a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets.(Art. 61-7(1), Art. 61-8(1), Art. 61-8(2), Art. 61-8(4), Art. 61-8(5), Art. 61-10(1), Art. 61-10(2), Art. 61-10(6), Art. 61-10(7)) (the provisions it rests on)
An insured person, other than an insured seasonal or day worker, who shortens their scheduled working hours to bring up a child under two gets the childcare shorter-hours work benefit (育児時短就業給付金) for each month: 10% of that month's wages where those wages are under 90% of their wages before the shorter hours began, a rate tapering down between 90% and 100%, and nothing for a month whose wages reach a payment limit the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare sets. They need 12 months insured in the two years before (a window lengthened, up to four years, by any run of 30 days or more they could not be paid through illness, injury or another reason a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets), or to move straight into shorter hours from leave paid by a childcare leave or birth-time childcare leave benefit.(Art. 61-7(1), Art. 61-12(1), Art. 61-12(2), Art. 61-12(6)) (the provisions it rests on)

Article 1 states the law's own purpose

Basic allowanceRecognition of unemploymentNumber of benefit daysQuitting and benefit restrictionsEducation and training benefitChildcare leave benefitNursing care leave benefitAppeals

120 670 258 70 231

Amendments

A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . This law has 1 amendment on the way — , but . 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.

1 October 2028

in 2 years

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 whole text as it will read, on e-Gov

See what it changes (48 provisions)

36 amendments already in force

13 May 2026
The text on this site
Act Partially Amending the Mariners Act, etc.
船員法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 October 2025
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 June 2025
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc. (extract)
刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律　抄
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
14 May 2025
Act Partially Amending the Mariners Act, etc.
船員法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2025
Act Partially Amending the Act on Support for Children and Child-rearing, etc.
子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2025
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 2025
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 October 2024
Act Partially Amending the Act on Support for Children and Child-rearing, etc.
子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 October 2024
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
12 June 2024
Act Partially Amending the Act on Support for Children and Child-rearing, etc.
子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
17 May 2024
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 October 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 October 2022
Act Partially Amending the Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members and the Employment Insurance Act
育児休業、介護休業等育児又は家族介護を行う労働者の福祉に関する法律及び雇用保険法の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 July 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
17 June 2022
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.
刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 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
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 January 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 September 2021
Act Partially Amending the Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members and the Employment Insurance Act
育児休業、介護休業等育児又は家族介護を行う労働者の福祉に関する法律及び雇用保険法の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
9 June 2021
Act Partially Amending the Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members and the Employment Insurance Act
育児休業、介護休業等育児又は家族介護を行う労働者の福祉に関する法律及び雇用保険法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 September 2020
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 August 2020
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
12 June 2020
Act on Temporary Special Provisions, etc. for the Employment Insurance Act to Respond to the Impact of Novel Coronavirus Disease, etc.
新型コロナウイルス感染症等の影響に対応するための雇用保険法の臨時特例等に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2020
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 upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code
民法の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2020
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 2020
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 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 October 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
1 August 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
2 June 2017
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code
民法の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2017
Act Partially Amending the Child Welfare Act, etc.
児童福祉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

Workers employed in an undertaking that employs workers (a covered undertaking, 適用事業) are insured persons (被保険者), apart from the groups Article 6 leaves out; for the time being some farming, forestry and fishing businesses are covered only by choice.(Art. 4(1), Art. 5(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Employers, who must notify the insured status of their workers, issue the certificates workers need to claim, not penalize workers for requesting confirmation of their insured status or applying under the two-job rule for workers 65 or over, and answer officials' orders and inspections.(Art. 7(1), Art. 73(1), Art. 76(1), Art. 76(3), Art. 79(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

4 more

Until 30 September 2028: Workers aged 65 or over employed by two or more employers, working under 20 hours a week in each job but 20 hours or more in two of them combined (each of the two with at least the hours a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets), can apply to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to become insured as elderly insured persons (高年齢被保険者) from the day they apply, and must report when they no longer meet these conditions. Such a worker gets the care leave, childcare leave, birth-time, post-birth and shorter-hours benefits only where the leave or shorter hours is taken in all of the jobs.(Art. 37-5(1), Art. 37-5(2), Art. 37-6(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
From 1 October 2028: Workers aged 65 or over employed by two or more employers, working under 10 hours a week in each job but 10 hours or more in two of them combined (each of the two with at least the hours a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets), can apply to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to become insured as elderly insured persons (高年齢被保険者) from the day they apply, and must report when they no longer meet these conditions. Such a worker gets the care leave, childcare leave, birth-time, post-birth and shorter-hours benefits only where the leave or shorter hours is taken in all of the jobs; someone who became insured under this rule before 1 October 2028 and still is stays under the earlier rules.(Art. 37-5(1), Art. 37-5(2), Art. 37-6(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Day workers — hired day to day or for 30 days or less, but not those employed by the same employer 18 days or more in each of the two previous months or 31 days or more in a row — who live in areas the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare designates, work at an undertaking in such an area or at one outside it that the Minister designates, or whom a Public Employment Security Office chief approves, are insured day workers (日雇労働被保険者) with benefits of their own; one who passes those limits stays an insured day worker only with the chief's approval.(Art. 42(1), Art. 43(1), Art. 43(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Labour insurance affairs associations (労働保険事務組合), which handle notifications for employers and can be ordered to report, hand over documents or appear. Job placement businesses, recruitment information providers and designated training providers can be ordered to report or hand over documents, and made to pay jointly for benefits paid on their false statements.(Art. 7(1), Art. 10-4(2), Art. 76(1), Art. 76(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

It does not apply to

Until 30 September 2028: People whose scheduled working hours are under 20 a week, except workers 65 or over who have applied to be insured under the two-job rule and day workers who would be insured day workers.(Art. 6(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
From 1 October 2028: People whose scheduled working hours are under 10 a week, except workers 65 or over who have applied to be insured under the two-job rule and day workers who would be insured day workers. Someone working 10 hours or more but under 20 a week who is already employed on 1 October 2028 is treated as hired by that employer on that day, so the Act reaches them from then (seasonal and day-worker insured aside).(Art. 6(1)(i), Suppl. Prov. Art. 7(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

5 more

People not expected to be employed by the same employer for 31 days or more in a row, except those employed by the same employer for 18 days or more in each of the two months before, and day workers who would be insured day workers.(Art. 6(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
Seasonal workers hired for a fixed period of four months or less, or with scheduled weekly hours below a number the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare sets.(Art. 6(1)(iii), Art. 38(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Students of schools, specialized training colleges and miscellaneous schools under the School Education Act (学校教育法), a separate Act, whom a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order places alongside the groups above.(Art. 6(1)(iv)) (the provisions it rests on)
Seafarers hired to crew fishing vessels of the kinds a Cabinet Order sets, unless employed as seafarers throughout the year.(Art. 6(1)(v)) (the provisions it rests on)
Employees of the national government, prefectures, municipalities and similar bodies whom a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order names because what they would receive on leaving under other laws and rules exceeds this Act's job applicant and employment promotion benefits.(Art. 6(1)(vi)) (the provisions it rests on)

Special rules and exceptions (7)

For the time being, farming, forestry, livestock and fishing businesses a Cabinet Order sets — not those of the state or local governments, nor a corporation's offices, nor fishing that employs seafarers — are covered only by choice (任意適用事業); once an insurance relationship is set up under the Act on the Collection, etc. of Labor Insurance Premiums, a separate Act, they count as covered undertakings.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Elderly insured persons (65 or over), insured seasonal workers and insured day workers do not get the basic allowance and the other benefits for general job seekers; each group has the benefits of its own section instead.(Art. 37-2(2), Art. 38(3), Art. 43(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
A person who left because a fixed-term contract was not renewed although they wanted it, or for another reason, and whom a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order names, gets the benefit days and benefit period of someone who lost their job through bankruptcy or dismissal where the day they left falls between 31 March 2009 and 31 March 2027, unless they already count as hard to place in work.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 4(1), Art. 13(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
Someone who left on reaching a retirement age of at least the age a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets, or for another reason such an Order sets, and does not want to apply for a job for a while, can tell the office chief and have the one-year benefit period extended by that time, up to one year. Someone who starts a business after leaving (not one run for under 30 days or of another kind an Order excludes) can have the time the business runs left out of the benefit period, if they tell the chief, within a four-year limit.(Art. 20(2), Art. 20-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The basic allowance can be paid beyond the prescribed number of days while a claimant takes public vocational training the office chief directs, and after it for some still hard to place; for up to 60 days (120 in some designated disaster areas, and 30 or 90 for such claimants aged 35 to 59 with 20 years or more insured) for claimants who lost their job through bankruptcy or dismissal, or left for a reason an Order names, who have health conditions or lost their job through a disaster, and for hard-to-place claimants in those disaster areas, where the chief finds vocational guidance appropriate; and for a number of days a Cabinet Order sets, where the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare decides it for a region with few jobs or for the whole country when unemployment worsens sharply.(Art. 24(1), Art. 24(2), Art. 24-2(1), Art. 24-2(2), Art. 24-2(3), Art. 25(1), Art. 27(1), Art. 23(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
An insured seasonal worker who, before getting the special lump sum, takes public vocational training the office chief directs lasting at least a period a Cabinet Order sets, gets the benefits of a general claimant, including the basic allowance, until the training ends, instead of the lump sum.(Art. 41(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
For seafarers who lose their job, a District Transport Bureau (地方運輸局) and certain of its offices can do what the Act gives to the Public Employment Security Office, such as taking job applications and recognizing unemployment.(Art. 79-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it is enforced (8)

The government runs employment insurance; powers the Act gives the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare can be delegated by a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order to the Directors of Prefectural Labour Bureaus and on to the chiefs of Public Employment Security Offices, who deal with claimants and decide, by standards the Minister sets, questions such as whether a refusal or a resignation had a justifiable reason.(Art. 2(1), Art. 81(1), Art. 81(2), Art. 32(3), Art. 33(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Employers must notify the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare when a worker they employ becomes or stops being an insured person, and the Minister confirms it (確認), on that notice, on request or on the Minister's own initiative. An insured or former insured person can ask for this confirmation at any time, and an employer must not dismiss or otherwise disadvantage a worker for asking, or for applying to be insured under the rule for workers 65 or over with two jobs.(Art. 7(1), Art. 8(1), Art. 9(1), Art. 73(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A person who has left a job can ask the former employer for the certificate needed to claim job applicant benefits, and the employer must issue it; the same holds for insured or former insured people claiming education and training, continued-employment or childcare-related benefits.(Art. 76(3), Art. 76(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
Someone who got any of the Act's benefits for the unemployed, for training, for older workers, for care leave or for childcare by deception or other wrongdoing can be ordered to pay them back in whole or part and to pay a further amount of up to twice what they got that way, and an employer, job placement business, recruitment information provider or designated training provider whose false notice, report or certificate led to the payment can be ordered to pay jointly with them. From the day someone got or tried to get a benefit that way, that kind of benefit stops, though all or part may still be paid for an unavoidable reason, and a basic allowance from a new entitlement earned later is paid. An insured day worker who does this instead loses the day-worker benefit for that month and the next three months, all or part payable for an unavoidable reason.(Art. 10-4(1), Art. 10-4(2), Art. 61-6(5), Art. 34(1), Art. 34(2), Art. 52(3), Art. 60(1), Art. 60-5(1), Art. 61-5(1), Art. 61-9(1), Art. 61-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Officials may order employers, labour insurance affairs associations, insured people and claimants to report, hand over documents or appear, and order prospective employers, job placement businesses, recruitment information providers and designated training providers to report or hand over documents. Where needed to pay job applicant benefits, they may order a doctor's examination by a doctor they designate for someone seeking recognition by certificate after an illness, someone who asked to extend the benefit period for a reason such as childbirth or illness, or someone claiming the injury and disease allowance. They may enter an employer's workplace or an association's office to question people and inspect books and records, showing their identification — a power not given for criminal investigation.(Art. 76(1), Art. 76(2), Art. 77(1), Art. 78(1), Art. 79(1), Art. 79(2), Art. 79(3), Art. 20(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A person who objects to a confirmation of insured status, a decision on a benefit, or an order to pay back, can ask for review (審査請求) by an employment insurance examiner (), and then for re-examination (再審査請求) by the Labor Insurance Appeal Committee (労働保険審査会). If the examiner has not decided within three months of the request, the person may treat it as rejected; a court action to cancel the decision can only be brought after the examiner's decision. Once a confirmation of insured status is final, an objection to it cannot be raised again as a ground against a benefit decision based on it.(Art. 69(1), Art. 69(2), Art. 71(1), Art. 70(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
An employer who fails to notify insured status or notifies falsely, disadvantages a worker in breach of Article 73, fails to report or reports falsely when ordered, refuses to issue a separation certificate, or refuses to answer or obstructs an inspection faces up to six months' imprisonment (拘禁刑) or a fine of up to 300,000 yen, as do staff of a labour insurance affairs association for most of the same acts. An insured person or claimant who gets a day worker's benefits book by deception, fails to report or appear when ordered, or obstructs an inspection faces up to six months' imprisonment or a fine of up to 200,000 yen; a business whose representative or employee commits one of these offences in its work is fined as well.(Art. 83(1), Art. 84(1), Art. 85(1), Art. 86(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The right to receive a benefit lapses two years after it could first be exercised. It cannot be sold, pledged or seized, and no tax or other public charge is levied on money received as unemployment and related benefits or as childcare-related benefits.(Art. 74(1), Art. 11(1), Art. 12(1), Art. 61-6(5)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it connects to other laws

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Where the translation comes from

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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)雇用保険法 — the text in force from 2026-05-13Original
e-Gov (Digital Agency)雇用保険法 — revision historyOriginal
Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeEmployment Insurance Act — 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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