Act on Public Consultants on Social and Labour Insurance

• Among labor and social security attorneys, only a specified labor and social security attorney (特定社会保険労務士) — one who, after a training course, has passed the dispute-resolution representation examination and had that noted on their registration — may represent a party in conciliation (あっせん) before a dispute coordinating committee (紛争調整委員会) and in the mediation (調停) procedures of the employment Acts that Article 2(1), item 1-4 names, in conciliation of individual labor disputes by a prefectural labor relations commission (都道府県労働委員会), and in private dispute resolution of individual labor disputes by a body the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare designates, where a dispute worth more than 1,200,000 yen must be one a lawyer (弁護士) has also taken on for the same client. Individual labor disputes here leave out disputes over recruitment and hiring, among others. That work includes advising on those procedures, negotiating a settlement while they run, and signing the settlement agreement.(Art. 2(1)(i-4), Art. 2(1)(i-5), Art. 2(1)(i-6), Art. 2(2), Art. 2(3), Art. 13-3(1), Art. 14-11-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• In court, a labor and social security attorney may appear beside a party's lawyer (弁護士) as an assistant in court (補佐人) and speak on labor management, other labor matters and social insurance. What they say counts as said by the party or the lawyer, unless the party or the lawyer at once withdraws or corrects it.(Art. 2-2(1), Art. 2-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The labor and social security attorney examination is open to, among others, those who have completed the general-education part of a university bachelor's degree or graduated from a junior college or college of technology, those qualified as an administrative scrivener (行政書士), those who have passed the preliminary bar examination (司法試験予備試験), those with three years in total in any one of the kinds of work Article 8 lists — public administration, assisting a labor and social security attorney or a lawyer (弁護士), working full-time as a union officer, being a company officer in charge of labor, or staff work under the labor and social insurance Acts of a kind a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets — and those the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds equal to them. The Minister holds it at least once a year, and may have the Japan Federation of Labor and Social Security Attorney's Associations (全国社会保険労務士会連合会) run it, though not decide who passes; it tests the Labor Standards Act and Industrial Safety and Health Act, the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, the Employment Insurance Act, the Act on the Collection of Labor Insurance Premiums, the Health Insurance Act, the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, the National Pension Act, and general knowledge of labor management and labor and social insurance. A candidate who cheats, or tries to, can have their pass cancelled or be stopped from sitting, and can be barred from the examination for up to three years.(Art. 8(1), Art. 9(1), Art. 10(1), Art. 10-2(1), Art. 10-2(2), Art. 13(1), Art. 13(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person is qualified who has passed the examination, or been excused all its subjects, and has worked at least two years in total at work under the labor and social insurance Acts of a kind a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets, or whose experience the Minister recognises as equal or more. A qualified person becomes a labor and social security attorney only once registered on the register the Japan Federation of Labor and Social Security Attorney's Associations (全国社会保険労務士会連合会) keeps, applying through a labor and social security attorney's association (社会保険労務士会). One who will do the work for others for a fee must first register an office as well, and one doing it as an employee of a business must register that workplace.(Art. 3(1), Art. 14-2(1), Art. 14-2(2), Art. 14-2(3), Art. 14-3(1), Art. 14-5(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A labor and social security attorney must not direct, advise on or otherwise help with wrongfully getting insurance benefits, evading insurance premiums, or any other breach of the labor and social insurance Acts, and must not act in a way that harms the trust in or the dignity of the profession. One who practises for fees (開業社会保険労務士) may keep only one office unless the Minister permits more where there is a special need; must keep a ledger recording each case's name, the date of the request, the fee and the client, and keep it with its papers for two years after the ledger is closed, even after they stop practising; and must not refuse a request without good reason, dispute representation apart. Practising labor and social security attorneys and the members of labor and social security attorney corporations must not, without good reason, disclose or misuse secrets they learn in their work, even after they stop.(Art. 15(1), Art. 16(1), Art. 18(1), Art. 19(1), Art. 19(2), Art. 20(1), Art. 21(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A labor and social security attorney must not act in a case they handled as a national or local public official, or as an arbitrator. A specified labor and social security attorney must not represent a party in dispute resolution where they have advised and supported, or agreed to act for, the other side, among other conflicts Article 22(2) lists; a case that the other side of a case in hand asks them to take on may be taken only if the existing client agrees.(Art. 22(1), Art. 22(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 1 October 2026

  The text on this site

  Act Partially Amending the Act on Comprehensively Advancing Labor Measures, and Stabilizing the Employment of Workers, and Enriching Workers' Vocational Lives, etc.

  労働施策の総合的な推進並びに労働者の雇用の安定及び職業生活の充実等に関する法律等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 63 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Act on Public Consultants on Social and Labour Insurance

  社会保険労務士法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 77 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.

  民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律

  Act No. 53 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 5 July 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Act on Public Consultants on Social and Labour Insurance

  社会保険労務士法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 77 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 25 June 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Act on Public Consultants on Social and Labour Insurance

  社会保険労務士法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 77 of 2025The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 20 June 2025

  Act Partially Amending the National Pension Act, etc., and Other Matters, to Strengthen the Functions of the Pension System in Light of Socioeconomic Changes

  社会経済の変化を踏まえた年金制度の機能強化のための国民年金法等の一部を改正する等の法律

  Act No. 74 of 2025The 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.

  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

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 14 June 2023

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.

  民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律

  Act No. 53 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2023

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 4 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 November 2022

  Act Partially Amending the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Handling of Legal Services by Foreign Lawyers

  外国弁護士による法律事務の取扱いに関する特別措置法の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 33 of 2020The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 35 amendments already in force

• Anyone qualified to be a lawyer (弁護士) is qualified to be a labor and social security attorney without the examination or the two years' experience, and like anyone else becomes one by registering.(Art. 3(2), Art. 14-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• On application, a candidate is excused examination subjects for the service Appended Table 2 sets out for each: for example, 15 years in total administering the labor or the social insurance Acts as a national or local public official, 10 years administering the particular Act tested, 5 years as an insurance examiner (審査官) of that field, or, for some subjects, 15 years doing labor and social insurance work at a body the Minister designates or as a labor and social security attorney's assistant, followed by a course the federation runs — or knowledge the Minister recognises as equal.(Art. 11(1), Appended Table 2) (the provisions it rests on)

• Article 5 shuts out minors and bankrupts not yet discharged, whatever their examination result. It also shuts out, for three years from the decision, or from the day the sentence is served or no longer has to be served, those disqualified as labor and social security attorneys by discipline, fined or worse under this Act or the labor and social insurance Acts, sentenced to imprisonment (拘禁刑) or worse under any other law, or whose registration was cancelled, and those dismissed from public service by discipline or, by discipline, expelled from a bar association, struck off as a certified public accountant, or banned from practice as a tax accountant or administrative scrivener, among others.(Art. 5(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The Japan Federation of Labor and Social Security Attorney's Associations, which keeps the register, must also refuse to register, among others, anyone currently suspended from practice as a lawyer (弁護士), certified public accountant, tax accountant or administrative scrivener; anyone whose mental or physical condition keeps them from the work; anyone who, after a delinquency disposition (滞納処分) for social or labor insurance premiums, has gone on for three months or more without good reason leaving unpaid the premiums falling due since; and anyone likely to harm the profession's trust or dignity or otherwise unfit for it. To decide, the federation may ask those who collect the premiums to let it see papers on, or give it information about, the applicant's payments. A refusal follows a vote of the federation's qualification review board (資格審査会) and a chance for the applicant to explain, is given in writing with reasons, and can be appealed to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (審査請求); an application left undecided for three months can be appealed as if refused.(Art. 14-6(1), Art. 14-6(2), Art. 14-6(3), Art. 14-7(1), Art. 29(1), Art. 14-8(1), Art. 14-8(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The federation of labor and social security attorneys' associations may, on its qualification review board's vote, cancel a registration obtained by hiding or misstating key facts, or that of a labor and social security attorney whose mental or physical condition now keeps them from the work or whose whereabouts have been unknown for two years or more; a cancellation can be appealed to the Minister. It must strike off a labor and social security attorney who asks, dies, has their registration cancelled, or ceases to be qualified, and announces each registration and strike-off in the Official Gazette (官報). A labor and social security attorney's death or loss of qualification must be reported to the federation by the labor and social security attorney, their legal representative or their heir, and a labor and social security attorney struck off or suspended must hand back their labor and social security attorney's certificate.(Art. 14-9(1), Art. 14-9(3), Art. 14-10(1), Art. 14-10(2), Art. 14-11(1), Art. 14-12(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where it is needed to keep their work proper, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may require reports from practising labor and social security attorneys and labor and social security attorney corporations, and have officials enter their offices, question them and inspect the books and papers of their work; the power is not one for criminal investigation. Failing to report, reporting falsely, refusing or obstructing the inspection, or not answering or answering falsely is punishable by a fine of up to 300,000 yen. A Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order may hand the Minister's powers under this Act to the directors of the Regional Bureaus of Health and Welfare (地方厚生局) and the Prefectural Labour Bureaus (都道府県労働局).(Art. 24(1), Art. 24(3), Art. 34(1)(i), Art. 30(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The Minister disciplines labor and social security attorneys by reprimand (戒告), suspension for up to one year — of the work of a practising labor and social security attorney, of a labor and social security attorney employed by one, or of a member or employee of a labor and social security attorney corporation — or disqualification (失格処分), which takes away the qualification. Knowingly drawing up papers or acting as agent or representative against the true facts, or breaking the ban on helping with breaches of the insurance Acts, can bring suspension or disqualification, and doing so through want of due care a reprimand or suspension. False entries in the statements a labor and social security attorney may attach to papers under Article 17, any breach of this Act, the orders under it or the labor and social insurance Acts, and serious misconduct unfit for a labor and social security attorney can bring any of the three.(Art. 25(1), Art. 25-2(1), Art. 25-2(2), Art. 25-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Anyone who finds grounds for discipline may report the labor and social security attorney to the Minister and ask for action, and the associations and the federation must report their members. Before a reprimand or a suspension the Minister must hold a hearing (聴聞); a disciplinary hearing is announced at least a week ahead and held in public, and a disciplinary decision is notified in writing with reasons and published in the Official Gazette (官報). While discipline is pending, the labor and social security attorney's registration cannot be struck off at their own request.(Art. 25-3-2(1), Art. 25-3-2(2), Art. 25-4(1), Art. 25-4(2), Art. 25-4(3), Art. 25-5(1), Art. 25-4-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a labor and social security attorney corporation breaks this Act or the orders under it, or is run grossly improperly, the Minister may reprimand it, suspend all or part of its work for up to one year, or order it dissolved, under the same reporting, hearing and publication rules; where its member or employee labor and social security attorneys have themselves given grounds for discipline, the Minister may discipline them at the same time. A labor and social security attorney under suspension cannot be a member of a labor and social security attorney corporation until the suspension ends. Anyone who was a member in the 30 days before a corporation was ordered dissolved or suspended cannot be a member of one for three years from the order, or, after a suspension order, for the length of the suspension.(Art. 25-24(1), Art. 25-24(2), Art. 25-24(4), Art. 25-8(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Directing, advising on or otherwise helping with wrongful benefits, premium evasion or other breaches of the labor and social insurance Acts is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to three years or a fine of up to 2,000,000 yen. Imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 1,000,000 yen applies to registering by fraud; disclosing or misusing secrets learned in the work as a practising labor and social security attorney, a corporation member or their staff, which is prosecuted only on a complaint (告訴); taking cases from, or lending one's name to, someone breaching the title or practice rules; working while suspended; examination staff leaking examination secrets; and, without being a labor and social security attorney or labor and social security attorney corporation, doing the reserved work for others for a fee as a business where no other Act allows it and it does not go with other work a Cabinet Order (政令) sets.(Art. 32(1), Art. 15(1), Art. 32-2(1), Art. 32-2(2), Art. 21(1), Art. 27-2(1), Art. 23-2(1), Art. 25-42(1), Art. 27(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Failing to keep the case ledger, refusing a request without good reason, and calling oneself a labor and social security attorney, corporation or association without being one are punishable by a fine of up to 1,000,000 yen. Where a representative or employee commits in the course of a business one of the offences of Article 32 (helping with breaches of the insurance Acts), of Article 32-2(1), items 3, 4 and 6 (dealing with someone breaching the title or practice rules, breaching a suspension ordered on a labor and social security attorney corporation, doing the reserved work without being a labor and social security attorney), or of Articles 33 to 35, the corporation or the employer is fined as well as the person who acted, even for a single offence. A corporation's members or liquidators and an association's officers can face a non-penal fine (過料) of up to 300,000 yen for failures such as not registering (登記) as a Cabinet Order requires or merging without protecting creditors.(Art. 33(1), Art. 36(1), Art. 38(1)) (the provisions it rests on)