About the Labor Standards Act

What this law does

It sets minimum standards for working conditions. The parties to an employment relationship may not use those standards as a reason to lower conditions, and are to try to improve on them.(Art. 1(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

Read the full overview

Among them: no more than 40 hours of work a week and 8 hours a day, excluding breaks, which may be exceeded only under a written overtime agreement with the workers' majority union or representative filed with the authorities (a 36協定), or with permission in an emergency; a break of at least 45 minutes when working time exceeds six hours, and of an hour when it exceeds eight; at least one day off a week, or four days off in every four weeks; and annual paid leave once a worker has served six months continuously and attended at least 80% of working days.(Art. 32(1), Art. 32(2), Art. 36(1), Art. 33(1), Art. 34(1), Art. 35(1), Art. 35(2), Art. 39(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Wages must be paid in currency, directly to the worker and in full, subject to exceptions the Act allows. An employer dismissing a worker must give at least 30 days' notice, or pay at least 30 days' average wages instead, or a mix of the two. The exceptions — the business cannot continue because of a disaster, or the worker is dismissed for their own fault — need the labor authority's approval, and the rule does not cover day laborers, short fixed-term or seasonal workers, or workers on probation unless they have been kept on past set periods.(Art. 24(1), Art. 20(1), Art. 20(2), Art. 20(3), Art. 19(2), Art. 21(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
A labor contract term that falls below the Act's standards is void to that extent, and the Act's standard applies in its place.(Art. 13(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Separate chapters protect workers under 18 and women — chiefly pregnant women and women within a year of giving birth, but also women raising a child under one and women who need leave on menstruation days.(Chapter 6, Chapter 6-2, Art. 67(1), Art. 68(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

Working hoursWagesDismissalLeaveMinors and women workers

Amendments

A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . This law has 2 amendments 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 April 2027

in 6 months

Act Partially Amending the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, etc.

労働者災害補償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 (5 provisions)

Date not yet set

Not yet in force

Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

民法等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 whole text as it will read, on e-Gov

The date on which the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc. (Act No. 45 of 2026) comes into force. The exact day is not fixed yet.

See what it changes (7 provisions)

13 amendments already in force

17 July 2026
The text on this site
Act Partially Amending the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, etc.
労働者災害補償保険法等の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
24 June 2026
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.
民法等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 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
1 April 2025
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 Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children
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次世代育成支援対策推進法の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
31 May 2024
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 Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children
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次世代育成支援対策推進法の一部を改正する法律
The text after this amendment, on e-Gov
1 April 2023
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
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 2020
Act Partially Amending the Labor Standards Act
労働基準法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 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
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 2016
Act Partially Amending the National Health Insurance Act, etc. to Establish a Sustainable Medical Insurance System
持続可能な医療保険制度を構築するための国民健康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: anyone employed at a business or office and paid wages, whatever the kind of work.(Art. 9(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Employers: the business owner, those managing the business, and anyone acting for the owner on matters concerning its workers.(Art. 10(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

1 more

The national government, prefectures, municipalities and bodies equivalent to them are bound as employers, as private employers are. Separate laws on public servants, which are not in this collection, limit how much of the Act applies to national and local civil servants themselves.(Art. 112(1), Art. 33(3)) (the provisions it rests on)

It does not apply to

Seafarers covered by the Mariners Act: of this Act, only Articles 1 to 11, Article 116(2) and the penalties in Articles 117 to 119 and 121 apply to them.(Art. 116(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Businesses employing only relatives who live with the employer, and domestic workers.(Art. 116(2)) (the provisions it rests on)

Special rules and exceptions (6)

The rules on working hours, breaks and days off do not apply to workers in agriculture, livestock farming, sericulture or fisheries (forestry is not excluded); to supervisors, managers and staff handling confidential matters; or, with official permission, to workers doing monitoring or intermittent work.(Art. 41(1), Appended Table 1(vi), Appended Table 1(vii)) (the provisions it rests on)
Workers in the highly skilled professional system (高度プロフェッショナル制度) are also outside the rules on working hours, breaks, days off and late-night premium pay. This covers only designated specialist jobs and highly paid workers, and only where the workplace's labor-management committee has passed the required resolution by a four-fifths majority, the employer has filed it with the authorities, the worker has consented, and the employer actually takes the required health measures, including at least 104 days off a year.(Art. 41-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Workers under 18 cannot be made to work overtime or on days off under an overtime agreement, and the variable working-hours, flextime and highly skilled professional systems do not apply to them.(Art. 60(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
The ban on night work between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. for workers under 18 does not apply in agriculture, livestock farming and fisheries, health and nursing care, telephone exchange work, or to hours extended in an emergency.(Art. 61(1), Art. 61(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
The caps on overtime under an overtime agreement do not apply to research and development of new technologies, products or services.(Art. 36(11)) (the provisions it rests on)
Public servants working in government offices, outside the businesses in Appended Table 1, can be made to work longer hours or on days off when public duty temporarily requires it, without the permission otherwise needed.(Art. 33(3)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it is enforced (4)

Labor standards inspectors (労働基準監督官) are stationed in the Labor Standards Inspection Offices (労働基準監督署), the prefectural labor bureaus and the ministry bureau in charge.(Art. 97(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Inspectors may enter workplaces and dormitories, demand books and documents, and question employers and workers.(Art. 101(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
For offences under the Act, inspectors carry out the duties of judicial police officers under the Code of Criminal Procedure.(Art. 102(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Breaching many of its provisions is a crime. Penalties range from a fine of up to 300,000 yen to imprisonment for one to ten years or a fine of 200,000 to 3,000,000 yen for forced labor, and the business owner can be fined as well as the person who committed the breach.(Art. 117(1), Art. 5(1), Art. 118(1), Art. 119(1), Art. 120(1), Art. 121(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

How it connects to other laws

Cites this lawLawThis law cites it

It also names 20 laws not yet held here.

Where the translation comes from

469
345

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)労働基準法 — the text in force from 2026-07-17Original
e-Gov (Digital Agency)労働基準法 — revision historyOriginal
Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeLabor Standards 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
Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text

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