Labor Standards Act

Labor standards inspectors and other necessary staff members prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare may be appointed in the Labor Standards Management Bureau (meaning the department established within the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, with administrative responsibility for affairs involving labor conditions and the protection of workers; the same applies below), prefectural labor bureaus, and labor standards inspection offices.

The Director-General of the Labor Standards Management Bureau (referred to below as the "Director-General of the Labor Standards Management Bureau"), the directors of prefectural labor bureaus, and the directors of labor standards inspection offices, are appointed from among labor standards inspectors.

Cabinet Order prescribes particulars relating to the qualifications and appointment and dismissal of labor standards inspectors.

A Labor Standards Inspector Dismissal Council may be established in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, pursuant to Cabinet Order.

The consent of the Labor Standards Inspector Dismissal Council is required for the dismissal of a labor standards inspector.

Beyond what is provided for in the preceding two paragraphs, Cabinet Order prescribes the necessary particulars relating to the structure and operation of the Labor Standards Inspector Dismissal Council.

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The Director-General of the Labor Standards Management Bureau, under the direction and supervision of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, directs and supervises the directors of the prefectural labor bureaus administers particulars connected with the establishment, amendment, or repeal of laws and regulations concerning labor standards, particulars connected with the appointment, dismissal, and training of labor standards inspectors, particulars connected with the establishment and adjustment of regulations concerning inspection methods, particulars of the preparation of an annual report on inspections, particulars connected with the Labor Policy Council and Labor Standards Inspector Dismissal Council (limited to the particulars connected with the Labor Policy Council relating to working conditions and the protection of workers), and other particulars regarding the enforcement of this Act; and directs and supervises staff members under their jurisdiction.

The directors of the prefectural labor bureaus, under the direction and supervision of the Director-General of the Labor Standards Management Bureau, direct and supervise the directors of the labor standards inspection offices within their jurisdiction; administer the particulars of the adjustment of inspection methods and other particulars connected with the enforcement of this Act; and direct and supervise staff members under their jurisdiction.

The directors of the labor standards inspection offices, under the direction and supervision of the director of the prefectural labor bureaus; administer inspections, examinations, approvals, acknowledgments, investigations, arbitration, and other particulars regarding the enforcement of this Act; and direct and supervise staff members under their jurisdiction.

The Director-General of the Labor Standards Management Bureau and the directors of prefectural labor bureaus, may themselves exercise the powers of subordinate government agencies, or may have labor standards inspectors under their jurisdiction exercise those powers.

The Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Women's Management Bureau (meaning the director of an internal bureau established within the ministry that is responsible for affairs regarding labor issues associated with the unique characteristics of female workers; the same applies below), under the direction and supervision of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, administers particulars relating to the establishment, amendment, repeal and interpretation of special provisions in this Act relating to women, and advises the Director-General of the Labor Standards Management Bureau, and the directors of the government agencies subordinate to that Bureau, and assists in the direction and supervision of those subordinate government agencies by the Director-General of the Labor Standards Management Bureau, in connection with particulars concerning the enforcement of those provisions.

The Director-General of the Women's Management Bureau may view documents related to inspections and other things that the Labor Standards Management Bureau, the government agencies subordinate to that Bureau, or officials of those agencies have undertaken, in particulars relating to women, by themselves; or may have the Women's Management Bureau's officials designated by the Director-General view those documents.

The provisions of Articles 101 and 105 apply mutatis mutandis to investigations that the Director-General of the Women's Management Bureau or the designated officials under their jurisdiction, carry out in connection with the enforcement of special provisions of this Act relating to women.

Labor standards inspectors may inspect workplaces, communal housing, and other associated buildings; demand the submission of books and records; and question employers and workers.

In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph, a labor standards inspector must carry identification on them.

Labor standards inspectors carry out the duties of judicial police officers provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure, regarding criminal violations of this Act.

If communal housing associated with a business that employs workers is in violation of the standards that have been established for safety and health, and there is an imminent danger to workers, a labor standards inspector may immediately exercise the powers of the relevant government agency under the provisions of Article 96-3.

If there is any violation of this Act or any Order issued pursuant to this Act at a workplace, a worker may report the fact to the relevant government agency, or to a labor standards inspector.

An employer must not dismiss a worker or treat a worker disadvantageously, due to the worker having filed a report referred to in the preceding paragraph.

If finding it necessary for enforcing this Act, a relevant government agency may have an employer or a worker file a report on the necessary particulars or may order an employer or a worker to appear before the agency, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

If finding it necessary for enforcing this Act, the inspector may have an employer or a worker report the necessary particulars or order an employer or a worker to appear before the inspector.

A labor standards inspector must not reveal confidential information learned in the course of duty. The same applies even after a labor standards inspector has left their position.