The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare and the directors of the prefectural labor offices must provide workers and employers with materials and other necessary assistance in order to achieve the purpose of this Act.

①An employer must make known to workers the substance of this Act and any Order issued based on this Act, the rules of employment, any agreement as referred to in Article 18, paragraph (2), the proviso to Article 24, paragraph (1), Article 32-2, paragraph (1), Article 32-3, paragraph (1), Article 32-4, paragraph (1), Article 32-5, paragraph (1), the proviso to Article 34, paragraph (2), Article 36, paragraph (1), Article 37, paragraph (3), Article 38-2, paragraph (2), Article 38-3, paragraph (1), Article 39, paragraph (4) and paragraph (6), and the proviso to Article 39, paragraph (9), and any resolution as provided in Article 38-4, paragraph (1), Article 38-4, paragraph (5) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 41-2, paragraph (3)), and Article 41-2, paragraph (1), by displaying or posting them at all times in a conspicuous location or locations in the workplace, by distributing written copies, or by any other such means that is prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②An employer must make known to workers living in communal housing the provisions of this Act and any Order issued pursuant to this Act relating to communal housing and house rules, by displaying or posting them in a conspicuous location or locations in the communal housing, or by other such means.

①An employer must prepare a roster of workers for each workplace and enter the name, date of birth, personal history, and other particulars prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in the roster for each worker (other than persons hired on a day-to-day basis).

②If a particular that is required to be entered in a roster pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph changes, the employer must make a correction without delay.

An employer must prepare a wage ledger for each workplace and must enter the facts upon which wage calculations are based, the amount of wages, and other matters as prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare without delay each time wage payments are made.

An employer must preserve the registers of workers, the wage ledgers and important documents concerning hiring, dismissal, accident compensation, wages and other matters related to labor relations for five years.

A worker or a person seeking to become a worker may request a certificate of the family register thereof free of charge from the person responsible for family registers or a deputy thereof. The same applies if an employer requests a certificate of the family register of a worker and a person seeking to become a worker.

This Act and orders issued based on this Act are to apply to the state, prefectures, municipalities, and other equivalent bodies.

Any Order issued pursuant to this Act is established after a hearing of opinions of the representatives of workers, representatives of employers, and representatives of the public interest regarding the draft of the Order at a public hearing.

Upon the request of a worker, the court may order an employer that has violated the provisions of Article 20, Article 26 or Article 37, or an employer that has failed to pay wages under the provisions of Article 39, paragraph (9), to pay, in addition to the unpaid amount of the monies that the employer must pay pursuant to those provisions, additional monies in the same amount; provided, however, that this request must be made within five years from the time of the violation.

A claim for wages under the provisions of this Act is extinguished by prescription if it is not exercised within five years from the time when it becomes exercisable, and a claim for accident compensation or any other claim under the provisions of this Act (excluding a claim for wages) is extinguished by prescription if it is not exercised within two years from the time when it becomes exercisable.

When, pursuant to this Act, an Order is established, amended, or repealed, the necessary transitional measures (including transitional measures on penal provisions) may be prescribed by that Order, within limits reasonably judged to be necessary in connection with its establishment, amendment, or repeal.

①With the exception of the provisions of Articles 1 through 11, paragraph (2) below, Articles 117 through 119, and Article 121, this Act does not apply to the mariners provided for in Article 1, paragraph (1) of the Mariners Law (Act No. 100 of 1947).

②This Act does not apply to a business that employs only cohabiting relatives, nor to domestic workers.