①Having hired a part-time/fixed term worker, the employer must promptly make explicit to that part-time/fixed term worker the particulars of the working conditions that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare other than those specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare that are provided in Article 15, paragraph (1) of the Labour Standards Act (Act No. 49 of 1947) (referred to as "specified particulars" in the following paragraph and Article 14, paragraph (1)) by delivering documents or using a means specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (referred to as "delivering documents or using other prescribed means" in the following paragraph).

②When an employer makes the specified particulars explicit pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, it is to endeavor to also make explicit the particulars of working conditions other than those specified particulars and the particulars specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as provided in Article 15, paragraph (1) of the Labour Standards Act, by delivering documents or using other prescribed means.

①When an employer seeks to prepare or amend the rules of employment with regard to particulars that concern part-time workers, it is to endeavor to hear opinions from a person who is found to represent a majority of the part-time workers it employs at that place of business.

②The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis when an employer seeks to prepare or amend the rules of employment with regard to particulars that concern fixed-term workers. In such a case, the term "part-time worker" is deemed to be replaced with "fixed-term worker".

An employer must not create differences between the base pay, bonuses, and other treatment of the part-time/fixed term workers it employs and its corresponding treatment of its workers with standard employment statuses that are found to be unreasonable in consideration of the circumstances, including the substance of the duties of those part-time/fixed term workers and workers with standard employment statuses and the level of responsibility associated with those duties (hereinafter referred to as the "job description") and the scope of changes in their job descriptions and assignment, that are found to be appropriate in light of the nature of the treatment and the purpose of treating workers in that way.

An employer must not subject a part-time/fixed term worker whose job description is the same as that of a worker with a standard employment status (referred to as a "part-time/fixed term worker with the same job description" in Article 11, paragraph (1)) and whose job description and assignment, throughout the entire period until the end of the employment relationship with that employer, are likely to be changed within the same scope as the job description and assignment of such a worker with a standard employment status in light of customary practices at the place of business in question and other circumstances (referred to as a "part-time/fixed term worker equivalent to a worker with a standard employment status" in the following Article and the aforementioned paragraph) to differential treatment in terms of base pay, bonuses, or other such treatment, on the grounds that the worker is a part-time/fixed term worker.

An employer must endeavor to decide the wages (other than the commutation allowances and other such wages specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) of the part-time/fixed term workers it employs (other than part-time/fixed term workers equivalent to workers with standard employment statuses; the same applies in paragraph (2) of the following Article and Article 12) while making considerations for equilibrium between them and workers with standard employment statuses, and in consideration of their job descriptions, job performance, motivations, abilities, experience, and other particulars of their actual employment situations.

①Unless a part-time/fixed term worker with the same job description (other than a part-time/fixed term worker equivalent to a worker with a standard employment status; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) already has the abilities needed for the job in question and with the exception of any other case specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, an employer must also implement the educational training for its part-time/fixed term workers with the same job description that it implements for its workers with standard employment statuses to give them the abilities they need for the job duties in which they are engaged.

②Beyond as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, an employer is to endeavor to provide educational training to the part-time/fixed term workers it employs while making considerations for equalization between part-time/fixed term workers and workers with standard employment statuses, in keeping with their job descriptions, job performance, motivations, abilities, and experience, and other particulars of their actual employment situations.

An employer must also give the part-time/fixed term workers it employs the opportunity to use workplace facilities that it gives its workers with standard employment statuses the opportunity to use and that are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as contributing to the maintenance of workers' health or to their smooth performance of their work.

An employer must take one of the measures set forth in the following items for the part-time/fixed term workers it employs, in order to further their conversion into workers with standard employment status:

①When hiring a part-time/fixed term worker, an employer must promptly explain to that part-time/fixed term worker the substance of the measures it has decided to take for the things that it is required to take measures for pursuant to the provisions of Article 8 through the preceding Article (excluding the things specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as provided in Article 15, paragraph (1) of the Labour Standards Act, and the specified particulars).

②At the request of a part-time/fixed term worker employed thereby, an employer must explain to that part-time/fixed term worker the substance of any difference in treatment between the part-time/fixed term worker and workers with standard employment statuses, the grounds for that difference, and the things considered when making decisions concerning the things that it is required to take measures for pursuant to the provisions of Article 6 through the preceding Article.

③An employer must not dismiss a part-time/fixed term worker or otherwise subject such a worker to disadvantageous treatment by reason of that worker having made a request as provided in the preceding paragraph.

①The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare is to establish the necessary guidelines regarding the appropriate and effective implementation of the measures set forth in Article 6 through the preceding Article and the other measures and other actions relevant to the improvement of personnel management and conversion of employment status that employers are to take which are referred to in Article 3, paragraph (1) (referred to as "guidelines" hereinafter in this Section).

②The provisions of Article 5, paragraphs (3) through (5) of apply mutatis mutandis to the formulation of guidelines, and the provisions of paragraphs (4) and (5) of that Article apply mutatis mutandis to the revision of guidelines.

An employer must develop the necessary system to respond appropriately in handling requests for consultation from part-time/fixed term workers it employs regarding things that concern the improvement of personnel management and conversion of employment status for part-time/fixed term workers.

An employer, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, is to endeavor to appoint a part-time/fixed-term employment manager for each place of business at which it employs at least the number of part-time/fixed term workers specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare at all times, in order have that manager manage the things specified in the guidelines and other things that concern the improvement of personnel management and conversion of employment status for part-time/fixed term workers.

①On finding it to be necessary to do so in order to ensure improvement of personnel management and conversion of employment status for part-time/fixed term workers, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may ask an employer that employs part-time/fixed term workers to make a report, and may provide such an employer with advice or guidance or issue a recommendation thereto.

②If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare issues a recommendation pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph to an employer that has violated the provisions of Article 6, paragraph (1); Article 9; Article 11, paragraph (1); Articles 12 through 14; or Article 16, but the employer to which the recommendation is issued fails to follow it, the Minister may make this fact public.

③The authority of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs may be partially delegated to the director of the relevant prefectural labour bureau pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

In order to prompt the improvement of personnel management and conversion of employment status for part-time/fixed term workers and otherwise enhance their welfare, the national government may provide employers employing part-time/fixed term workers, employers' organizations, and other relevant persons with consultation, advice, and other necessary assistance with regard to things that concern the improvement of personnel management and conversion of employment status for part-time/fixed term workers.

In order to prompt part-time/fixed term workers and persons seeking to become part-time/fixed term workers to develop and improve their vocational abilities, the national government, prefectural governments, and the Japan Organization for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers are to endeavor to carry out educational activities targeting part-time/fixed term workers, persons seeking to become part-time/fixed term workers, and other relevant persons concerning the development and improvement of their vocational abilities, and are to also give special consideration to the implementation of vocational training.

The national government is to endeavor to take the necessary measures, including providing job information, giving vocational guidance, and enriching employment placement, in order to make it easy for persons seeking to become part-time/fixed term workers to choose an occupation that is suited to things such as their aptitudes, abilities, experience, and skill levels and to adapt to those occupations.