Whistleblower Protection Act
公益通報者保護法
Protects people who report wrongdoing under certain laws at the business they work for — workers, dispatched workers and company officers among them — from dismissal and other disadvantageous treatment for reporting, and sets what businesses and administrative bodies must do with such reports.
- Text in force since
- Promulgated
- Articles
- 22
- Amendments on the way
- 2
What this law does
- Whistleblowing (公益通報) is a report, made without a wrongful purpose such as gaining an unfair benefit or harming others, that a reportable fact (通報対象事実) has occurred or is about to occur at the business the reporter works for, or concerning its officers, employees or agents. A reportable fact is a crime, or a matter for a civil fine (過料), under this Act or an Act in its Appended Table — among them the Penal Code, the Food Sanitation Act, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, with others a Cabinet Order (政令) adds — or the grounds of an administrative disposition (処分) under an Act in its Appended Table whose breach would itself be such a crime or civil-fine matter. The report may go to the business or someone it designates, to an administrative body (行政機関) with power over the matter or someone that body designates, or to anyone to whom reporting is needed to prevent the fact or the spread of its harm, but not to someone who might harm the business's competitive position or other legitimate interests.This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 2(1), Art. 2(3)(i), Art. 2(3)(ii), Appended Table 1) (the provisions it rests on)
Read the full overview
- Whistleblowing (公益通報) is a report, made without a wrongful purpose such as gaining an unfair benefit or harming others, that a reportable fact (通報対象事実) has occurred or is about to occur at the business the reporter works for, or concerning its officers, employees or agents. A reportable fact is a crime, or a matter for a civil fine (過料), under this Act or an Act in its Appended Table — among them the Penal Code, the Food Sanitation Act, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, with others a Cabinet Order (政令) adds — or the grounds of an administrative disposition (処分) under this Act or an Act in its Appended Table whose breach would itself be such a crime or civil-fine matter. The report may go to the business or someone it designates, to an administrative body (行政機関) with power over the matter or someone that body designates, or to anyone to whom reporting is needed to prevent the fact or the spread of its harm, but not to someone who might harm the business's competitive position or other legitimate interests.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 2(1), Art. 2(3)(i), Art. 2(3)(ii), Appended Table 1) (the provisions it rests on)
- A dismissal of a worker by their employer because the worker made protected whistleblowing is void. The employer also must not demote the worker, cut their pay, withhold their retirement allowance or treat them otherwise disadvantageously for it, and this covers former workers too.This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 3(1), Art. 5(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- An employer must not dismiss or otherwise treat disadvantageously a worker or former worker because they made protected whistleblowing; a dismissal in breach is void, and so is other disadvantageous treatment given as a disciplinary sanction (懲戒) under the work rules or the labor contract. In deciding whether it is void, a dismissal or disciplinary sanction within one year of the report — or, where the employer acted knowing of a report to an administrative body or to anyone else, within one year of the day it learned of it — is presumed to be because of the report. A business that receives a dispatched worker must not, because of such whistleblowing, cancel the dispatch contract, ask for a replacement or otherwise treat the worker disadvantageously, and a cancellation in breach is void.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 3(1), Art. 3(2), Art. 3(3), Art. 4(1), Art. 4(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- How sure a worker must be depends on whom the report goes to. For a report to the business or someone it designates, it is enough that they consider the fact has occurred or is about to; for a report to an administrative body with power over the matter, they need reasonable grounds to believe it, or must hand in a document, on paper or electronic, giving their name (or business name) and address (or residence), the facts, why they think so and why action should be taken. The business cannot claim damages from a whistleblower for harm the protected whistleblowing caused it.(Art. 3(1)(i), Art. 3(1)(ii), Art. 7(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- For a report to anyone else — someone to whom reporting is needed to prevent the fact or the spread of its harm — the worker needs reasonable grounds to believe the fact and one of the six cases Article 3 lists. They are: reasonable grounds to fear retaliation if they reported to the business or an authority, or the destruction, forgery or alteration of evidence or a leak of their identity if they reported to the business; being told without just cause not to report; no notice that the business will investigate, or no investigation without just cause, 20 days after a written report to it; and reasonable grounds to believe that harm to someone's life or body, or irreparable or large-scale damage to individuals' property directly caused by the fact, has occurred or is imminent.(Art. 3(1)(iii)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A business that a dispatched worker works for under worker dispatch cannot cancel the dispatch contract because the worker made protected whistleblowing — such a cancellation is void — and must not ask for a replacement or treat the worker otherwise disadvantageously for it. A business must not cut the pay of an officer (役員) it has or had perform duties, or otherwise treat them disadvantageously, for protected whistleblowing, short of removing them, and an officer removed from office for it can claim damages from the business. An officer's report to an administrative body is protected only if, after trying with due care to investigate and correct the matter (調査是正措置), they still have reasonable grounds to believe the fact, and a report to anyone else needs, in addition, reasonable grounds to fear removal or other retaliation or the destruction, forgery or alteration of evidence, or having been told without just cause not to report — unless, for either, they have reasonable grounds to believe the fact and that harm to someone's life or body, or irreparable or large-scale damage to individuals' property directly caused by it, has occurred or is imminent.This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 4(1), Art. 5(2), Art. 5(3), Art. 6(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A business that entrusts or entrusted work to a specified entrusted business operator (特定受託事業者) — under the Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators, a separate Act, a self-employed individual with no employees, or a company with a single officer and no employees — must not, because that individual or the company's representative (特定受託業務従事者) made protected whistleblowing, end the contract, cut the volume of work or the pay, stop dealing with them or treat them otherwise disadvantageously. A business must not cut the pay of an officer (役員) it has or had perform duties, or otherwise treat them disadvantageously, for protected whistleblowing, short of removing them, and an officer removed for it can claim damages. An officer's report to an administrative body is protected only if, after trying with due care to investigate and correct the matter (調査是正措置), they still have reasonable grounds to believe the fact, and a report to anyone else needs, in addition, reasonable grounds to fear removal or other retaliation or the destruction, forgery or alteration of evidence, or having been told without just cause not to report — unless, for either, they have reasonable grounds to believe the fact and that harm to someone's life or body, or irreparable or large-scale damage to individuals' property directly caused by it, has occurred or is imminent.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 5(1), Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2), Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators Art. 2(1), Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators Art. 2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A business must designate people to receive whistleblowing reports made to it, investigate them and take corrective measures, and must set up a system and take the other measures needed to respond to such reports properly; a business with 300 or fewer regular workers need only endeavour to. The Prime Minister sets guidelines for these measures after hearing the Consumer Commission (). The people designated must not disclose, without just cause, anything they learn in that work that identifies a whistleblower, even after they leave the role.This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 11(1), Art. 11(2), Art. 11(3), Art. 11(4), Art. 11(5), Art. 12(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A business must designate people to handle whistleblowing reports made to it and set up a system to respond to them, including making it known to its workers and dispatched workers; a business with 300 or fewer regular workers need only endeavour to, and the handlers must not disclose, without just cause, what identifies a whistleblower. A business must not obstruct whistleblowing without just cause — by asking someone to agree not to report, warning of disadvantageous treatment if they do, or otherwise — and an agreement or other juridical act (法律行為) made in breach is void. It must not, without just cause, demand that someone say whether they are the whistleblower, or do anything else aimed at identifying a whistleblower.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 11(1), Art. 11(2), Art. 11(3), Art. 12(1), Art. 11-2(1), Art. 11-2(2), Art. 11-3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
WhistleblowingProtection from dismissalDispatched workersCompany officersHandling reports inside a businessKeeping a whistleblower's identity secretReporting to the authoritiesPenalties
Contents
22 61 23 10 23
- Chapter I General Provisions第一章 総則Articles 1–2 · 2
- Chapter II Invalidity of Dismissal of, and Prohibition of Disadvantageous Treatment of, Whistleblowers on the Grounds of Whistleblowing第二章 公益通報をしたことを理由とする公益通報者の解雇の無効及び不利益な取扱いの禁止等Articles 3–10 · 8
- Chapter III Measures to Be Taken by Business Operators第三章 事業者がとるべき措置等Articles 11–14 · 4
- Chapter IV Miscellaneous Provisions第四章 雑則Articles 15–20 · 6
- Chapter V Penal Provisions第五章 罰則Articles 21–22 · 2
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 latest amendments are below. This law's amendments page lists every amendment e-Gov records and, for those whose changes this site has read, shows them provision by provision, in Japanese and English.
2 November 2026
in 1 day
Act on the Arrangement, etc. of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act for Establishment of the Disaster Management Agency
防災庁設置法の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
1 December 2026
in 30 days
Act Partially Amending the Whistleblower Protection Act
公益通報者保護法の一部を改正する法律
8 amendments already in force
17 July 2026
The text on this site
Act on the Arrangement, etc. of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act for Establishment of the Disaster Management Agency
防災庁設置法の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
11 June 2025
Act Partially Amending the Whistleblower Protection Act
公益通報者保護法の一部を改正する法律
1 June 2022
Act Partially Amending the Whistleblower Protection Act
公益通報者保護法の一部を改正する法律
1 September 2021
19 May 2021
12 June 2020
Act Partially Amending the Whistleblower Protection Act
公益通報者保護法の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2018
Act Partially Amending the Act on Standardization, etc. of Agricultural and Forestry Products and the Act on the Incorporated Administrative Agency Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center
農林物資の規格化等に関する法律及び独立行政法人農林水産消費安全技術センター法の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2015
Who it applies to
It applies to
- Whistleblowers: workers, and those who were within the year before the report, about the business that employs or employed them; dispatched workers, likewise, about the business they are or were dispatched to; workers and dispatched workers on work their business does under contract for another business, about that other business; and officers (役員) — directors, auditors and others who run a corporation — about the business they serve, and about another business it works for under contract where they work on that business, all of whom are to try not to harm the legitimate interests of others or the public interest. A worker is a worker as Article 9 of the Labor Standards Act, a separate Act, defines one — anyone employed in a business and paid wages — and a dispatched worker one as the Worker Dispatching Act, also a separate Act, defines.This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 2(1)(i), Art. 2(1)(ii), Art. 2(1)(iii), Art. 2(1)(iv), Art. 10(1), Labor Standards Act Art. 9(1), Act on Ensuring the Proper Operation of Worker Dispatching Services and Protecting Dispatched Workers Art. 2(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Whistleblowers: workers and dispatched workers, and those who were within the year before the report, about the business they work or worked for; self-employed people with no employees, and the representatives of companies with a single officer and no employees, to whom a business entrusts or entrusted work within that year (特定受託業務従事者, as the Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators, a separate Act, defines them), about that business; workers, dispatched workers and such people on work their business does under contract for another business, about that other business; and officers (役員) about the business they serve, and about another business it works for under contract where they work on that business, all of whom are to try not to harm the legitimate interests of others or the public interest. A worker is a worker as Article 9 of the Labor Standards Act, a separate Act, defines one — anyone employed in a business and paid wages — and a dispatched worker one as the Worker Dispatching Act, also a separate Act, defines.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 2(1)(i), Art. 2(1)(ii), Art. 2(1)(iii), Art. 2(1)(iv), Art. 2(1)(v), Art. 10(1), Labor Standards Act Art. 9(1), Act on Ensuring the Proper Operation of Worker Dispatching Services and Protecting Dispatched Workers Art. 2(1)(ii), Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators Art. 2(1), Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators Art. 2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
2 more
- Businesses (事業者) — any corporation or other organization, and any individual doing business — which may not dismiss or otherwise treat disadvantageously a whistleblower for a protected report, and must designate people to handle reports and set up a system for them, or, with 300 or fewer regular workers, endeavour to.(Art. 2(1), Art. 3(1), Art. 5(1), Art. 11(1), Art. 11(2), Art. 11(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Administrative bodies (行政機関) — national bodies such as the Cabinet Office, the Digital Agency and the ministries and agencies of the National Government Organization Act, and the organs of local governments other than their assemblies — which must deal with whistleblowing made to them.(Art. 2(4), Art. 13(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
Special rules and exceptions (7)
- For regular-service national public servants, court employees, Diet employees, Self-Defense Forces personnel and regular-service local public servants, the ban on dismissal and other disadvantageous treatment for whistleblowing is governed not by Articles 3 to 5 but by the National Public Service Act, the Diet Employees Act, the Self-Defense Forces Act and the Local Public Service Act, which are separate Acts. Their employers must apply those Acts so that no one is dismissed or treated disadvantageously for protected whistleblowing.This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 9(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- For regular-service national public servants, court employees, Diet employees, Self-Defense Forces personnel and regular-service local public servants, the voiding of a dismissal or disciplinary sanction and the one-year presumption (Article 3(2) and (3)) do not apply. The ban in Article 3(1) covers disciplinary dismissal (懲戒免職) and dismissal on the grounds of unsuitability (分限免職) in place of dismissal, and the penalty in Article 21(1) covers dismissal on the grounds of unsuitability or disciplinary action (懲戒処分).This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 9(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The Prime Minister's powers to require reports, advise, guide, recommend and publish (Articles 15 and 16) do not apply to the State and local governments.This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 20(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The Prime Minister's powers of advice, guidance, recommendation, orders, publication, reports and inspection (Articles 15 to 16) do not apply to the State and local governments, and nor does the fine on a corporation or individual for retaliation by its staff (Article 23(1)(i)).This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 20(1), Art. 23(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The Act's protections do not displace other laws that forbid dismissal or other disadvantageous treatment for reporting, nor the Labor Contract Act's rules on transfers, discipline and dismissal (Articles 14 to 16), a separate Act, nor another law's right of a removed officer to damages.(Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2), Art. 8(3), Art. 8(4), Labor Contracts Act Art. 14(1), Labor Contracts Act Art. 15(1), Labor Contracts Act Art. 16(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- For whistleblowing made before the amending Act of 2020 (Act No. 51 of 2020) came into force, the Act as it stood before that amendment still applies.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The amendments of Act No. 62 of 2025, other than its penalties, also cover whistleblowing made before they came into force. A dismissal, other treatment or cancellation of a dispatch contract made before then stays under the rule as it stood before the amendment, though the one-year presumption reaches an earlier dismissal too. An agreement not to report made before then is not voided by Article 11-2(2); acts done before then are punished under the earlier rules; and a report the Prime Minister asked for before then and not yet made, or publication for not following a recommendation given before then, stays under the earlier rules.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(3), Suppl. Prov. Art. 4(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 5(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 7(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 6(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it is enforced (8)
- Retaliation is dealt with between the parties rather than by penalty: a dismissal or a cancelled dispatch contract for protected whistleblowing is void, and an officer removed for it can claim damages. The Act's only criminal penalty is for a leak of a whistleblower's identity; failing to report to the Prime Minister, or reporting falsely, brings a civil fine (過料).This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 3(1), Art. 4(1), Art. 6(1), Art. 21(1), Art. 22(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Whoever dismisses a worker, or takes disciplinary action against them, in breach of the ban on retaliation for protected whistleblowing (Article 3(1)) faces imprisonment (拘禁刑) for up to six months or a fine of up to 300,000 yen. Where a representative or staff member does so in the business of a corporation or individual, the corporation also faces a fine of up to 30 million yen and the individual the 300,000-yen fine, though this does not reach the State or a local government. Such a dismissal or disciplinary action is also void, and an officer removed for whistleblowing can claim damages.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 21(1), Art. 23(1)(i), Art. 23(2), Art. 3(2), Art. 6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The Prime Minister may ask businesses for reports and give them advice, guidance or recommendations on their duties to designate handlers and set up a system, and may publish the fact that a business breaking those duties did not follow a recommendation. Failing to report, or reporting falsely, brings a civil fine (過料) of up to 200,000 yen. The Prime Minister's powers under the Act pass to the Commissioner of the Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁長官), except those a Cabinet Order (政令) reserves.This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 15(1), Art. 16(1), Art. 22(1), Art. 19(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The Prime Minister may advise and guide businesses on their duties to designate handlers and set up a system. A business with more than 300 regular workers that fails to designate handlers may be recommended to put it right, ordered to if it does not without just cause, and named once ordered; for the other duties, and for smaller businesses, the Prime Minister may recommend, and may name a larger business that breaks the system duty and does not follow a recommendation without just cause. The Prime Minister's powers pass to the Commissioner of the Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁長官), except those a Cabinet Order (政令) reserves.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 15(1), Art. 15-2(1), Art. 15-2(2), Art. 15-2(3), Art. 15-2(4), Art. 15-2(5), Art. 19(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The Prime Minister may require reports from businesses and, on the duty of a business with more than 300 regular workers to designate handlers, send officials to enter its offices and inspect books and documents, a power not granted for criminal investigation. Breaking an order to designate handlers, or failing to report, reporting falsely or obstructing an inspection on that duty, is punishable by a fine of up to 300,000 yen, which the corporation or individual whose business it was also faces. Failing to report, or reporting falsely, on the other duties brings a civil fine (過料) of up to 200,000 yen.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 16(1), Art. 16(2), Art. 16(4), Art. 21(2), Art. 23(1)(ii), Art. 24(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A person who handles or handled whistleblowing reports for a business and discloses, without just cause, information from that work that identifies a whistleblower faces a fine of up to 300,000 yen.This is the rule until 30 November 2026.(Art. 12(1), Art. 21(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A person who handles or handled whistleblowing reports for a business and discloses, without just cause, information from that work that identifies a whistleblower faces a fine of up to 300,000 yen.This is the rule from 1 December 2026.(Art. 12(1), Art. 22(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- An administrative body with power over a reportable fact that receives whistleblowing must investigate as needed and, if it finds the fact, take measures under the law or other appropriate measures; it must also set up a system to handle such reports. A body that receives a report by mistake must tell the whistleblower which body has the power. Investigation and prosecution of a reported crime follow the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法), a separate Act.(Art. 13(1), Art. 13(2), Art. 13(3), Art. 14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it connects to other laws
Cites this lawLawThis law cites it
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Where the translation comes from
- 104
- 43
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)公益通報者保護法 — the text in force from 2026-07-17Original
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)公益通報者保護法 — revision historyOriginal
- Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeWhistleblower Protection Act — Ministry of Justice translationOriginal
- Machine translation, not official
- Machine translation, corrected on review, 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