Chapter XIII Penal Provisions
第十三章 罰則
第百十七条
第百十八条
A person who violates the provisions of Article 6, Article 56, Article 63 or Article 64-2 is punished by imprisonment for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than 500,000 yen.
A person who violates an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare issued based on the provisions of Article 70 (limited to those parts of that Order relating to Article 63 or Article 64-2) is also governed by the preceding paragraph.
第百十九条
A person who falls under any of the following items is punished by imprisonment for not more than six months or by a fine of not more than 300,000 yen:
次の各号のいずれかに該当する者は、六月以下の拘禁刑又は三十万円以下の罰金に処する。
a person who violates the provisions of Article 3, Article 4, Article 7, Article 16, Article 17, Article 18, paragraph (1), Article 19, Article 20, Article 22, paragraph (4), Article 32, Article 34, Article 35, Article 36, paragraph (6), Article 37, Article 39 (excluding paragraph (7)), Article 61, Article 62, Articles 64-3 through 67, Article 72, Articles 75 through 77, Article 79, Article 80, Article 94, paragraph (2), Article 96, or Article 104, paragraph (2);
a person who violates an Order under the provisions of Article 33, paragraph (2), Article 96-2, paragraph (2), or Article 96-3, paragraph (1);
第三十三条第二項、第九十六条の二第二項又は第九十六条の三第一項の規定による命令に違反した者
a person who violates an Order of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare issued based on the provisions of Article 40;
第四十条の規定に基づいて発する厚生労働省令に違反した者
a person who violates an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare issued based on the provisions of Article 70 (limited to those parts of that Order relating to the provisions of Article 62 or Article 64-3).
第百二十条
A person falling under one of the following items is subject to a fine of not more than 300,000 yen:
次の各号のいずれかに該当する者は、三十万円以下の罰金に処する。
a person who violates the provisions of Article 14, Article 15, paragraph (1) or (3), Article 18, paragraph (7), Article 22, paragraphs (1) through (3), Articles 23 through 27, Article 32-2, paragraph (2) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 32-3, paragraph (4), Article 32-4, paragraph (4) and Article 32-5, paragraph (3)), Article 32-5, paragraph (2), the proviso to Article 33, paragraph (1), Article 38-2, paragraph (3) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 38-3, paragraph (2)), Article 39, paragraph (7), Articles 57 through 59, Article 64, Article 68, Article 89, Article 90, paragraph (1), Article 91, Article 95, paragraph (1) or (2), Article 96-2, paragraph (1), Article 105 (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 100, paragraph (3)), or Articles 106 through 109;
第十四条、第十五条第一項若しくは第三項、第十八条第七項、第二十二条第一項から第三項まで、第二十三条から第二十七条まで、第三十二条の二第二項（第三十二条の三第四項、第三十二条の四第四項及び第三十二条の五第三項において準用する場合を含む。）、第三十二条の五第二項、第三十三条第一項ただし書、第三十八条の二第三項（第三十八条の三第二項において準用する場合を含む。）、第三十九条第七項、第五十七条から第五十九条まで、第六十四条、第六十八条、第八十九条、第九十条第一項、第九十一条、第九十五条第一項若しくは第二項、第九十六条の二第一項、第百五条（第百条第三項において準用する場合を含む。）又は第百六条から第百九条までの規定に違反した者
a person who violates an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare issued based on the provisions of Article 70 (limited to the parts of that Order relating to the provisions of Article 14);
a person who violates an Order under the provisions of Article 92, paragraph (2), or Article 96-3, paragraph (2);
第九十二条第二項又は第九十六条の三第二項の規定による命令に違反した者
a person who has refused, obstructed, or evaded an inspection by a labor standards inspector or by the Director-General of the Women's Management Bureau or an official of that Bureau designated by the Director-General under the provisions of Article 101 (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 100, paragraph (3)); has not made statements or has made false statements in response to their questioning; has not submitted books and records to them; or has submitted books and records containing false entries;
a person who has failed to give a report, has given a false report, or has failed to appear under the provisions of Article 104-2.
第百四条の二の規定による報告をせず、若しくは虚偽の報告をし、又は出頭しなかつた者
第百二十一条
Changes on a date not yet set (Act No. 46 of 2026)
If a person who violates this Act is an agent, employee, or other staff member who was acting on behalf of the person in control of the business in connection with a matter concerning a worker at that business, the person in control of the business is also subject to the fine referred to in the relevant Article; provided, however, that this does not apply if the person in control of the business has taken the necessary measures to prevent that violation (if the person in control of the business is a corporation, their representative is deemed to be the person in control of the business; and if the person in control of the business is a minor or an adult ward without the same legal capacity to act as an adult in connection with that business, their statutory representative is deemed to be the person in control of the business (if the statutory representative is a corporation, their representative); the same applies below in this Article).
If the person in control of the business learns of a planned violation but does not take any necessary measures to prevent it, knows of a violation but does not take any necessary measures to rectify it, or instigates that violation, the person in control of the business is also punished as a violator.
事業主が違反の計画を知りその防止に必要な措置を講じなかつた場合、違反行為を知り、その是正に必要な措置を講じなかつた場合又は違反を教唆した場合においては、事業主も行為者として罰する。
business
「事業」
A business or office at which people are employed; the unit to which the Labor Standards Act applies.
Short name set inArticle 9, paragraph (1)
worker
「労働者」
A person employed at a business or office and paid wages, whatever the kind of job.
Defined inArticle 9, paragraph (1)· applies throughout the law
Director-General of the Women's Management Bureaumachine translation
「女性主管局長」
The head of the bureau inside the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare that is responsible for labor issues that arise from the particular circumstances of women workers.
Defined inArticle 100, paragraph (1)
fine
罰金
A criminal punishment of paying money to the state, of 10,000 yen or more, or less where it is reduced (Penal Code, Article 15). It ranks below imprisonment (拘禁刑) and above penal detention (拘留) and a petty fine (科料) (Articles 9 and 10, paragraph (1)). A person who cannot pay it in full is held in a workhouse (労役場) for one day to two years, or up to three years where fines are imposed together, a period set when the sentence is passed (Article 18, paragraphs (1), (3) and (4)); not within thirty days of the sentence becoming final without the person's consent (paragraph (5)). If it is not enforced for three years after the sentence becomes final, the person is released from it by prescription (Articles 31 and 32, item (v)); the three years do not run while its execution is suspended under law or the person is abroad, and an act of execution interrupts them (Articles 33 and 34, paragraph (2)).
Written by AI using Penal Code, Arts. 9, 10, 15, 18, 31 to 34 as a reference.
imprisonment
拘禁刑
The punishment of being held in a penal institution (刑事施設), for life or for a fixed term of one month to twenty years (Penal Code, Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (2)); a fixed term can be raised to thirty years where the punishment is aggravated, or cut below one month where it is reduced (Article 14, paragraph (2)). To help the person reform and rehabilitate, they may be made to do work or given guidance (Article 12, paragraph (3)). It ranks below the death penalty and above a fine (罰金) among the principal punishments (Articles 9 and 10, paragraph (1)). It replaced imprisonment with work (懲役) and imprisonment without work (禁錮) when the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc. (Act No. 67 of 2022) came into force (Act No. 67 of 2022, Article 2), and a person sentenced to either is treated, for the rules on a person's qualifications, as sentenced to imprisonment for the same term (Act No. 68 of 2022, Article 443, paragraph (1)).
Written by AI using Penal Code, Arts. 9, 10, 12, 14, Act No. 67 of 2022, Art. 2 and Act No. 68 of 2022, Art. 443 as a reference.
labor standards inspector
労働基準監督官
An official who carries out the Labor Standards Act, stationed in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Labor Standards Management Bureau (労働基準主管局), in the prefectural labor bureaus and in the labor standards inspection offices (労働基準監督署) (Labor Standards Act, Article 97, paragraph (1)). An inspector may enter and inspect workplaces, dormitories and other associated buildings, demand books and records, and question employers and workers, carrying identification while doing so (Article 101); carries out the duties of a judicial police officer (司法警察官) under the Code of Criminal Procedure for offences against that Act (Article 102); and must not reveal secrets learned on the job, even after leaving it (Article 105). Where the Ministry has set up a Labor Standards Inspector Dismissal Council (労働基準監督官分限審議会), an inspector cannot be dismissed without its consent (Article 97, paragraphs (4) and (5)). A worker may report a violation of the Act to an inspector, and the employer must not dismiss the worker or treat the worker unfavourably for it (Article 104). The Act on Ensuring Wage Payment also has inspectors carry out the duties of a judicial police officer (司法警察員) for offences against it (Act on Ensuring Wage Payment, Article 11), lets them enter workplaces, question people and inspect books and documents to carry it out — a power not granted for criminal investigation (Article 13, paragraphs (1) and (4)) — and lets a worker report an employer's violations of it to them (Article 14, paragraph (1)).
Written by AI using Labor Standards Act, Arts. 97, 101, 102, 104, 105 and Act on Ensuring Wage Payment, Arts. 11, 13, 14 as a reference.