# Work and employment — Japanese laws in English — japanlaw.org

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/work. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp.

Japanese employment law in English: working hours, wages, leave, dismissal, safety at work, labour unions and how workplace disputes are settled.

- Work and employment (労働): 26 laws on this topic, each Act (法律) with the orders that go with it — Cabinet Orders (政令) and Ministerial Orders (省令) — listed beneath it, then the laws at home in another topic that this one lists too.
- Each law links to its page; its Markdown twin is the same path under /md. The descriptions are this site's own summaries, not the law's words.
- Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect.

## Laws

- [労働基準法 / Labor Standards Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/labor-standards-act): 昭和二十二年法律第四十九号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-07-17 · 124 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The legal minimum for working conditions: working hours, breaks and days off, leave, wages and notice of dismissal. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/labor-standards-act
  - [労働基準法施行規則 / Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/labor-standards-act-enforcement-ordinance): 昭和二十二年厚生省令第二十三号 · Ministerial Order (省令) · text in force since 2026-04-01 · 110 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A Ministerial Order setting out details that the Labor Standards Act leaves to an Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/labor-standards-act-enforcement-ordinance
- [労働契約法 / Labor Contracts Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/labor-contracts-act): 平成十九年法律第百二十八号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2020-04-01 · 21 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The rules of the individual labor contract: how it is formed and changed, and when a dismissal is void. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/labor-contracts-act
- [短時間労働者及び有期雇用労働者の雇用管理の改善等に関する法律 / Act on Improvement of Personnel Management and Conversion of Employment Status for Part-Time Workers and Fixed-Term Workers](https://japanlaw.org/en/part-time-and-fixed-term-workers-act): 平成五年法律第七十六号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 32 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Balanced treatment for part-time and fixed-term workers: no unreasonable gap in pay and other treatment between them and the employer's workers with a standard employment status, an explanation of any gap on request, a way into standard employment, and help from the director of the prefectural labour bureau in settling disputes. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/part-time-and-fixed-term-workers-act
- [特定受託事業者に係る取引の適正化等に関する法律 / Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators](https://japanlaw.org/en/freelance-act): 令和五年法律第二十五号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2024-11-01 · 26 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Fair dealing for self-employed people and one-person companies with no employees who take on work from businesses: terms stated in writing or electronically, payment on time, no unfair treatment, and a working environment free of harassment, among other rules. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/freelance-act
- [最低賃金法 / Minimum Wage Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/minimum-wage-act): 昭和三十四年法律第百三十七号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2025-06-01 · 42 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. It guarantees low-paid workers a lowest wage, set by the hour, that their employer must pay: one for every region of Japan and, for some businesses or occupations, a higher one. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/minimum-wage-act
- [育児休業、介護休業等育児又は家族介護を行う労働者の福祉に関する法律 / Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members](https://japanlaw.org/en/childcare-and-family-care-leave-act): 平成三年法律第七十六号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 79 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Leave and working arrangements that let a worker raising a child or caring for a family member keep their job: childcare leave, caregiver leave, days off to look after a child or a family member, limits on overtime and night work, shorter hours, and the measures employers must take. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/childcare-and-family-care-leave-act
- [賃金の支払の確保等に関する法律 / Act on Ensuring Wage Payment](https://japanlaw.org/en/wage-payment-act): 昭和五十一年法律第三十四号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2025-06-01 · 21 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Protection for workers' pay when a business fails or a worker leaves: when an employer goes bankrupt or another event a Cabinet Order sets happens, the government pays unpaid wages within a range a Cabinet Order sets; the employer owes interest on wages still unpaid after a worker leaves; and workers' savings an employer holds as deposits must be safeguarded. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/wage-payment-act
- [労働施策の総合的な推進並びに労働者の雇用の安定及び職業生活の充実等に関する法律 / Act on Comprehensively Advancing Labor Measures, and Stabilizing the Employment of Workers, and Enriching Workers' Vocational Lives](https://japanlaw.org/en/labor-measures-act): 昭和四十一年法律第百三十二号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 55 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Sets out the State's labor policy and gives employers a set of duties: equal chances regardless of age in recruitment, reports on the foreign nationals they hire or lose and on large job losses, and measures against harmful conduct at work by someone in a superior position (commonly called power harassment). Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/labor-measures-act
- [雇用の分野における男女の均等な機会及び待遇の確保等に関する法律 / Act on Equal Opportunity and Treatment between Men and Women in Employment](https://japanlaw.org/en/equal-employment-opportunity-act): 昭和四十七年法律第百十三号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 39 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. It bans discrimination by sex at work, from recruitment to dismissal, protects women workers from dismissal for marrying and from dismissal or other disadvantage over pregnancy and childbirth, and makes employers act against sexual harassment at the workplace. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/equal-employment-opportunity-act
- [高年齢者等の雇用の安定等に関する法律 / Act on Employment Security of Elderly Persons](https://japanlaw.org/en/elderly-employment-act): 昭和四十六年法律第六十八号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2022-10-01 · 60 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Keeps older people in work: it sets 60 as the lowest mandatory retirement age as a rule, makes employers whose retirement age is under 65 take measures to keep workers employed until 65, asks employers to try to secure work until 70, and supports older job seekers and retirees, including through Silver Human Resources Centers (シルバー人材センター). Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/elderly-employment-act
- [障害者の雇用の促進等に関する法律 / Act to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with Disabilities](https://japanlaw.org/en/employment-of-persons-with-disabilities-act): 昭和三十五年法律第百二十三号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 117 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. It sets the share of people with disabilities that employers must employ, collects a levy from employers below a benchmark share to fund payments and grants to employers, bans disability discrimination at work and makes employers take measures suited to a person's disability, and organizes vocational rehabilitation. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/employment-of-persons-with-disabilities-act
- [労働者派遣事業の適正な運営の確保及び派遣労働者の保護等に関する法律 / Act on Ensuring the Proper Operation of Worker Dispatching Services and Protecting Dispatched Workers](https://japanlaw.org/en/worker-dispatch-act): 昭和六十年法律第八十八号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 94 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The rules for businesses that send the workers they employ to work under another person's direction and for that person (worker dispatch, 労働者派遣), to keep that business properly run and to protect the dispatched workers and their employment. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/worker-dispatch-act
- [職業安定法 / Employment Security Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/employment-security-act): 昭和二十二年法律第百四十一号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-04-01 · 118 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. How people find work and employers find workers: free job placement by public employment security offices (公共職業安定所), and rules that keep private placement agencies, recruitment, job-information services and worker supply properly run, so that each person has the chance of a job suited to their abilities and industry gets the workers it needs. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/employment-security-act
- [労働関係調整法 / Labor Relations Adjustment Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/labor-relations-adjustment-act): 昭和二十一年法律第二十五号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2016-04-01 · 54 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. How collective labor disputes between employers and workers are prevented and settled: the parties' own duty to settle, help from the Labour Relations Commissions (労働委員会), and limits on strikes and other acts of dispute. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/labor-relations-adjustment-act
- [労働組合法 / Labor Union Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/labor-union-act): 昭和二十四年法律第百七十四号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-06-24 · 91 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The protection of workers' freedom to form labor unions and bargain collectively with employers, with immunity for justifiable union action such as strikes; the unfair labor practices employers must not commit; and the collective agreements unions sign with employers or their organizations. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/labor-union-act
- [個別労働関係紛争の解決の促進に関する法律 / Act on Promoting the Resolution of Individual Labor-Related Disputes](https://japanlaw.org/en/individual-labor-disputes-act): 平成十三年法律第百十二号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2025-06-01 · 22 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. How the state helps settle a dispute between an individual worker and an employer — or between a job seeker and an employer over recruitment and hiring — promptly and properly, in line with its actual circumstances: information and consultation, advice and guidance from the Director of the Prefectural Labour Bureau, and, except for recruitment and hiring, mediation (あっせん) by a Dispute Coordinating Committee. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/individual-labor-disputes-act
- [労働審判法 / Labor Tribunal Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/labor-tribunal-act): 平成十六年法律第四十五号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-05-21 · 36 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. A quick procedure in the district court for a civil dispute between an individual worker and an employer over whether a labor contract exists or another matter of their working relationship: on a party's petition, a panel of one judge and two people with expert knowledge of labor relations tries mediation where a settlement looks possible and, if the dispute is not resolved that way, decides it. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/labor-tribunal-act
- [労働安全衛生法 / Industrial Safety and Health Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/industrial-safety-and-health-act): 昭和四十七年法律第五十七号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 211 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Safety and health at work: what employers must do to prevent workers being injured, falling ill or dying because of their work — the safety and health staff and committees a workplace needs, measures against hazards and medical checkups — and controls on making and supplying machines and chemicals. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/industrial-safety-and-health-act
- [社会保険労務士法 / Act on Public Consultants on Social and Labour Insurance](https://japanlaw.org/en/labor-and-social-security-attorney-act): 昭和四十三年法律第八十九号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 130 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The profession of the labor and social security attorney (社会保険労務士) — the "public consultant on social and labour insurance" of this Act's English title — who handles papers and gives advice under Japan's labor and social insurance Acts: what the labor and social security attorney may do, how one qualifies and registers, their duties and discipline, and their corporations and associations. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/labor-and-social-security-attorney-act
- [女性の職業生活における活躍の推進に関する法律 / Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life](https://japanlaw.org/en/womens-engagement-act): 平成二十七年法律第六十四号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-10-01 · 39 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. What employers and the national and local governments must do so that women who work, or want to, can use their abilities fully at work: action plans with goals in figures, published figures on women at work such as the gender pay gap, and certification for employers that do well. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/womens-engagement-act
- [次世代育成支援対策推進法 / Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children](https://japanlaw.org/en/next-generation-support-act): 平成十五年法律第百二十号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2025-06-01 · 32 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Measures to help children be born and raised in good health as Japan's birth rate falls fast, chiefly through action plans by local governments and by employers, including plans that help workers balance their working and family lives. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/next-generation-support-act
- [公益通報者保護法 / Whistleblower Protection Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/whistleblower-protection-act): 平成十六年法律第百二十二号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-07-17 · 22 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. 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. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/whistleblower-protection-act

## Also on this topic

- [労働者災害補償保険法 / Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/industrial-accident-insurance-act): 昭和二十二年法律第五十号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-07-17 · 98 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The government-run insurance that pays benefits to workers injured, made ill, disabled or killed through their work or on their way to and from work, and to their families, and helps them return to working life. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/industrial-accident-insurance-act
- [雇用保険法 / Employment Insurance Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/employment-insurance-act): 昭和四十九年法律第百十六号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-05-13 · 120 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Japan's public employment insurance (雇用保険): money for workers who lose their job, take training, earn less after 60, take leave to care for family or bring up a child, or work shorter hours for a child, and programs the government can run to keep people in work — grants to employers who keep workers on, help departing workers find new jobs, or hire — and to develop workers' skills, paid for mainly by premiums and the state. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/employment-insurance-act
- [外国人の技能実習の適正な実施及び技能実習生の保護に関する法律 / Act on Proper Technical Intern Training and Protection of Technical Intern Trainees](https://japanlaw.org/en/technical-intern-training-act): 平成二十八年法律第八十九号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2025-06-01 · 115 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The rules under which a person or company in Japan takes on foreign nationals to acquire skills by working for it under a plan the government accredits, the licensed non-profit bodies that arrange and oversee that work, and the protections those foreign nationals have. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/technical-intern-training-act

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