Employment contract
At hiring, state core conditions in writing, including pay, hours, workplace and duties, term, renewal criteria and termination; electronic delivery is subject to employee consent and related conditions. Each workplace regularly employing ten or more workers must prepare, file and communicate rules of employment. Once renewed fixed terms exceed five aggregate years, the worker can generally request conversion to an open-ended contract. A contract label or overseas-parent template does not displace Japanese rules.
Probation
Japan has no universal statutory probation length; three to six months is only a common contractual practice, not a liability-free window. Minimum wage, hours, social insurance, non-discrimination and dismissal constraints still apply. Extension, assessment and termination need pre-defined and reasonable grounds. The limited dismissal-notice exception within the first 14 probation days is not an at-will right.
Hours, rest & overtime
The statutory baseline is eight hours/day and 40/week, with at least 45 minutes’ break above six hours, one hour above eight, and at least one statutory rest day/week or four in four weeks. Statutory overtime or rest-day work requires a filed Article 36 agreement in advance; ordinary limits are 45 hours/month and 360/year, while special clauses remain subject to absolute caps. Minimum premiums are 25% for statutory overtime, 35% for statutory-holiday work and 25% for late night; overtime above 60 hours in a month is 50%, with applicable premiums stacking.
Minimum wage by region
Apply the higher of the prefectural minimum at the actual workplace and any applicable specified-industry minimum; there is no single hourly floor usable nationwide. The FY2025 weighted average is JPY1,121/hour; Tokyo is JPY1,226 from 3 October 2025 and the lowest prefectural level is JPY1,023. The weighted average is not any worker’s legal rate, and monthly salary, probation, foreign nationality or remote status does not avoid the applicable converted minimum. The FY2026 revision was answered on 3 September 2026: weighted average JPY1,177, highest JPY1,280 (Tokyo, effective 1 October 2026) and lowest JPY1,085. Prefectures take effect in sequence between 1 October and 2 December 2026, so there is no single commencement date — budget against each employee’s own prefecture rather than assuming October for all.
Salary & talent supply
Minimum wage is not a professional offer, and a Tokyo sample is not a national median. Benchmark by city or actual remote workplace, job family, seniority, employment type, sample date, base pay, fixed allowances, bonus and total cash. Cross-check live vacancies such as Hello Work with official wage statistics, then separately cost overtime, social insurance and commuting. Data without segmentation and a timestamp is exploratory only.
Payroll, payslip & payment
Wages must be paid in currency, directly, in full, at least monthly and on a fixed date, except deductions authorised by law or a valid labour-management agreement. Payroll ledgers, attendance, overtime, social-insurance standard remuneration, withholding tables, resident-tax notices and bank payments should reconcile line by line; bonuses and retirement payments follow their own event rules. A common month-end/next-month cycle does not change the statutory payment principles.
PIT withholding & social insurance
A corporation is generally a compulsory EPI/EHI workplace, and qualifying workers are covered regardless of nationality; the employer normally files employee enrolment within five days. Employees’ Pension Insurance is 18.3% total, split equally, while health rates vary by insurer, prefecture, age and year. Employment insurance, employer-funded workers’ compensation and 2026 programme items are separate. For general businesses, FY2026 employment insurance totals 13.5 per mille—5 employee and 8.5 employer. Withhold salary income tax using the 2026 tables and declarations, then perform year-end adjustment; resident tax is a separate base and cycle.
Employer-cost calculator scope
The calculator is only a 2026 budgeting approximation using continuous monthly pay for EPI, an approximate Tokyo health rate, employment/workers’ compensation insurance and annualised income/resident tax. It does not model standard-remuneration grades, bonus ceilings, prefectural health/long-term-care rates, the child-support contribution, dependants and insurance deductions, Ko/Otsu withholding columns, year-end adjustment, the prior-year resident-tax cycle, industry workers’ compensation rates or social-security agreements. It is not a payroll, pension-office, tax-office or municipality filing result.
Annual leave
A regular worker with six months’ continuous service and at least 80% attendance receives ten paid annual-leave days, then 11/12/14/16/18 and 20 from 6.5 years; part-time workers receive proportional entitlements. For anyone granted at least ten days, the employer must ensure five are actually taken within one year from the base date, crediting employee-designated and planned leave. Company holidays, public holidays or unpaid sickness absence cannot replace statutory annual leave.
Public holidays & overtime
National holidays are not an automatic uniform set of paid statutory holidays for every private employee. The Labour Standards Act instead requires at least one statutory rest day/week or four in four weeks; company calendars, rules of employment, contracts or collective agreements may make national holidays days off. Only work on a statutory holiday triggers the minimum 35% premium; work on a company-only day off becomes statutory overtime according to accumulated hours. Do not label every calendar red day as double pay.
Family & medical leave
There is no universal statutory quota of employer-paid sick leave for all workers; company sickness leave, annual-leave use and unpaid absence should be separate in the rules. Work is prohibited for six requested prenatal weeks (14 for multiple births) and generally eight postnatal weeks. Birth-time childcare leave permits up to four weeks within eight weeks after birth, split twice; childcare/family-care leave, child-care leave and 2025 expanded measures have separate eligibility, notice and benefits. Leave rights, employer pay, health-insurance benefits and employment-insurance benefits are not interchangeable.
Statutory & market benefits
Minimum wage, overtime, annual leave, social/labour insurance and applicable childcare/family-care measures are not optional benefits. A 13th salary, fixed bonus, retirement allowance, private medical, housing and commuting allowance are not universally statutory, but a contract, work rules, collective agreement or established practice can make them payable. Do not collapse total EPI, health insurance, employee deductions and employer cost into one fixed “about 15%” number.
Termination & disputes
A dismissal is invalid if it lacks objectively reasonable grounds and is not socially acceptable, and dismissal grounds must appear in the rules of employment. Even with grounds, normally give at least 30 days’ notice or average pay for the shortfall; protected maternity and occupational-injury periods have additional restrictions. Japan has no universal statutory severance for every dismissal, but contracts, work rules, retirement plans, collective agreements or settlements may create payment. Paying 30 days does not itself create a right to dismiss.
Contractor classification
Worker status follows actual subordination and control, not a gyomu-itaku/consultant label, invoice or personal company. Examine directions, time/place constraints, substitution, whether pay rewards labour, tools and business risk, exclusivity and organisational integration. If the facts establish employment, wages, overtime, leave, tax/social insurance and workers’ compensation can be owed. Genuine freelancers may separately fall under the transaction-protection regime effective in 2024.
Foreign workers
Company registration, shareholding/directorship, an offer, COE or visa application does not itself confer work authority. Before work starts, verify granted status, period, permitted activities, any permission outside status, and consistency with the real job, employer and workplace; Temporary Visitor status cannot work. Except statutory exclusions such as Diplomatic, Official and Special Permanent Resident, employers report foreign hires and departures to Hello Work. For employment-insurance members, deadlines generally follow enrolment by the 10th of the next month and loss within ten days after departure; non-members are generally due by the end of the following month.
Recruiting channels
Requirements and screening should relate to the actual job and avoid unlawful sex/family-status discrimination or irrelevant nationality/age shortcuts. Hello Work can advertise roles and test local supply, but one platform’s traffic is not a success rate. Track a dated funnel by city, job family, Japanese/professional skill, source, qualified rate, time to hire, cost and retention. Verify recruitment-agency licensing, fee payer and candidate documents, and keep advertised conditions aligned with written employment terms.
Retirement age
Where an employer sets mandatory retirement, it generally cannot be below 60. An employer with retirement below 65 must secure work to 65 for willing employees by raising/abolishing retirement or using continued employment. Measures to secure opportunities from 65 to 70 are an effort obligation, not an automatic fixed employment contract to 70 for everyone. Retirement age, pension eligibility, contract ending, re-employment terms and retirement allowance are separate questions.
Employment compliance calendar
Before hiring: written terms, status/permission outside status, workplace minimum wage, and social/employment-insurance eligibility. After hire, file applicable EPI/EHI within five days and foreign-worker reporting by the insurance-based deadline. Monthly: attendance, Article 36 capacity, pay, withholding, social insurance and resident tax. Annually: review work rules, minimum wages, 2026 tax tables, insurance rates, year-end adjustment, salary reports, the five-day annual-leave control and health checks. At exit: grounds/process, 30-day notice or allowance, final pay, social/employment-insurance loss, foreign departure report and status follow-up; retain owner, due date and receipt for every control.