First Hire in Japan Brings Insurance and Compliance Deadlines

Published: 2026.09.24

Hiring a first employee in Japan can put a company on filing deadlines within days. The employer must also document working conditions and prepare for payroll deductions, timekeeping, medical examinations and, for foreign staff, immigration-related checks.

Employment terms must be documented before work starts

Before work begins, an employer must disclose core terms including the contract period, work location, duties, scheduled hours, holidays, pay and termination conditions. Japan’s Labour Standards Act requires important conditions to be provided in writing. Electronic disclosure is permitted when the statutory conditions are met and the worker agrees.

Japan expanded the disclosure rules in April 2024. Employers must now state the potential scope of changes to the workplace and job duties. Depending on the contract, fixed-term staff may also need information on renewal limits, opportunities to request indefinite employment and the terms that would apply after conversion. Older templates may no longer be complete.

A notice of working conditions, commonly called a rodo joken tsuchisho, meets the employer’s disclosure duty. A koyo keiyakusho, or employment agreement, records the parties’ consent. One document can perform both functions, but its title and signatures do not excuse missing mandatory terms.

Labor insurance can begin with one worker

Japan uses labor insurance as an umbrella term for workers’ compensation and employment insurance. Except for limited cases in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, employing even one worker generally brings a business into the system. Job labels such as full time, part time or hourly do not determine coverage.

Coverage arises by law when employment begins. The employer generally must submit a notice establishing the insurance relationship within 10 days. Late filing can lead to retroactive premiums. If an accident occurs during an unregistered period caused by intent or gross negligence, the government may also seek reimbursement of some or all benefit costs.

Employment insurance has a separate eligibility test. It generally covers a person scheduled to work at least 20 hours a week who is expected to remain employed for at least 31 days. Workers’ compensation is broader and generally covers part-time and hourly staff, with the employer paying the premium.

Social insurance adds an employer cost

Health insurance and Employees’ Pension Insurance operate separately from labor insurance. Corporate workplaces are generally subject to mandatory coverage, and eligible employees must be enrolled. A newly covered workplace must file with the Japan Pension Service within five days of becoming subject to the system.

The employee’s payroll deduction covers only part of the cost. The company also pays an employer contribution and must build withholding, reconciliation and payment into payroll from the first cycle. A change in contracted hours can require another eligibility review.

Pay and hours require records from day one

Japan sets regional minimum wages by prefecture, and the applicable rate generally follows the workplace. Part-time, temporary and probationary labels do not permit a lower rate unless an authorized exception applies.

Before assigning work beyond statutory hours or on statutory holidays, an employer generally must conclude an agreement under Article 36 and file it with the labor standards office. Premium pay remains due, and the agreement does not remove statutory limits on overtime. Records should show when work starts and ends and when breaks are taken.

Medical examinations apply before a business gets large

Employers generally must arrange a medical examination when hiring a worker who will be employed on an ongoing basis, subject to a limited exception for a recent qualifying examination. A periodic examination is then normally required once a year, and individual records must be kept for five years.

Formal work rules become mandatory at a later threshold. A workplace that regularly employs 10 or more workers must prepare rules of employment, seek an employee-side opinion and file the rules with the labor standards authority. Smaller businesses can still benefit from written policies covering attendance, leave, pay and confidentiality before headcount rises.

Foreign hires bring an immigration check

Before assigning duties to a foreign national, the employer should inspect the residence card or passport and confirm that the work falls within the person’s status of residence. Signing an employment agreement does not authorize work outside that permitted scope.

Employers must also report the hiring and departure of foreign workers, except diplomats, officials and special permanent residents. For a worker covered by employment insurance, the insurance filing also serves as the foreign-worker notification, with hiring information due by the 10th of the following month. A separate form for a worker outside employment insurance is due by the end of the following month.

The start date should drive the compliance calendar

A small company can manage the process through one onboarding schedule built around the employee’s start date. It should track the agreed terms, insurance status, filing deadlines, working-time records, medical examination and any residence-status review. Changes to hours, pay, duties or work location should prompt another check.

Hiring budgets should include employer insurance contributions, medical examinations and administrative work in addition to salary. Identifying the required filings before the employee starts reduces the risk of missed deadlines and retroactive corrections.