What are the coverage of officers/directors of subsidiary company in Japan for labor insurance and the social insurance system?

How much do companies in Japan pay for labor and social insurance systems?

What restrictions on dismissal are there in Japan?

What are Japan’s employment standards such as wages?

In Japan, freedom of choice of occupation is guaranteed by the Constitution. Accordingly, an agreement that prohibits working for a competitor for a certain period after leaving his/her former employer is only valid if the term, geographical scope, professional field concerned, and similar restrictions are reasonable and commensurate compensation is provided. Regarding trade secrets, both the disclosure of former employers’ trade secrets by workers and questioning by enterprises of workers about such trade secrets are prohibited by law under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. The directors of Kabushiki-Kaisha (joint-stock corporations) terminates upon expiration of their term of office. Moreover, the directors may resign at any time at their own discretion. […]

An employer is only allowed to dismiss an employee if there are objectively reasonable grounds for dismissal, and dismissal is deemed to be appropriate in light of socially accepted ideas. Furthermore, all possible grounds for dismissal must be clearly stated in the work rules if the dismissal of an employee is to be valid. In Japan, moreover, termination of an employment contract by the payment of a certain amount of money is not recognized as a matter of course by law (except where an amicable settlement is reached between the parties concerned). As it is exceedingly difficult to judge the validity of dismissal in concrete cases, it is recommended that […]

Employers must grant 10 days’ paid leave to employees that worked for six consecutive months from the time of hiring and who worked on not less than 80 per cent of all schedule work days. This paid leave may be taken consecutively or separately. Where an employee’s application to take paid leave will hinder the normal business operations, the employer may require the employee to take such paid leave at a different time. The right to annual paid leave expires after two years. In other words, annual paid leave left over from one year may be carried over and taken the next year only. Employees that have been continuously employed […]

Principles of wage payment: employers must pay wages in legal tender, directly to the employee, not less than once per month, and on a specified date. However, employers are allowed to remit wages into a bank account specified by the employee where the employee agrees to that method of payment, and may also deduct social insurance premiums, taxes and similar expenses from wages. The minimum wage is determined according to region and industry. Where an employee is subject to two different minimums, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages. The employer must pay the employee a wage that is not less than the minimum wage. […]

The contractual relationship between a company and directors, etc. is, as a rule, considered to take the form of an engagement agreement as opposed to a labor contract. Accordingly, the relationship is, as a rule, subject to the Companies Act rather than labor law. If a director, etc. does not have the right to represent a company and is employed in a manner very similar to that of a worker, he/she may be simultaneously subject to labor law as a dual worker/director, etc.

Employers are allowed to set a limited period of probation prior to fully employing somebody, so as to see whether or not the probationary employee is able and suitable for the job. Probation periods generally last for about three months. However, it should be noted that if the employer decides not to fully employ somebody during or after the probation period, this refusal to employ is treated in the same manner as dismissal of an employee; in order for such a refusal to be legally allowed, valid reasons for refusal (which were not evident at the time of probationary employment) must have come to light during the period of probation, […]