TL;DR * Japan is moving from lifetime employment to flexible, mobile careers, backed by new laws and policy. * Key reforms: promotion of job changes, guidelines for side jobs, mandatory disclosure of job-scope changes, and heavy investment in reskilling. * Employers must aggregate working hours across multiple jobs, manage health risks, and

TL;DR * Japan’s Supreme Court (11 Jul 2023) held that forcing a transgender METI employee to use distant restrooms was an unlawful abuse of discretion, stressing dignity and concrete evidence over abstract “discomfort.” * Employers’ general duty to maintain a safe, non-discriminatory workplace now clearly covers gender-identity accommodation; blanket bans

TL;DR * Japan’s Part-Time & Fixed-Term Employment Act bars “unreasonable disparities” in pay and benefits versus comparable regular staff. * Supreme Court precedent (Nagasawa 2018; Nagoya Driving School 2023) shows courts will dissect each pay component and negotiation history—simple percentage cuts post-retirement are risky. * Employers must document duty differences,

TL;DR * Japan’s Freelance Protection Act (“FPA”) takes effect 1 Nov 2024, covering all B2B freelance engagements and imposing stricter rules for larger clients. * Key duties: upfront written terms, 60-day payment cap, bans on abusive revisions, 30-day notice for long engagements, and anti-harassment obligations. * Enforcement is split: JFTC/SMEA

TL;DR * Japanese “Duty of Care” (Labor Contracts Act Art.5) extends overseas when staff are on trips, postings, or secondments arranged from Japan. * Even with a foreign governing-law clause, Japanese mandatory protections often still bite. * Employers must risk-assess destinations, brief staff, secure medical/security support, and maintain real-time crisis

TL;DR * Japanese courts kept a high bar for dismissal and struck down a retaliatory long-distance transfer in 2023. * Employers are liable for overwork injuries even when total hours stem from side-jobs they know (or should know) about. * Non-renewal of fixed-term staff and refusal to grant indefinite conversion face strict

TL;DR * Harassment risks in Japan’s entertainment industry stem from power gaps, precarious freelance work and high-pressure sets. * The Power Harassment Prevention Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Act and 2024 Freelancer Protection Act oblige studios and agencies to prevent, investigate and remedy harassment. * Effective compliance requires clear policies, project-based training,

TL;DR * Japan applies a multi-factor test—freedom to refuse work, control, exclusivity, remuneration type, etc.—to decide if an entertainer is an LSA “worker.” * Recent cases show emerging talent is often deemed employees, while established stars may remain independent contractors. * Classification drives wage, overtime, social-insurance and training-cost obligations, so

TL;DR * From 1 Apr 2024 Japan extended strict overtime caps to construction, drivers and doctors, ending a 5-year grace period and creating the “2024 Problem.” * Labour-shortage sectors now face capped hours (e.g., 960 h/year for drivers) plus tougher rest-interval and record-keeping duties. * Businesses must redesign schedules, raise

TL;DR * A 2024 Supreme Court ruling confirms that explicit or implicit job-scope or location limits override an employer’s general transfer right. * If such an agreement exists, the employer lacks authority to order an out-of-scope transfer unless the employee consents. * Employers must craft clear contracts, seek genuine consent, or

TL;DR: Japan is tightening rules on indirect discrimination while launching a Freelance Protection Act that mandates clear contracts, 60-day payment and anti-harassment duties. Employers must audit “neutral” policies for disparate impact and overhaul freelancer onboarding by November 2024. Table of Contents 1. Introduction: Navigating Japan's Evolving Labor

TL;DR: Japan’s DBS Law obliges child-facing businesses to run criminal-record checks and take “necessary measures.” Employers must integrate these checks into hiring, transfers, and dismissals while balancing privacy and strict labor-law protections. Failure to act invites liability and reputational harm. Table of Contents 1. The Legal Framework: A

TL;DR: Japan’s new DBS Law mandates or enables criminal-record checks for people working with children. “School Establishments” must run checks and take “necessary measures,” while private providers may opt in via certification. Employers face new hiring, reassignment, and data-handling duties—failure risks administrative orders and reputational damage. Table

TL;DR: Japan’s Supreme Court (Shiga Prefecture Council of Social Welfare, 2024) ruled that any explicit or implicit agreement limiting an employee’s job scope bars employers from ordering transfers outside that scope without consent—regardless of business necessity. The decision cements job-type principles and forces companies to rethink

TL;DR: Japan’s Supreme Court (Hagoromo Gakuen, 2024) upheld a university’s use of the 10-year conversion rule for fixed-term faculty, relaxing the interpretation of “positions requiring diverse personnel.” Employers can rely on the longer threshold—but only with documented justification tied to Ninkihō Article 4. Table of Contents