Asked to resign in Japan? What to check before you sign

Can you refuse a request to resign?

• A request to resign is a proposal by the employer that you leave. Unless you agree, it has no effect on your employment.
• A dismissal is a unilateral act by the employer ending the contract, and it is invalid if it lacks objectively reasonable grounds and is not considered appropriate in general social terms (Labour Contract Act, Art. 16). Because dismissal is a high hurdle for employers, a request to resign often comes first.
• If you are told "if you don't submit a resignation, you will be dismissed", whether the employer actually dismisses you, and whether that dismissal would be valid, are separate questions. If you have already been told you are dismissed, see Fired in Japan? What to do next and our guide "Unfair Dismissal in Japan — Advice for Employees".
• On a fixed-term employment contract, refusing a request to resign does not by itself guarantee renewal when the term ends (Employment contract not renewed in Japan?).
• Once a valid resignation or termination by mutual agreement is in place, the way to contest the end of your employment changes from a dismissal case. The meaning of any document you submitted, and whether an agreement was formed and is valid, need to be examined (section 6).

Is pressure to resign in Japan the same as constructive dismissal?

"Constructive dismissal" as understood in English-speaking jurisdictions and the Japanese concepts of a request to resign and unlawful pressure to resign are not the same. If you resign under pressure, Japanese law does not automatically treat that as a dismissal.

When does pressure to resign become unlawful?

• Proposing that you resign is not in itself unlawful. However, not only the method but also the reasons and the way people are selected can be a problem. Discriminating on the ground of sex in requesting resignation is prohibited (Act on Equal Opportunity in Employment, Art. 6(iv)), and there are separate rules against forcing someone to resign because of pregnancy, childbirth or childcare leave.

• As to method, a request to resign carried out in a way that goes beyond what is socially acceptable can be unlawful pressure to resign and give rise to damages. The factors courts have considered start with whether there was conduct that interfered with your free decision or attacked your dignity or reputation; more concretely, the number and duration of approaches (including repeating them after a refusal), the length of meetings and number of people present, what was said (insults, threats, pressure using private circumstances such as hinting at consequences for your family), work-related detriment (removing duties or isolating you without a genuine business need, hinting at demotion or pay cuts), and continuing after a clear refusal. Being approached again after a refusal does not by itself make the conduct unlawful. What matters is whether the request, including any new terms and the need for explanation and negotiation, has become one that interferes with your free decision.
• Transfers, demotions or removal of duties after you refuse can be challenged as an abuse of personnel authority or as unlawful conduct forcing you out, depending on their basis, business necessity, purpose and the degree of detriment; but not every personnel measure after a refusal is unlawful.

• If you are pressured to resign because of your status of residence: your employer cannot decide to revoke your status of residence. However, the effect of resigning on renewing your status and on future work depends on your status and your activities. Do not rely on the company's explanation; check with the Immigration Services Agency or a qualified immigration specialist (for what to check, see Fired in Japan?). An employer filing a notification it is legally required to make is not, by itself, unlawful pressure. If you are told the company "will not cooperate with your extension of period of stay", record exactly which documents or procedural cooperation are being refused. Before your period of stay expires, show your current employment and work situation and the documents and history you have to the Immigration Services Agency or a qualified specialist and confirm what you need to do. Handle the two tracks in parallel: the pressure to resign itself (an employment issue) with an employment adviser, including our firm, and the immigration procedure with the Immigration Services Agency or an immigration specialist. We do not handle immigration procedures ourselves, but we can refer you to a specialist if you wish.

• There is no fixed threshold — a number of meetings or a number of hours — that decides unlawfulness; the whole sequence of events is assessed. Also, whether the conduct was unlawful and gives rise to damages is a separate question from whether your resignation can be set aside. If the requests continue after you have clearly refused, say so in writing (email) and keep a record.

What to check before agreeing to resign

• You do not have to answer on the spot. It is fine to say: "This is an important decision. Please give me the terms in writing, and time to consider them."
• Terms to check: the end date of employment; the amount and payment date of any retirement allowance (taishokukin) and special additional payment; treatment of unused paid leave; bonuses, incentives and equity compensation; the stated reason for separation; outplacement support; a reference; confidentiality, non-disparagement and non-compete obligations; and whether there is a release or waiver of claims (a clause by which you give up claims against the company).
• A reply deadline is not in itself unlawful. However, a very short deadline, combined with what was explained and said, can amount to pressure that interferes with your free decision. You can ask for more time, but there is no rule that guarantees a set period. Asking for an extension does not by itself extend the deadline. After the deadline, the same terms may no longer be available.

• An agreement to leave can be formed orally or by email, without a signature. On the other hand, a fragment of a reply does not by itself amount to acceptance; the proposal and the whole exchange are examined. If you have not agreed and are still considering, say so clearly (that you are considering and have not agreed to resign). Sending an email later saying you do not agree does not, by itself, undo an agreement that has already been formed.
• If you cannot understand a Japanese document, ask for an explanation in a language you understand, a translation or interpreter, and time to consider, and do not sign or agree until you have checked the content (not being able to read Japanese does not by itself make an agreement void).

Preserve records of meetings and messages

• Note the date, time, place, attendees and what was said at each meeting, in chronological order, on the same day. Keep emails and documents from the company to the extent you can lawfully obtain and retain them (be careful about confidential information, third parties' personal data and internal rules).
• A recording of a meeting you take part in can be evidence of what was said. However, whether the way you recorded it was lawful, and whether any disciplinary action the company takes over the recording is valid, are assessed separately. A rule prohibiting recordings does not by itself make disciplinary action valid (Labour Contract Act, Art. 15). If you keep a recording, keep the unedited data. Providing it to an adviser as evidence and publishing it on social media are different matters.

Unemployment benefits after a request to resign

• Under the employment insurance criteria, a person who leaves because the employer, directly or indirectly, urged them to resign is included among "specified qualified recipients" (tokutei jukyu shikakusha). Whether you actually qualify is decided by Hello Work after checking how the request was made. If you do, the benefit-restriction period for voluntary resignation does not apply. You do not need to prove that the request was unlawful or that it was legally a dismissal. Applying to an early retirement incentive scheme that the company has operated on a standing basis is not necessarily treated the same way; show Hello Work the scheme's terms and what actually happened. For eligibility, the waiting period and when payments arrive, see the unemployment benefits section of Fired in Japan?.
• Recording the history of the request to resign in the agreement is useful, but agreeing to call it a "company-initiated" separation does not by itself fix your benefit category. Check what the separation notice (rishoku-hyo) says and, if it is inaccurate, raise it with Hello Work.
• Submitting a resignation letter does not automatically make your separation "voluntary". Evidence that the company asked you to resign is relevant to the assessment.

Already signed, submitted a resignation, or agreed to leave?

• The title of the document — "taishoku-todoke" (notice of resignation) or "taishoku-negai" (request to resign) — does not tell you whether it can be withdrawn. Its content and how it was submitted determine whether it is a unilateral resignation, an offer to end employment by mutual agreement, or your acceptance of the company's proposal.
• A unilateral resignation cannot, as a rule, be withdrawn once it has reached the company. An offer to leave by mutual agreement can sometimes be withdrawn before the company accepts it and the agreement is formed. The absence of the company's signature or of a formal personnel order does not settle whether an agreement has been formed. There is no rule that lets you withdraw freely up to the end date.

• Challenging a resignation or agreement to leave on grounds of mistake, fraud or duress (Civil Code, Arts. 95 and 96) is different from withdrawing it. Courts have set aside resignation statements in cases involving mistake or unlawful threats, including mistake cases under the former law. Being asked to resign is not, by itself, enough. Seek legal advice promptly.
• There may also be cases where no agreement to leave was formed. Invalidity may arise from a lack of mental capacity, or where you knowingly made a resignation statement without intending to resign and your employer knew, or could have known, this. Merely agreeing to leave reluctantly is not enough for the latter ground. These issues are distinct from withdrawal or cancellation.
• If you leave before a fixed-term contract ends, distinguish termination by agreement with the company from a unilateral resignation. In the latter case, apart from whether you can withdraw it, you also need to check whether and when you can end the contract under its terms and the law.
• If you want to withdraw, tell the company promptly, keep a record of that communication, and seek legal advice at the same time. That communication alone does not necessarily make the withdrawal or rescission effective.
• When you seek advice, bring not only the documents but also a record of whom you replied to, when and how, what the company replied, and any later exchanges or payments received.

• A release or waiver of claims is a clause under which you give up claims within a defined scope, or confirm that no claims remain. Unpaid overtime and similar claims can be covered even if they are not listed individually. Beyond the scope of the clause, how it was explained and negotiated, and whether a waiver of wage claims can be regarded as based on your free will, are also relevant. For the details, see the severance article.

Already signed or submitted a resignation? Ask us to review your options.

Terminology used in this article

• resignation — the employee ending the contract (the English title of a document does not decide whether it is a resignation or a mutual agreement)
• request to resign (taishoku kansho) — a proposal from the employer that you are not obliged to accept
• termination by mutual agreement — goi taishoku ("mutual separation" may appear as a company term)
• voluntary redundancy scheme — limited to voluntary departure programmes for workforce reduction; a general scheme is a voluntary departure scheme; an early retirement incentive scheme is separate
• release or waiver of claims — seisan joko (kept separate from agreement to end employment)
• withdrawal — tekkai (what is withdrawn, and when); challenge the validity / seek to set aside = rescission or nullity (kept separate from withdrawal)
• unlawful pressure to resign — taishoku kyoyo ("forced to resign" describes a situation; "constructive dismissal" is not used as a translation)

Related articles

• What is in the package: Severance pay in Japan
• PIP: Put on a PIP in Japan?
• Told you are dismissed: Fired in Japan? What to do next
• Is the dismissal valid, and how to contest it: Unfair Dismissal in Japan — Advice for Employees (existing guide)

Get advice before agreeing to resign — We review the proposed terms and what has happened, and set out your options before you agree.

References

• Labour Contract Act, Art. 16 (validity of dismissal) and Art. 15 (validity of disciplinary action over a recording; not a provision on the lawfulness of recording itself)
• Civil Code, Art. 522(2) (no formal requirements for agreements; different if signature is made a condition), Arts. 523 and 525 (withdrawal and lapse of offers with and without an acceptance period), Art. 95 (mistake; nullity under the former law; mere regret does not qualify), Art. 96(1) (fraud and duress; a request to resign or a reluctant resignation is not enough), Art. 93(1) (a statement not reflecting true intention is void where the other party knew or could have known), Art. 3-2 (nullity for lack of mental capacity), Art. 628; Labour Standards Act, Art. 137 (resignation during a fixed term)
• Reference cases on the validity of resignation statements (with limits): Fuji Xerox case (Tokyo District Court, 30 March 2011, Rodo Hanrei No. 1028, p. 5: resignation void for mistake under the former Art. 95 where the employee believed he would otherwise be validly dismissed for misconduct); Nishimura case (Osaka District Court, provisional order, 17 October 1986, Rodo Hanrei No. 486, p. 83; Hanrei Times No. 632, p. 240: resignation set aside for duress); Iwami Kotsu case (Hiroshima High Court, Matsue Branch, 26 October 1973, Kominshu Vol. 26 No. 4, p. 431; Hanrei Jiho No. 728, p. 54: resignation set aside for duress on its particular facts); Showa Women's University case (Tokyo District Court, provisional order, 6 February 1992, Rodo Hanrei No. 610, p. 72: resignation void as not reflecting true intention, known to the employer)
• Act on Equal Opportunity in Employment, Art. 6(iv) (no sex discrimination in requesting resignation) and Art. 9(3); Child Care and Family Care Leave Act, Art. 10
• Guidelines on employment management of foreign workers, Part IV, 5(6)(b) (efforts to assist with immigration procedures)
• Hello Work, "Scope of specified qualified recipients and specified-reason leavers", 2(11) (separation following the employer's request to resign)
• Hoei case (Tokyo District Court, 4 February 1997, Hanrei Jiho No. 1595, p. 139); Okuma Tekkosho case (Supreme Court, Third Petty Bench, 18 September 1987, Rodo Hanrei No. 504, p. 6); Singer Sewing Machine case (Supreme Court, Second Petty Bench, 19 January 1973, Minshu Vol. 27 No. 1, p. 27); Toa Paint case (Supreme Court, Second Petty Bench, 14 July 1986, Shumin No. 148, p. 281; Rodo Hanrei No. 477, p. 6); Shimonoseki Commercial High School case (first instance, Hanrei Jiho No. 759, p. 4; Hanrei Times No. 322, p. 275; Supreme Court, First Petty Bench, 10 July 1980, Shumin No. 130, p. 131; Rodo Hanrei No. 345, p. 20)
• MHLW guidelines on workplace harassment (power harassment), 2(7)(c) and (e)

This article is general information, not legal advice on your situation. Figures and procedures are as at the time of writing and may change. We do not handle applications, changes or notifications concerning status of residence; if you wish, we can refer you to a specialist who handles immigration matters.

Contact

Request a consultation in English

Tell us your employer's name, your reply deadline and what has happened. We check for conflicts of interest first and reply within one to three business days.

Request a consultation in English

Sending the form does not by itself engage us for negotiation or proceedings. Please do not send confidential company material until we have confirmed that we can act for you.

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice on any specific matter. Please consult us regarding your specific situation. The content is based on the laws and regulations in effect as of the date of the last update.