Labor & Employment

Labor and employment: overview

In labor and employment matters, the same event calls for different checks and different options depending on who the other party is — a current employee, a former employee, a recent hire, or a business partner or customer — and on what is at issue: working conditions, information, or conduct.

We act for companies. Our work covers organizing the facts, preserving evidence, dealing with the individual or the other party, court and tribunal proceedings, and responding in administrative procedures. This page points to individual guides according to the situation.

Last updated: September 18, 2026

How we can helpChecking the facts and the rules of employment and employment contracts / organizing the notices and claims received and the deadlines / preserving records / considering the reply and internal measures / responding in negotiations, labor tribunal proceedings and litigation / responding to administrative procedures

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Contents

1. What is the situation?
2. Individual disputes with employees and with customers
3. Information and confidentiality
4. When misconduct is suspected inside the company
5. Related areas
6. Making an inquiry
Key legislation and official sources

1. What is the situation?

Inquiries fall into three broad groups. A disagreement with an employee over working conditions or treatment. Information or confidential material that has left the company, or that has come into it from outside. A suspicion of misconduct inside the company, calling for an investigation or for a response to a report.

The main points to have in order are: the employment category and current status of the employee concerned; what the rules of employment and the employment contract provide; the course of the exchanges so far; any notice or claim received and the date by which a reply is sought; and the records that remain. Depending on the matter, preserving records, limiting further harm and meeting deadlines may need to proceed in parallel.

What follows is not a complete list of labor and employment topics. It sets out the situations for which we have prepared individual guides. The grouping follows the way a matter usually arrives, and one matter can involve more than one guide.

2. Individual disputes with employees and with customers

This group covers disagreements with employees over working conditions or treatment, and excessive demands directed at employees by customers and others. The first is a matter between the parties to an employment contract. The second concerns the measures a company takes in response to conduct by a third party.

Employment Disputes in Japan: A Guide for Employers — the overall picture of disputes with employees, setting out what to check in negotiations, in labor tribunal proceedings and in litigation. Labor tribunal proceedings are a Japanese court procedure for individual employment disputes; cases are heard by a panel comprising a judge and members with experience in labor relations. The four guides below take up the situations from that guide that we are asked about most often.
When a dismissal or a requested resignation is challenged — responding where the validity of a dismissal, or of an agreement to resign, is disputed: the content of the notice and the date by which a reply is sought, handling a certificate stating the reason for the dismissal, wages for the period after dismissal, settlement by agreement, and labor tribunal proceedings.
When employees or former employees claim unpaid overtime pay — checking the content and the basis of the claim, establishing working hours, calculating premium wages, how to reply, and settlement.
When a contractor claims to have been a worker — responding where worker status is disputed: what the contract provides against how the work was actually performed, which legislation applies, and the obligations that arise if the assertion is upheld.
Responding to a request for collective bargaining — checking the written request, the scope of the subjects for bargaining, how the bargaining is conducted, and the procedure if the matter is raised as an unfair labor practice.
Responding to harassment of employees by customers — responding to conduct directed at employees by business partners or customers: checking the facts, measures to secure the working environment for employees, and deciding how to deal with the other party.

More than one of these can arise in a single matter. A former employee may claim unpaid overtime, and an outside union may then request collective bargaining. For changes to individual working conditions, please raise the matter with us separately, as what needs to be checked depends on the facts.

3. Information and confidentiality

Where information and employees are involved, what needs to be checked depends on which way the information moved. We treat information that has left the company separately from information that has come in from another company.

Where a departing employee is suspected of taking information — responding as the company the information was taken from: preserving records, dealing with the former employee, and questions of non-competition and solicitation. This work can begin before it is clear whether the information is a trade secret, starting from what the information is and how it was managed.
When a newly hired employee brings in a former employer's materials — responding as the company that received them: isolating the materials and preserving evidence, examining how far they have spread, deciding whether the work can continue, and replying to the former employer.

In both situations, measures under the employment relationship — disciplinary action, a change of assignment and the like — are considered separately from legal claims over the information itself. For claims over information, see the guides under intellectual property, IT and data.

4. When misconduct is suspected inside the company

Where misconduct by an employee or an officer is suspected, the procedure for establishing the facts and the arrangements for receiving reports run alongside each other as separate questions.

Internal Misconduct Investigations and Response — the arrangements for the investigation, how the facts are established, preserving materials and data, interviews with those concerned, and how the findings are handled, including whether to make them public.
Internal whistleblowing and the amended Whistleblower Protection Act — the arrangements for receiving reports, who is covered, the prohibition on detrimental treatment because of a report, confidentiality, and reviewing the arrangements.

Where an investigation begins with a report, the way the investigation is conducted can itself become an issue later in relation to the protection of the person who made the report. The two guides are best read together.

Responding to a request for a report or to an on-site inspection by an administrative authority is covered in Responding to Regulatory Investigations and Dawn Raids.

Among the information questions that arise with former employees and new hires, claims against a competing company and protection as a trade secret are covered under intellectual property, IT and data. Questions about the liability or the position of a company officer are governed differently from the employment relationship with an employee; see the guide on shareholder and control disputes in unlisted companies.

For worker dispatch, relationships with contractors and orders placed with freelance workers, the rules that apply turn on whether the arrangement is one of employment. Responding where it is asserted that the arrangement is in substance employment is covered by the guide in section 2 above. Where the end of a trading relationship or payment is at issue, see also the guides on termination and non-renewal of business contracts and on payment and pricing in entrusted business transactions.

6. Making an inquiry

We advise companies, other legal entities and their executives on labor and employment matters. Depending on the matter and the scope of the instructions, our work runs from organizing the facts to preserving evidence, dealing with the individual or the other party, labor tribunal proceedings and litigation, and responding in administrative procedures.

Before we hear the details, we check for conflicts of interest and related points. When you first contact us, please give the company name, the position of the other party, and an outline of the situation. We will explain how to send material that identifies individuals after those checks.

Key legislation and official sources

English translations of legislation are provided for reference. The Japanese texts are authoritative.

Where it appears	Legislation	Source type
Rules of employment, the employment contract, wages for the period after dismissal, premium wages (sections 1, 2)	Labor Standards Act（労働基準法）	Japanese legislation / English translation
Dismissal and the validity of a dismissal (section 2)	Labor Contracts Act（労働契約法）	Japanese legislation / English translation
Labor tribunal proceedings (sections 2, 6)	Labor Tribunal Act（労働審判法）	Japanese legislation / English translation
Collective bargaining and unfair labor practices (section 2)	Labor Union Act（労働組合法）	Japanese legislation / English translation
Employment management measures concerning conduct of customers and others (section 2)	Act on Comprehensively Advancing Labor Measures, and Stabilizing the Employment of Workers, and Enriching Workers' Vocational Lives（労働施策の総合的な推進並びに労働者の雇用の安定及び職業生活の充実等に関する法律）	Japanese legislation / English translation
Whistleblowing and the protection of the person reporting (section 4)	Whistleblower Protection Act（公益通報者保護法）	Japanese legislation / English translation / Official guidance
Trade secrets (section 3)	Unfair Competition Prevention Act（不正競争防止法）	Japanese legislation / English translation

Legal information reviewed: 2026-09-18

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Making an inquiry

Please tell us the outline of the situation, any notice you have received and its date, and any deadline you are working to.