Labor and Employment Compliance

Violation of labor and employment laws by an employer in Japan can give rise to significant liabilities, both reputational and financial. Employers and their officers and employees can be subject to criminal penalties for violation of those laws. Authorities such as the Labor Bureaus and Labor Standards Inspection Offices have the authority to monitor employers’ compliance with labor and employment laws, and can issue instructions for corrective action and disclose the name of a company violating those laws. For this reason, even when reviewing a single labor contract or employee handbook, extreme caution is necessary to ensure that no violations of laws exist. Such advice cannot be given without correct understanding of the laws, as well as numerous administrative circulars issued by the authorities and court precedents showing how the laws should be interpreted. Atsumi & Sakai has vast experience in the field of labor and employment laws and provides advice and assistance to multinational client companies so that they can do business in Japan while complying with Japanese laws.