---
title: "Labor Law in Japan — What to Watch When Hiring and Firing"
url: https://memocore.ai/memos/6a5f62aa63d783ad6870933d
project: "Doing Business in Japan"
tags: "japan-business, labor-law"
updated_at: "2026-07-21T12:14:34.265Z"
---

# Labor Law in Japan — What to Watch When Hiring and Firing

Japanese labor law strongly protects employees: a full dismissal is almost impossible without following extensive formal procedures, and violating them lets an employee go to the labor inspection office and win reinstatement while the company faces fines. Practicing entrepreneurs and lawyers unanimously flag this as a systemic feature of doing business in Japan. This section covers two grouped topics: the real-world protection given to employees and the risks around termination, probation periods, fixed-term and haken (temp-agency) contracts, and the legal strategy of a gradual, rules-based dismissal via internal work regulations (shugyo kisoku); and the practical process of hiring a first employee, registering for social insurance, and handling medical checkups, BYOD, and background checks. See: Termination and Contract Risk in Japan; Hiring and Workplace Compliance.