PUBLISHED AUGUST 20266 MIN READLSA · EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT · HEALTH INSURANCE ACT
WHICH SCHEME, THEN WHICH OFFICECOVERAGE SPLITS TWO WAYS BEFORE IT REACHES AN AGENCY
STATUTORY UMBRELLA TERM
労働保険Labor Insurance
Industrial Accident Compensation労災保険
OFFICE Labour Standards Inspection Office 労働基準監督署
Employment Insurance雇用保険
OFFICE Public Employment Security Office ハローワーク
EMPLOYER-PRACTICE GROUPING
社会保険Social Insurance
Health Insurance健康保険
OFFICE Japan Pension Service branch — or the Health Insurance Society, where one applies
Employees’ Pension Insurance厚生年金保険
OFFICE Japan Pension Service branch 年金事務所
Japan does not route employment-related filings through a single local authority. The first question is not "which office?" but "which legal scheme?"
For employer administration, the system is easiest to understand as two practical families. Labor Insurance (労働保険) is a statutory umbrella term covering Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance and Employment Insurance. Health Insurance and Employees’ Pension Insurance are commonly grouped together in employer practice as "Social Insurance" (社会保険).
1
The two families
労働保険 / 社会保険
労働保険 · LABOR INSURANCE
Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance 労災保険 → Labour Standards Inspection Office. Employment Insurance 雇用保険 → Public Employment Security Office (Hello Work).
社会保険 · SOCIAL INSURANCE (employer-practice usage)
Health Insurance 健康保険 and Employees’ Pension Insurance 厚生年金保険 → Japan Pension Service branch office. Where a Health Insurance Society applies, health-insurance procedures go to the society while pension remains with JPS.
Terminology warning — "social insurance" does not translate cleanly. In employer payroll and HR administration, 社会保険 commonly refers to Employees’ Health Insurance and Employees’ Pension Insurance. The term may be used more broadly in other Japanese legal and policy contexts.
2
The three offices
CHARACTER · GOVERNING LAW · PRIMARY UNIT
労働基準監督署 Labour Standards Inspection OfficeEnforcement. Inspectors conduct on-site inspections and examine records; for serious violations they exercise judicial police powers and may refer cases to prosecutors. Labour Standards Act · Industrial Safety and Health Act · Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.
ハローワーク Public Employment Security OfficeEmployment services & Employment Insurance. Job placement; Employment Insurance procedures including job applicant benefits, childcare leave benefits and nursing care leave benefits; employer support measures. Employment Security Act · Employment Insurance Act.
年金事務所 JPS branch officeCoverage & contributions. Workplace and insured-person coverage, remuneration reporting and contribution administration for Employees’ Pension Insurance and, where applicable, Employees’ Health Insurance. Health Insurance Act · Employees’ Pension Insurance Act.
3
Enrolment is tested per scheme
加入対象は制度ごと
One worker can be inside one scheme and outside another on the same day. Enrolment cannot be held as a single yes/no value — it needs one determination per scheme.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR POLICY
The unit is not the company.
The applicable unit depends on the procedure: workplace for labor-standards filings, covered business for accident insurance, covered undertaking for employment insurance, and applicable place of business for pension and health insurance — where two or more may be treated as one only with statutory approval.
WHO WRITES THESE
Wakana Chiba, Tokutei Sharoushi
Licensed Labor and Social Security Attorney in Japan
Wakana Chiba is a Tokutei Sharoushi — a nationally qualified and registered Labor and Social Security Attorney in Japan. She advises employers on Japanese employment law, workplace rules, working time, employment documentation, and labor and social insurance procedures, translating complex statutory requirements into policies and operations that work in practice.
Legal analysis and review of Japanese primary sources are performed by Wakana Chiba. English terminology is checked against the Japanese Law Translation Database and official MHLW materials. While AI may be used to draft initial texts, all published conclusions have been reviewed by the author.
TSUKURU-HR.COM / GLOBAL · COOKIE POLICYSTATUTORY POSITION AS OF AUGUST 2026 · GENERAL INFORMATION, NOT LEGAL ADVICE
