Employment Law

We believe that employment-related matters are among the most important challenges that a company can face. In building long-term relationships with our clients, we learn each client's attitude and philosophy on employment issues, and make it our priority to help our clients reach their objectives.



We are also very aware that employment matters can cause a "bottleneck" for a company's management. Our lawyers with specialized expertise in employment and HR issues follow up quickly on clients' questions and requests.




Employment issues often arise in the context of other management issues: corporate, tax, intellectual property, competition law issues, to name but a few. Our employment lawyers collaborate with our lawyers having expertise in the relevant field, in order to provide our clients with a one-stop service.

Advice on HR Issues

Our lawyers with specialized and up-to-date expertise respond quickly to clients' concerns on the kinds of HR issues which frequently arise, including:

◇Dealing with problem employees;
◇Dismissal, encouraging resignations, etc.;
◇Safety, hygiene, workplace injuries, mental health;
◇Employees' personal information;
◇Drafting and review of work rules, employment contracts, and other documents;
◇Establishment of a remuneration system
◇Pension, employee benefits

Support for Foreign-Owned Companies

Ｗe are experienced in the ways that foreign-owned companies approach HR issues, and regularly advise foreign-owned companies on the drafting of work rules, dealing with problem employees, encouraging resignations, dismissals and other HR issues.

Restructuring and Leveraging Human Capital

Plans for restructuring and leveraging human capital often result in issues in the managing of particular employees, e.g., their new positions or assignments, changes in their compensation or benefits, or termination of their contracts. We assist our clients in assessing risks in advance as well as in responding to issues as they arise.

Internal Investigations (Misconduct, Harassment)

We assist clients with interviews, analysis of materials, fact finding, legal assessment, and the formulation of measures to prevent recurrence, depending on the nature of the case and the client's request.

Due Diligence

We have vast experience in many industries in due diligence on issues related to employees and HR administration. We identify the particular issues that are relevant to each client, and advise, among other things, on post-merger integration, employee dispatch and outsourcing.

Dealing with Labor Authorities

We have attorneys who have worked for the labor authorities. We advise clients on governmental investigations, administrative guidance, and dealing with the labor authorities when carrying out new business initiatives.

Labor Unions

Labor union issues must be dealt with promptly by a lawyer with the appropriate knowledge and experience. We have a thorough support system in which we assist clients with legal notices related to labor union activity as well as proceedings of the Labor Relations Commission.

Litigation; Labor Tribunal Proceedings

Our attorneys with extensive experience representing employers in litigation handle all stages of employment-related disputes, including negotiations.

Matters Related to Executives

We handle issues related to directors and officers in various legal and contractual arrangements, such as serving concurrently as a director and as an employee, having the legal status only of an employee, or on secondment. Our practice in investigations of misconduct and harassment includes allegations against directors and officers.

Training for Directors, Officers and Employees

We provide extensive training based on the latest cases that have occurred in other companies.

Publications Related to Employment Law

  • 202504

    How to Succeed in Freelance: A Guide to Communicating Freedom and Harassment

    In the article titled "How to Succeed in Freelance: A Guide to Communicating Freedom and Harassment," Nakano Masayuki, Ishikawa Teppei authored and Matsuda Taiki and Suzuki Riko edited 'Q & A Explanation of the Freelance Law' Publisher: Morning edition page 32 of Nikkei dated March 29, 2025

    Author：
    NAKANO Masayuki　 ISHIKAWA Teppei　 MATSUDA Taiki　 SUZUKI Riko　
  • 202503

    Series／Mental Health Response Based on Case Studies; "Requesting and Ordering Employees to have a medical examination"

    Publisher: Jinji Romu Jitsumu no Q&A April 2025 issue

    Author：
    FUJIWARA Hiroki　 FUKUCHI Takumi　
  • 202502

    Freelance Act Q&A（Sanseido）

    Author：
    NAKANO Masayuki　 ISHIKAWA Teppei　
    Editorial assistant：
    MATSUDA Taiki　 SUZUKI Riko　
  • 202502

    Series／"An article for HR managers on legal issues in HR technology"

    Publisher：Jinji Romu Jitsumu no Q&A

    Author：
    FUJIWARA Hiroki　 SUZUKI Ryusei　
  • 202502

    "An article on ordering employees with disabilities to work overtime"

    Publisher：Roseijiho

    Author：
    KITAGAWA Hiroki　

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Lectures, Seminars and Conferences Related to Employment Law

  • 202502

    "Customer Harassment Measures Training for Department and Store Managers"

    Speaker： FUKUCHI Takumi　

  • 202501

    "Seminar on handling abusive customers"

    Speaker： FUKUCHI Takumi　

  • 202411

    Fujiwara Hiroki and Fukuchi Takumi give a seminar "How Financial Institutions Make Use of Specialists and Highly Skilled Personnel" at Kinzai

    Speaker： FUJIWARA Hiroki　 FUKUCHI Takumi　

  • 202410

    Nakano Masayuki gives a webinar "Getting Ready for the New Freelance Act" at Rodo Shimbun

    Speaker： NAKANO Masayuki　

  • 202311

    Nakano Masayuki gave a webinar on "Dealing with the new Freelancer Protection Act" for Rodo Shimbun

    Speaker： NAKANO Masayuki　

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News Related to Employment Law

  • 202410

    IG Special Counsel Nakano Masayuki appears on NHK October 15 to discuss the growth of casual work arrangements

  • 202208

    A comment by Landry Guesdon appeared in the article "Japan Pushes Businesses to Postpone Mandatory Retirement Ages Amid Declining Workforce" in International Employment Lawyer on July 28.

  • 202204

    11 lawyers of our firm were recognized in The Best Lawyers in Japan 2023.

    Best Lawyers
    ■ Litigation
    TOJI Yoshihiro
    WAKABAYASHI Shigeo
    MOTOMURA Takeshi
    URANAKA Hirotaka

    ■ Product Liability Litigation
    TOJI Yoshihiro

    ■ Insolvency and Reorganization Law
    TAGO Shinya
    URANAKA Hirotaka

    ■ Labor and Employment Law
    TAGO Shinya

    ■ Arbitration and Mediation
    UEDA Atsushi

    ■ Banking and Finance Law
    SAKAMOTO Tomoko

    Best Lawyers - "Ones to Watch"
    ■ Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Law
    KARASAWA Akira
    FUKUCHI Takumi

    ■ Arbitration and Mediation
    SAITO Hiroki

    ■ Privacy and Data Security Law
    HORITA Koji

  • 202202

    Landry Guesdon's comment appears in "Unions push for more flexible working in Japan ahead of labour negotiations" in the February 24 issue of International Employment Lawyer.

  • 201906

    Fujiwara Hiroki's comment was introduced in the article of the Nikkei.

    Fujiwara Hiroki commented as a lawyer specialized in labor laws on an article titled "Practical Rules for Doing Side Business Need to be Established" which appeared in the morning edition of Nikkei newspaper dated May 20, 2019.

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