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Good practice Imported

Japan's Power Harassment Prevention Law — Mandatory Anti-Harassment Policy for Every Employer

Japan · Tokyo · See the Japan profile · See the Tokyo profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 67% 52/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Japan's 2020/2022 law forces every employer to define, prevent and respond to 'power harassment' — but it carries no fines or criminal penalties, and MHLW's own data show bullying/harassment has stayed the country's single largest labour-dispute category for 13 years running.

32.5 %
Employees reporting power harassment (previous 3 years) (2016)
31.4 %
Employees reporting power harassment (previous 3 years) (2020)
87,570
Bullying/harassment Labour Bureau consultations (FY2019)
54,987
Bullying/harassment Labour Bureau consultations (FY2024)
Japan's Power Harassment Prevention Law — Mandatory Anti-Harassment Policy for Every Employer Japan's Power Harassment Prevention Law — Mandatory Anti-Harassment Policy for Every Employer

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)
Period
2020-present
Keywords
labour law, occupational safety, workplace policy, public administration

Context

Japan's 2020 amendment to the Act on Comprehensive Promotion of Labor Measures gave the country its first legal definition of 'power harassment,' mandatory for large employers from June 2020 and SMEs from April 2022.

Activities

Covered employers must adopt a written anti-harassment policy and consultation desk; the law creates no criminal penalties, with MHLW's strongest tool being administrative guidance and public disclosure.

Results

The share of employees reporting power harassment eased slightly from 32.5% (2016) to 31.4% (2020), and Labour Bureau 'bullying/harassment' consultations fell from about 87,570 (FY2019) to 54,987 (FY2024).

Conclusions

Despite the decline, 'bullying/harassment' remained Japan's single most common labour-dispute category for 13 consecutive years through FY2024.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
employer HR/compliance functions, MHLW administrative guidance staff

Conditions for success

  • written anti-harassment policy and consultation desk

Common failure modes

  • no criminal penalties or direct fines
  • remained the top labour-dispute category for 13 consecutive years

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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