What must employers in Japan do to prevent power harassment?

From October 1, 2026, the duty is in Article 31 of the Act on Comprehensive Promotion of Labor Policies and Stabilization of Employment and Enrichment of Workers' Vocational Lives (Rōdō Shisaku Sōgō Suishin Hō, Act No. 132 of 1966), often called the Power Harassment Prevention Act. The Japanese text of the version in force from October 1, 2026 is on e-Gov Laws.

Article 31(1) requires employers to take the measures necessary in employment management, including setting up a system to receive and appropriately respond to consultations from workers, so that workers' working environment is not harmed by workplace behavior based on a superior relationship that exceeds what is necessary and appropriate for the work. Article 31(2) prohibits dismissal or other disadvantageous treatment of a worker who consulted or gave facts while cooperating with the employer's response.

Until September 30, 2026, the same provisions were numbered Article 30-2 (measures) and Article 30-3 (responsibilities of the state, employers and workers). Act No. 63 of 2025 renumbered them to Articles 31 and 32 without changing their text (only the article headings changed), and inserted new customer harassment provisions as Articles 33 and 34. Policies, work rules and training materials written before October 2026 will usually cite the former numbers.

The power harassment provision was added by a 2019 amending Act and took effect on June 1, 2020 for large employers. For small and medium enterprises it was an effort duty until March 31, 2022 and became mandatory on April 1, 2022 (MHLW leaflet for SMEs).

For international readers, the structure matters. The Act states the duty in general terms and directs the Minister to issue a Guideline (shishin). The detail sits in the "Guidelines Concerning Measures to Be Taken by Employers in Terms of Employment Management in Connection with Problems Arising as a Result of Behavior that Constitutes Bullying in the Workplace" (MHLW Notice No. 5 of 2020). MHLW states that employers must implement the measures in the law and guidelines, except items described as desirable (MHLW workplace harassment page).

Workplace power harassment is behavior that meets all three elements in the Act and Guideline: (1) behavior based on a superior relationship (yūetsuteki na kankei wo haikei to shita gendō), (2) that exceeds what is necessary and appropriate for the work (gyōmujō hitsuyō katsu sōtō na han'i wo koeta mono), and (3) that harms the worker's working environment (rōdōsha no shūgyō kankyō ga gaisareru mono). The Guideline states that appropriate work instructions and guidance given within the necessary and appropriate range are not power harassment.

"Superior" does not only mean a boss. The Guideline includes behavior by colleagues or subordinates where the worker cannot easily resist, for example because the colleague has necessary knowledge or experience, or because a group acts together. Whether the working environment is harmed is judged by the standard of the average worker in the same situation.

The Guideline also gives examples that are not power harassment, such as intensive training of a newly hired worker in a separate room for a short period. Training content should cover both sides of the line, because managers need to know that proper instruction is lawful as well as what crosses it.

Employers must take measures in four groups set out in the MHLW Guideline: clarify and communicate the policy, set up a consultation system, respond promptly and appropriately to cases, and take accompanying measures on privacy and retaliation. Article 31(2) separately prohibits dismissal or other disadvantageous treatment because a worker consulted or cooperated in fact finding.

1. Clarify and communicate the policy. Define power harassment and state that it is not allowed, and communicate this to all workers including managers and supervisors. State in the work rules (shūgyō kisoku) or similar documents that perpetrators will be dealt with strictly, and what action will be taken.
2. Set up a consultation desk (sōdan madoguchi). Designate the desk in advance, make it known to workers, and make sure the people staffing it can respond appropriately, including to borderline cases and cases where harassment may occur.
3. Respond promptly and appropriately. Confirm the facts quickly and accurately, take measures for the affected worker, take measures against the perpetrator, and take steps to prevent recurrence. Recurrence prevention applies even when the facts cannot be confirmed.
4. Protect privacy and prohibit retaliation. Protect the privacy of the people involved, which the Guideline says includes sensitive information such as sexual orientation, gender identity, medical history and fertility treatment, and tell workers this. Tell workers they will not be dismissed or disadvantaged for consulting or cooperating.

Host companies must also apply these measures to dispatched workers working under their direction, because the Worker Dispatching Act treats the host as an employer for this purpose. Parallel duties exist for sexual harassment under Article 11 of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, for harassment related to pregnancy, childbirth, childcare and family care leave, and, from October 1, 2026, for customer harassment under Article 33. The Guideline describes a single consultation system that can handle all of them as desirable.

Training is not a stand-alone legal requirement, but it is the method the Guideline names at three points, and employers must communicate the policy by some effective means. The Guideline accepts as evidence of compliance the delivery of training, lectures and similar courses (kenshū, kōshū tō) that explain what power harassment is, its causes and background, and the policy that it must not occur. It also gives training for consultation desk staff on how to respond, training for them on privacy protection, and renewed awareness training as examples of recurrence prevention.

Article 32(2) adds an effort duty (doryoku gimu): employers must endeavor to deepen workers' interest in and understanding of power harassment problems and to ensure they pay necessary attention to their behavior toward other workers, through the implementation of training and other necessary consideration (kenshū no jisshi sono ta no hitsuyō na hairyo). Article 32(3) asks employers themselves (for a corporate employer, its officers) to endeavor to deepen their own understanding. Article 34(2) sets a parallel training effort duty for customer harassment, covering how workers behave toward other employers' workers.

The mapping follows the approach in how to map training to compliance obligations. Treat it as mandatory training for managers in practice, because a manager who cannot distinguish proper instruction from harassment undermines every other measure.

As at October 2026, there is no fine or criminal penalty for failing to take the measures. Under Article 42, the Minister, acting through the Prefectural Labor Bureaus, may give advice, guidance or recommendations, and may publish the name of an employer that violates Article 31(1) or (2) or the customer harassment duties in Article 33(1) or (2) and ignores a recommendation. Under Article 45 the Minister can require reports, and failing to report or reporting falsely is subject to a non-criminal fine (karyō) of up to 200,000 yen (Article 51).

Workers can also use the Prefectural Labor Bureau's dispute resolution assistance and mediation under Articles 36 and 37, which from October 1, 2026 also cover customer harassment disputes, and retaliation for doing so is prohibited. Separately from the Act, an employer can face civil liability to the harmed worker, so the records described below also matter in litigation.

The Act Partially Amending the Act on Comprehensive Promotion of Labor Policies and Related Acts (Act No. 63 of 2025), promulgated on June 11, 2025, took effect on October 1, 2026 under Cabinet Order No. 17 of 2026 (commencement Cabinet Order). Some provisions took effect on April 1, 2026. Three changes affect harassment training.

• Customer harassment is a mandatory measure. Article 33 requires employers to take employment management measures against customer harassment (kasutamā harasumento): behavior by customers, business partners, facility users or others connected with the business that exceeds what is socially acceptable given the nature of the work and harms the worker's working environment. It also prohibits retaliation for consulting and asks employers to endeavor to cooperate when another employer requests help. MHLW Notice No. 51 of 2026 sets the measures, including a policy to respond firmly and protect workers, predefined response procedures communicated to workers, a consultation desk, and a response plan for especially malicious cases (MHLW leaflet).
• Sexual harassment of job seekers is a mandatory measure under Article 13 of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, covering applicants and others such as participants in recruiting activities and trainees on teaching or nursing placements. The Guideline (MHLW Notice No. 52 of 2026) requires rules for interviews and contact to be set and made known in advance (e-Gov text).
• Renumbering. The power harassment articles moved without changes to their wording, as the table shows. Update article references in policies, work rules and training materials.

Keep documents that show each Guideline measure was taken and kept current. A practical set follows.

1. The policy and the work rules provisions on power harassment and discipline, with version history.
2. Records of how the policy was communicated: training completion, intranet posts, distributed materials.
3. The consultation desk designation, how workers were told about it, and training records for desk staff.
4. The response manual, including privacy handling, and evidence desk staff were trained on it.
5. Case files showing fact finding, measures and recurrence prevention steps, stored with restricted access.
6. A dated review showing the materials were updated for the October 1, 2026 changes, including the new article numbers and customer harassment measures.

Completion data alone does not show that managers can tell instruction from harassment, so pair it with scenario based competency assessment. For comparison with other markets, see Australia's positive duty on sexual harassment and psychosocial hazard training requirements.

Knowledge Foundry records each Guideline measure as an obligation, links it to the employer's policy and work rules, and defines role based learning outcomes and assessment points for all workers, managers and consultation desk staff. The obligations cite Articles 31 to 34 as numbered from October 1, 2026, with the former numbers kept as aliases, and the customer harassment measures are linked obligations so affected training can be identified.