Japan’s various policy efforts to ‘improve mandatory employment of the disabled’

A record-breaking achievement in the number and actual employment rate of disabled people employed in private companies in Japan in 2023

Implications of ‘Expanding the scope of companies obligated to employ people with disabilities and creating employment conditions for small businesses’

In Korea, the national and local governments are required to employ 3.8% of disabled people, and employers who employ more than 50 full-time workers on average per month are required to employ 3.1% of disabled people.

Employers who employ more than 100 workers on average per month must pay a levy if they do not comply with this. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s ‘Status of Employment Levy for Persons with Disabilities in Central Administrative Agencies and Public Institutions’, from 2018 to 2022, 55 government ministries and 300 The total amount paid by over 100 public institutions in violation of mandatory employment of the disabled amounts to 194.28 billion won.

Japan is making efforts to increase the statutory employment rate and expand the scope of companies subject to the mandatory employment of the disabled to ensure mandatory employment of the disabled, and in the case of private companies in 2023, both the number of disabled people employed and the actual employment rate reached record highs.

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Policies to improve mandatory employment of the disabled in Japan

Japan’s legal employment rate for mandatory employment of the disabled is 2.3% as of 2023 and is scheduled to be raised to 2.5% from June 2024. In particular, it was announced that the rate of increase would be applied gradually starting from 2024, with the goal of achieving an employment rate of 2.7% for the disabled in 2026.

At the current rate of 2.3%, companies with 44 or more regular workers are obligated to hire disabled people. If the mandatory employment rate rises to 2.5%, companies with 40 or more regular workers will be required to do so, and if it rises to 2.7%, companies with 37.5 or more employees will be required to hire disabled people.

Considering the company’s ability to bear economic burden, the employment payment was targeted at employers with more than 300 full-time employees. However, with the revision of the ‘Employment Promotion Act for Persons with Disabilities’ in 2008, it was reduced from employers with more than 200 full-time employees to employers with more than 100. expanded its scope.

According to the Opinion Paper of the Employment of Disabled Persons Subcommittee of the Employment Policy Department of the Employment Security Department of Japan’s Employment Security Agency (2022), there are many businesses with less than 100 regular workers that do not fully employ persons with disabilities due to lack of know-how in hiring persons with disabilities, and many companies do not achieve an employment rate. More than half. In addition, the employment environment for disabled people in small and medium-sized enterprises is not easy due to the increase in employment insurance premiums and the expansion of health insurance and welfare pension insurance coverage.