Social insurance for short-time workers: company size requirement to be lowered in stages from October 2027Social insurance for part-timers will spread bit by bit to small companies
The company size requirement (number of employees) for enrolling short-time workers in social insurance will be expanded in stages from the current 51 or more: 36 or more in October 2027, 21 or more in October 2029, 11 or more in October 2032, and workplaces with 10 or fewer in October 2035.
- Until September 2027Companies with 51 or more employees (current)
- From October 2027Companies with 36 to 50 are also covered
- From October 2029Companies with 21 to 35 are also covered
- From October 2032Companies with 11 to 20 are also covered
- From October 2035Companies with 10 or fewer are also covered
Key points
- Coverage expands to companies with 36 to 50 employees from October 2027, 21 to 35 from October 2029, 11 to 20 from October 2032, and 10 or fewer from October 2035.
- The number of employees is judged by the corporation-wide "current number of persons subject to employees' pension insurance" (number of full-time employees plus employees whose prescribed weekly working hours are at least 3/4 of full-time).
- In principle, companies that constantly exceed the employee threshold are covered. The total number of persons subject to enrollment must be expected to exceed the threshold for 6 months or more in a year.
- Even before becoming covered, a company can enroll short-time workers by applying as a "voluntary specified application workplace" with the Japan Pension Service.
What to do in practice
- Count your company's number of "persons subject to employees' pension insurance" and check at which stage (October 2027 or later) coverage begins.
- Estimate how many short-time workers will be covered, and consider the premium burden and staffing and working-hours plans in advance.
Whether part-time workers can join a company's social insurance also depends on how many people the company has. Today it applies to companies with 51 or more people, but this line will be lowered every few years, and in the end it will reach companies with few people.
Points
- From October 2027, it spreads to companies with 36 or more people.
- After that, in 2029, 2032 and 2035, it spreads bit by bit to smaller companies every October.
- When counting a company's people, you count not only full-time staff but also people who work close to that many hours.
What the words mean
- Company size requirement
- A rule that a company is covered if it has at least a certain number of people.
- Short-time worker
- A part-timer or casual worker who works fewer hours than a full-time employee.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW): MHLW: Application of social insurance to part-time and casual workers (special site on expanding social insurance coverage)
This article summarizes and explains materials published by government agencies and is not advice on any individual case. Rules can change, so for actual procedures and decisions always check the latest original materials and consult professionals such as tax accountants or labor and social security attorneys. English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese versions are translations prepared from the Japanese articles for convenience. If anything differs, the Japanese text and the original source take precedence.