MHLW consultation session on November 6; apply by 5 p.m. on October 30A help session on getting your company's own skills test approved by the state
On October 26, 2026 (Reiwa 8), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced the third on-site consultation session of FY2026 on the organisation-based skills certification system, to be held on November 6, 2026 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The venue is the 3rd floor of the West Building of Hotel Grand Hill Ichigaya in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, with a parallel online webinar. It is open to companies and organisations that already run their own skills certification for workers or are considering setting one up, and attendance is free. Part 1 explains the system (about 30 minutes) and Part 2 offers individual consultations (about 90 minutes). The application deadline is 5:00 p.m. on October 30.
- October 26, 2026MHLW announces the session (third of the fiscal year)
- October 30, 2026, 5:00 p.m.Deadline to apply to attend
- November 6, 2026, 2:00-4:00 p.m.Session: 30 minutes on the system plus 90 minutes of individual consultation, in person and online
Key points
- Held on Friday, November 6, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the venue (3rd floor, West Building, Hotel Grand Hill Ichigaya) and online as a webinar
- Applications close at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 30, 2026; register following Material 2 ("About applying to attend") of the announcement. Attendance is free
- Open to companies and organisations that already run their own vocational skills certification for workers, or are considering establishing one
- Part 1 covers the system itself, how to build a certification and the procedure for moving to approved status (about 30 minutes); Part 2 is individual consultation with ministry officials or certification-design support consultants (about 90 minutes)
- Under this system, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare approves certifications that meet set standards and are worth encouraging for skills promotion; an approved certification may display "MHLW approved" (厚生労働省認定) and use the designated logo mark
What to do in practice
- Check against the published materials whether your own in-house skills test or qualification could qualify for approval
- If you plan to attend, register by 5:00 p.m. on October 30 following the procedure in Material 2 (either in person or online)
- Before the individual consultation, gather your current materials: number of candidates, scope of the test, and how it is graded
If a company or group makes its own test that measures work skills, and that test meets the standards the state has set and is judged worth encouraging, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare can approve it as a good test. This is called the organisation-based skills certification system. On October 26 the government (the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) announced a session where you can ask about this system, to be held on November 6, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., at a venue in Tokyo and over the internet. You have to sign up by 5:00 p.m. on October 30, and it costs nothing.
- 1. Make itA company or group makes its own test that measures workers' skills
- 2. AskAt the consultation session, ask ministry staff and others whether it meets the state's standards
- 3. Get approvedIf it meets the standards and is judged worth encouraging for skills promotion, the minister approves it
- 4. Show itAn approved test may display "MHLW approved" and use the designated logo mark
Points
- A company or group can have its own skills test approved by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare
- An approved test may say "MHLW approved" and use the logo mark that has been set for it
- The session runs from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on November 6. Sign-up closes at 5:00 p.m. on October 30 and attending is free
What the words mean
- Certification test
- A test that checks how well someone can do something and decides whether they pass
- Organisation-based skills certification system
- A system in which the state (the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare) approves a test made by a company or group
- Webinar
- A briefing you can join from your office or home using the internet
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW): MHLW: Third on-site consultation session of FY2026 on the organisation-based skills certification system (団体等検定制度) will be held
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.