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Workers’ rights · 休暇 · kyūka

Paid leave, sick leave, maternity and childcare leave in Japan

Annual paid leave in Japan is due to everyone who has worked for half a year and turned up for work — regular staff, part-timers and foreign workers alike. The law does not require paid sick days, but health insurance pays an allowance. Paid leave, sick leave, maternity leave, leave to care for a child or a relative — how many days, how much is paid and what it means for your visa.

How many days of leave

Rights and free help

Checked against Japanese law and the websites of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and Kyōkai Kenpo on October 7, 2026 · Children in Japan · Health insurance

Of annual paid leave after 6 months of work10 days

A year the company must make sure you take5 days

Unused days stay valid for2 years

Of wages — the childcare leave benefit at first67%

In short

Leave in five lines

  • Annual paid leave (年次有給休暇, nenji yūkyū kyūka) — 10 days after 6 months of work, more later, up to 20 days a year. Unused days expire after 2 years.
  • Sick leave: the law does not require it to be paid. From the 4th day of illness, Health Insurance at work pays an allowance — 2/3 of your standard pay.
  • Maternity leave — 6 weeks before the birth and 8 weeks after; a woman insured at work gets 2/3 of her standard pay.
  • Childcare leave — until the child turns 1 (up to 2 if needed), for mothers and fathers, with a benefit from Employment Insurance: 67%, then 50%.
  • Visa: leave does not cancel your status of residence while you stay employed by the company.

How to take paid leave

You choose the dates

You do not need the company’s permission. The company may only move your leave (時季変更権, jiki henkōken) if it would disrupt normal operations — in the busiest season, for example, or when many people want the same days off. It may not refuse outright.

  1. Read the rulesThe rules of employment (就業規則) say how and how many days ahead to apply, and whether half days and hours are possible (hours — up to 5 days a year, if the company has such an agreement).
  2. ApplyIn writing or in the attendance system — early, so the company can find cover.
  3. Keep a copyIf your leave is “lost” or not paid, the copy of your application is your evidence.
  4. Before you leave the companyUse what is left: your days are gone on your last day, and the company can no longer move them.

The application form: 有給休暇申請書 (yūkyū kyūka shinseisho)

Field What to write
提出日 (teishutsubi) Date of the application
所属 (shozoku) / 氏名 (shimei) Department / name
休暇の種類 (kyūka no shurui) Type of leave: 年次有給休暇 — annual paid leave, 特別休暇 — special leave under company rules, 代休 — compensatory day off
期間 (kikan) Dates: from … to …, number of days
取得単位 (shutoku tan’i) Full day (全日), half day (半日), hours (時間)
理由 (riyū) Reason — people usually write 私用 (“personal matters”)
承認 (shōnin) Your manager’s stamp of receipt

Holidays are not leave. The law requires only 1 day off a week; whether national holidays, summer and New Year holidays are days off is up to your contract and the company rules. The company can fix the dates of part of your leave — for summer vacation, say — only under a written agreement with the workers, and only for days beyond 5. From October 1, 2026, under the updated equal pay guideline, a gap in summer and winter vacation days between regular and non-regular staff is treated as unreasonable.

Sick leave

The law does not require paid sick days

The Labor Standards Act has no article on paid sick days. Paid sick leave exists only under company rules. From October 1, 2026, under the updated equal pay guideline, denying it to non-regular staff who are renewed and stay long is unreasonable.

  • A short illness — people usually take annual paid leave.
  • Longer than 3 days — the injury and sickness allowance (傷病手当金, shōbyō teatekin) from Health Insurance at work: after 3 days in a row off work, from the 4th day, for days without pay. A day’s amount is 2/3 of your average standard monthly remuneration over 12 months, divided by 30; for up to 1 year and 6 months in total.
  • Example: standard pay ¥300,000 — about ¥6,667 a day. 10 days off sick: the first 3 are unpaid, 7 days bring about ¥46,669.
  • In National Health Insurance (国民健康保険) — students, freelancers — there is no such allowance.
  • An injury or illness caused by work is not sick leave but Workers’ Accident Compensation Insurance (労災保険, rōsai hoken): treatment is free, without Health Insurance. Details: injured at work.

How to claim the allowance and what else Health Insurance pays: health insurance in Japan.

産前産後休業 · sanzen sango kyūgyō

Maternity leave: 6 weeks before the birth and 8 after

  • Before the birth — 6 weeks (14 for twins or more) if you ask for it. If you don’t ask, you can keep working; a pregnant woman may ask for lighter work.
  • After the birth — 8 weeks when you may not work. After 6 weeks you can return if you ask and a doctor agrees.
  • No dismissal during maternity leave and for 30 days after it.
  • Childbirth allowance (出産手当金, shussan teatekin) — only for a woman insured at work, for days without pay from 42 days before the birth to 56 days after: 2/3 of standard pay a day. With standard pay of ¥300,000 that is about ¥6,667 a day, about ¥653,000 for 98 days.
  • No premiums: during maternity and childcare leave you and the company are exempt from Health Insurance and pension premiums, and the months count as paid for your pension. The company applies. If you pay National Pension yourself, there is an exemption too (4 months around the birth; from October 1, 2026 also until the child turns 1, for mother and father), but you apply yourself — details.
  • ¥500,000 at birth (¥488,000 in some cases; lump-sum childbirth payment, 出産育児一時金) is paid by Health Insurance to everyone, including a dependent wife — see children in Japan.

育児休業 · ikuji kyūgyō

Childcare leave

The company cannot refuse it. The only exception: you have worked there for less than a year and the company has a written agreement with the workers that allows this.

  • How long: until the child turns 1; if it is especially needed to keep your job (conditions set by the ministry), until 1.5 and then 2. You can split it into 2 parts.
  • For fathers: on top of regular childcare leave — postnatal paternity leave (産後パパ育休, sango papa ikukyū): up to 4 weeks within the first 8 weeks after the birth, in 2 parts.
  • Fixed-term contract: you qualify unless it is clear in advance that your contract ends before the child turns 1.5.
  • When to apply: 1 month before the start (postnatal paternity leave — 2 weeks). If you apply later, the company may move the start date.
  • Dismissal or worse conditions for asking for or taking the leave are prohibited.
Benefit (from Employment Insurance, 雇用保険) How much Example: wages of ¥300,000 a month
Childcare leave benefit (育児休業給付金) — first 180 days 67% of wages about ¥201,000 a month
Childcare leave benefit — after that 50% of wages about ¥150,000 a month
Postnatal leave support benefit (出生後休業支援給付), since April 2025 +13% for up to 28 days, if both parents take at least 14 days (or only you, if your spouse is not employed, is self-employed or freelance, or you are a single parent) about ¥36,400 more — 80% in total for those 28 days

The benefit is paid if you are in Employment Insurance and had 12 months in the 2 years before the leave in each of which you worked at least 11 days or 80 hours. The maximum amount is reviewed every August. Together with the premium exemption, 80% of wages is close to your usual take-home pay.

介護 · 看護

Caring for a relative or a sick child

What How much
Caregiver leave (介護休業, kaigo kyūgyō) — leave to care for a relative 93 days per family member, in up to 3 parts; caregiver leave benefit (介護休業給付) — 67% of wages
Caregiver days (介護休暇, kaigo kyūka) 5 days a year (10 if two or more people need care), can be taken in hours
Child nursing leave (子の看護等休暇, ko no kango tō kyūka) — a sick child 5 days a year (10 for two or more children), until the end of the child’s 3rd grade at school; since April 2025 also when a class is closed because of an infection, and for entrance and graduation ceremonies
Menstrual leave (生理休暇, seiri kyūka) if working on those days is very hard, a woman who asks may not be made to work; the law does not say it is paid

Since April 2025, caregiver days and child nursing leave are also due to people who have worked less than 6 months. Since October 2025, for parents of children from age 3 until school, the company must offer at least 2 of 5 flexible options — for example remote work or a 6-hour day.

Deadlines and your visa

Deadlines, and what happens if you miss them

What When If you miss it
Use your annual paid leave 2 years from the grant date the days expire
The 5 compulsory days 1 year from the grant date a fine of up to ¥300,000 for the company
Application for childcare leave 1 month ahead (postnatal paternity leave — 2 weeks) the company may move the start
Remaining leave before you quit by your last working day the days are lost
Notification to immigration 14 days — only when a contract ends or a new one is signed a fine of up to ¥200,000; going on leave needs no notification

Leave and your status of residence

Linked to your visa.

  • Leave — paid leave, sick leave, maternity or childcare leave — does not by itself cancel your status: you are still an employee, and your contract is still in force.
  • The Notification of the Contracting Organization (契約機関に関する届出) is due within 14 days when a contract ends or a new one is signed. Going on leave is not a reason to notify.
  • Specified Skilled Worker: if you cannot work for a month or more — maternity leave, childcare leave, illness — your employer notifies immigration. If it is notified on time, maternity and childcare leave can, at your request, be left out of the 5-year limit of Specified Skilled Worker (i) — immigration decides.
  • A status can be revoked after 3 months or more without the activity of the status, but only without a justifiable reason (正当な理由, seitō na riyū). The law has no list of reasons; immigration looks at the circumstances.
  • Keep your documents: a letter from your employer with the dates of your leave, medical certificates, the papers on your child’s birth. If your extension of period of stay falls during leave, attach the employer’s letter.

Extending your period of stay · Notifications

If you have a family

Spouse, children, parents: what changes

A dependent for tax and a dependent for health insurance are two different things with different income limits. All the rules for families: Family and dependents.

  • Both parents can take childcare leave — at the same time or one after the other. If both take at least 14 days (the father within 8 weeks after the birth, the mother within 8 weeks after her maternity leave), the benefit rises to 80% for up to 28 days. If your spouse is not employed (for example, a wife with Dependent status and no job), you only need to take the 14 days yourself.
  • The childbirth allowance and the childcare leave benefit are paid only to a parent insured at work. A wife with Dependent status who is not employed gets the ¥500,000 lump-sum childbirth payment through your Health Insurance and the child allowance (児童手当).
  • A sick child until the end of 3rd grade — 5 days a year for each parent (10 for two or more children).
  • Caring for parents or a spouse — 93 days of leave per relative; the 67% benefit if you are in Employment Insurance and worked 12 months in the 2 years before the leave.
  • Child allowance, childcare and medical care for children: children in Japan.

FAQ

Questions about leave

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How many days of paid leave do you get in Japan?

After 6 months of continuous work with at least 80% attendance you get 10 days of annual paid leave. It grows with service: 11 days after 1.5 years, 12 after 2.5, 14 after 3.5, 16 after 4.5, 18 after 5.5 and 20 days from 6.5 years. Part-timers working no more than 4 days and under 30 hours a week get fewer days in proportion.

Yes. Part-timers and students with a part-time job get annual paid leave after 6 months, in proportion to their working days: for example, 5 days a year for 3 days a week, or 7 days for 4 days a week. At 30 hours a week or 5 days a week, the full-time table applies.

No. You choose the dates and do not need permission. The employer may only ask you to move the dates if your absence would disrupt normal operations, and it can never refuse the leave altogether. Leave requested before you quit cannot be moved at all.

The law does not require paid sick days; some companies offer them in their rules. Most people use annual paid leave for a short illness. From the 4th day off sick, Health Insurance at work pays the injury and sickness allowance, about 2/3 of your standard pay, for up to 1 year and 6 months. National Health Insurance has no such allowance.

6 weeks before the birth if you ask (14 weeks for twins or more) and 8 weeks after, when you may not work. A woman insured through her job gets the childbirth allowance of about 2/3 of standard pay for days without salary, and Health Insurance and pension premiums are waived.

Yes, on the same terms as Japanese workers, mothers and fathers alike. Leave lasts until the child turns 1, or up to 2 in special cases. If you are in Employment Insurance, the childcare leave benefit pays 67% of wages for the first 180 days and 50% after that; if both parents take at least 14 days (or only you, if your spouse is not employed), up to 28 days are paid at 80%.

Leave alone does not cancel your status of residence as long as you stay employed. You do not need to notify immigration when you go on leave, only when a contract ends or a new one starts. Keep a letter from your employer with the dates of your leave, especially if your extension of period of stay falls during it.

Sources

Where this information comes from

Rates, limits and deadlines on this page were checked against the official websites of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Kyōkai Kenpo, the Japan Pension Service and the Immigration Services Agency, and against the texts of the laws on October 7, 2026. Amounts are in Japanese yen. When a rule changes we update the page and the date above.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Your contract and your company’s rules of employment (就業規則) set your actual conditions; the health insurance association and Hello Work decide the benefit amounts. For a dispute, talk to the free labor consultation services or a Labor and Social Security Attorney (社会保険労務士, sharōshi).

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