Workers’ rights · 退職 · taishoku
Quitting or being dismissed in Japan
You can leave a job in Japan at any time: the law does not force a worker to stay. But for a foreign worker, handing in a resignation notice is only the start. You must protect your status of residence, switch your health insurance and pension, and collect the right papers from your employer. The whole process: what the law says, how Japanese companies expect it to be done, what to do if you are dismissed, and what to do after your last day.
Checked against the websites of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Japan Pension Service and the Immigration Services Agency on October 7, 2026 · Social insurance · Family and dependents
In short
Leaving a job in five lines
First a new job, or a plan
The best time to hand in your notice is when you already have a new job. That way you are never without income and your visa is not at risk. Where to look: how to find a job in Japan; the public employment service is described in Hello Work for foreigners.
If a gap is unavoidable, find out about unemployment benefits (the basic allowance of Employment Insurance, 雇用保険の基本手当) in advance. You claim them at Hello Work with the separation notice (離職票, rishokuhyō) that your employer issues. If you quit, payments do not start at once but after a waiting period (more below).
Notice periods
How much notice the law requires
| Situation | Rule |
|---|---|
| Open-ended contract | The contract ends 2 weeks after you say you are leaving (Civil Code, Article 627). A company rule that lets you leave only with the company’s permission, or much later, is invalid on this point. |
| Fixed-term contract | Before the end only for an unavoidable reason (やむを得ない事由, Civil Code, Article 628) or by agreement with your employer. Otherwise the company may claim damages. |
| Fixed-term contract of more than 1 year | Once a year has passed since you started, you can leave at any time (Labor Standards Act, Article 137). Does not apply to highly skilled specialists and workers over 60 on such contracts. |
| The conditions are not what you were promised | You can leave at once, without notice (Labor Standards Act, Article 15). |
| Your employer dismisses you | 30 days’ notice or pay for the missing days (Labor Standards Act, Article 20) — more below. |
How it is done in a Japanese company
The company rules (rules of employment, 就業規則, shūgyō kisoku) usually set a notice period of 1–2 months. The law lets you leave sooner, but keeping to the company rules makes the parting smooth: your employer has time to find a replacement, and you keep good relations and references. A Japanese saying puts it this way: 立つ鳥跡を濁さず — “a bird that flies away does not muddy the water behind it.”
Sometimes a company asks you to stay “at least until the end of the season.” The decision is still yours. If you agree on a different date, put it in writing.
Resignation notice
退職届 or 退職願: what is the difference
You can resign orally, but in writing is safer: the date and the fact are on record. Keep a copy, or send the notice by registered mail with proof of delivery.
A sample 退職届 with translation
One sheet is enough. On an open-ended contract the leaving date must be at least 2 weeks after you hand it in. Copy or photograph the notice before you give it.
| What is written | Translation and notes |
|---|---|
| 退職届 | Title: “Resignation notice.” |
| 私儀 | Traditional opening, “As for myself.” Written on the first line. |
| このたび、一身上の都合により、令和8年10月30日をもって退職いたします。 | “For personal reasons, I will resign as of October 30, 2026.” 令和8年 (Reiwa 8) is 2026. |
| 令和8年10月1日 | Date you hand it in: October 1, 2026. |
| （部署名）（氏名） | Your department and name, with your signature or personal seal next to it. |
| 株式会社〇〇 代表取締役 〇〇〇〇殿 | Addressee: the company name and the name of its representative director. |
Resignation agency services (退職代行, taishoku daikō) deliver your notice for a fee. The law does not require them: you can send the notice yourself by mail, and if the company puts pressure on you, a free government consultation desk can help (below).
Leave and bonus
What to check before you choose your leaving date
Annual paid leave (有給, yūkyū). Under Article 39 of the Labor Standards Act you can take your unused days before your leaving date. The company may only move leave to another time when it disrupts work — but there is no time after your leaving date to move it to, so it cannot refuse. For example, if your last day is October 30 and you have 10 working days of leave left, you can stop coming to work from October 19 and still be paid. If the company asks you to leave later to hand over your work, agreeing is your choice. On the leaving date unused days are lost. More: paid leave and sick leave.
Bonus. A bonus is not required by Japanese law — it depends on your contract and the company rules. Often it is paid only to people still employed on the payment day. If the summer bonus is paid on July 10 and you leave on June 30, you will most likely not get it. Check the rules before you pick your date.
Severance pay (退職金, taishokukin) is not required either; if the company has it, the conditions are in the company rules.
Documents
What to give back and what to collect
Return everything that belongs to the company: ID card, keys, laptop, documents, and the company’s Health Insurance Eligibility Certificate (資格確認書) if you were given one. Log out of work accounts. Japanese law protects trade secrets strictly, so do not take work files with you.
| Document | What it is for | When |
|---|---|---|
| Withholding record (源泉徴収票, gensen chōshūhyō) | Your income and tax for the year — for your new employer or a tax return. | Within a month of leaving |
| Separation notice (離職票, rishokuhyō) | For unemployment benefits. Before you leave you sign the employer’s form (離職証明書) — check the reason for leaving written on it. | After you leave; if it does not come, ask Hello Work |
| Certificate of loss of insurance eligibility (資格喪失証明書) | Shows that the company insurance has ended. Needed to join National Health Insurance at the city office. | Ask in advance |
| Certificate on separation from employment (退職証明書, taishoku shōmeisho) | Period of employment, position, pay, reason for leaving — whatever you ask to be included. Shinjuku City accepts it for National Health Insurance instead of the certificate of loss of insurance eligibility if you have no dependents. | On request, without delay |
| Employment Insurance card (雇用保険被保険者証) | Your Employment Insurance number — check before you leave that you have it. | If the company kept it |
| Basic Pension Number Notice (基礎年金番号通知書) or pension handbook (年金手帳) | Your pension number. Since April 2022 a notice is issued instead of the pension handbook; keep an old handbook if you have one. | If the company kept it |
Your last wages and any money or belongings of yours must be handed over within 7 days if you ask (Labor Standards Act, Article 23). Your employer reports your leaving to Hello Work itself; telling immigration is your job (below).
If your employer dismisses you
The law limits dismissal (解雇, kaiko)
Insurance, pension and tax
What to do after your last working day
Deadlines, and what happens if you miss them
| What | When | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|
| Notification to immigration | 14 days after leaving, and 14 days after a new contract | a fine of up to ¥200,000 |
| National Health Insurance and National Pension | 14 days from the day after leaving | premiums are charged back, and treatment before you join is paid in full |
| Keeping the company insurance (任意継続) | 20 days from the day after leaving | only National Health Insurance remains |
| Unemployment benefits | the right lasts 1 year from the day after leaving | after a year the payments stop |
Example: leaving step by step
Open-ended contract, company rules ask for a month
You work on an Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services status, have no new job yet and 10 days of paid leave left.
- October 1, 2026 — you hand in your 退職届By law the contract could end on October 15, but you keep to the company rule and write October 30.
- Until October 16 — you hand over your workYou check the reason for leaving on the employer’s form (離職証明書).
- October 19–30 — paid leave10 working days of paid leave. October 30 is your last day under the contract.
- October 31 — no more company insuranceTreatment before you join a new insurance is paid in full.
- By November 13 — city office and immigrationNational Health Insurance and the National Pension at the city office; notification to immigration that the contract has ended.
- By November 30 — the withholding recordUntil you find a job — register at Hello Work with the separation notice.
- A new contract — one more notificationWithin 14 days of signing.
What happens to your visa
Your status does not end on your last day
A work status of residence (for example Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services) is tied to a kind of activity, not to one company. If you move to another company to do similar work, you do not need to change your status.
Linked to your visa.
- 14 days. Within 14 days of leaving, and again within 14 days of signing a new contract, notify the Immigration Services Agency — online, at an immigration office or by mail. For Engineer/Specialist, Specified Skilled Worker and other contract-based statuses this is the Notification of the Contracting Organization (契約機関に関する届出); for statuses such as Business Manager or Intra-company Transferee it is the Notification of the Accepting Organization (活動機関に関する届出). Not filing can mean a fine of up to ¥200,000.
- 3 months. If you do not do the activity of your status for 3 months or more without a good reason, your status can be revoked (Immigration Control Act, Article 22-4). While you look for work, keep proof: applications, interview invitations.
- A different field. If the new job does not fit your status, you first need a change of status of residence, and only then may you start working.
- Specified Skilled Worker. For Specified Skilled Worker the employer is named in the document of your status: moving to another company needs permission to change your status, and you may not work at the new company while the application is pending. Time spent looking for work counts toward the 5-year limit of Specified Skilled Worker (i).
Notifications to immigration · Change of status · Extending your period of stay
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.
If they won’t let you go or won’t pay
Free government services, in English too
If your employer will not let you leave, does not pay your last wages or refuses your leave, go to a General Labor Consultation Corner (総合労働相談コーナー, sōgō rōdō sōdan kōnā) — free, no appointment, consultations in foreign languages at Labor Bureaus. By phone: the free Labour Standards Advice Hotline in English, 0120-531-401 (every day: weekdays 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., weekends and holidays 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.), or the Telephone Consultation Service for Foreign Workers in English, 0570-001-701 (Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., paid call). Vietnamese, Nepali, Tagalog, Indonesian and other languages, every service and what to do step by step: your rights at work and free help.
What next
Your next step
FAQ
Questions about leaving a job
Can’t find your question? Write to us — a real person replies.
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, the Japan Pension Service, Kyōkai Kenpo, city offices and the Immigration Services Agency on October 7, 2026. Amounts are in Japanese yen. When a rule changes we update the page and the date above.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — resignation, dismissal and non-renewal (確かめよう労働条件)
- Japanese Law Translation — Labor Standards Act (English)
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — Counseling Services and Hotlines in Foreign Languages (English)
- Hello Work — Employment Insurance procedures and the separation notice (雇用保険の具体的な手続き)
- Japan Pension Service — when an employee leaves: loss of Health Insurance and Employees’ Pension coverage
- Japan Pension Service — the Basic Pension Number Notice replacing the pension handbook
- Kyōkai Kenpo — optional and continued coverage after leaving a job (任意継続)
- Shinjuku City — joining National Health Insurance and the documents needed
- Immigration Services Agency — Notification of the Contracting Organization (14 days)
- Immigration Services Agency — Notification of the Accepting Organization (14 days)
- Immigration Services Agency — revocation of status of residence
This page is general information, not legal advice. The city office, your insurer and the Japan Pension Service tell you your exact premiums and taxes; immigration decides on your status of residence. For a dispute, use the free services on /work/rights/ or a Labor and Social Security Attorney (社会保険労務士, sharōshi).
