Skipping the 30-Day Dismissal Notice Doesn't Make the Dismissal Safe

Getting approval to skip the 30-day dismissal notice doesn't mean the dismissal itself is safe. That surprises people once they look closer at how the process actually works.

The Default: 30 Days' Notice or Pay in Lieu

Under Japan's Labor Standards Act, an employer who dismisses an employee must give at least 30 days' notice, or pay the equivalent wages in lieu of notice.

There are limited exceptions — for example, when the business cannot continue because of a natural disaster or similar unavoidable event, or when the dismissal is due to serious misconduct for which the employee is responsible.

How the Exemption Works

If a company wants to dismiss someone immediately — no notice, no payment in lieu — it has to apply in advance to the director of the local Labor Standards Inspection Office for what's called 解雇予告除外認定 (kaiko yokoku jogai nintei, exemption approval).

The company submits an application with supporting documentation explaining the circumstances. The office then investigates — and this is the part that stands out — it hears from both the company and the employee, not just the company's side.

If approval is granted, the company can skip the 30-day notice and the payment in lieu of it.

Two Different Questions, Two Different Tests

But here's the detail worth sitting with: this approval only exempts the company from the notice/payment requirement. It says nothing about whether the dismissal itself was lawful.

Whether a dismissal is valid is judged separately — under the principle that a dismissal lacking objectively reasonable grounds, and not considered appropriate in light of general social norms, is invalid as an abuse of rights. An employee can still challenge the dismissal separately — and win — even after the exemption was approved.

Two different questions, two different tests. Worth knowing which one you're actually solving for.

What This Means for Overseas Companies

If your headquarters is used to at-will employment, it's easy to treat an exemption approval as a green light. It isn't. Before any dismissal in Japan, it helps to document the facts carefully, take advice from a licensed labor and social insurance consultant (sharoushi) or a lawyer, and treat the notice question and the validity question as two separate pieces of work.

Natsuki Suzuki is the founder of BANTO, which provides back-office support — accounting, HR and payroll, and administration — to overseas companies and their Japan entities. She spent 15 years in Europe and brings both sides of the cultural equation to every engagement.