Japan’s 2024 Disability Accommodation Laws

Japan Employment Law Peculiarities

ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEW DISABILITY LAWS COMING IN APRIL 2024?

Each year, April 1 in Japan brings about the new government fiscal year, and this means implementation of new laws. Those with employees in Japan should be aware of the new changes and what they mean.

This post will address the new disability accommodation law.

If you do business in Japan, have you examined your approach to the new disability accommodation laws? Under the newly expanded law, companies will be legally obliged to provide necessary services and infrastructure to people with disabilities. These laws apply not only to accommodating employees, but to allowing anyone with a disability access to facilities and services through reasonable accommodations.

Japan first enacted accommodation laws in 2013. Last year, in March 2023, the Cabinet expanded and broadened the scope of the law, effective April 1, 2024, to require “reasonable accommodation,” modeling the requirements after the United States standards that have been developing since passage of the ADA in 1990. The new law expands 2013 laws that applied to central and local governments to make those accommodation laws applicable to the private sector.

Just what kind of accommodations will become necessary? One area that hits many companies, especially in the urban centers, is the requirement for sloped access points for wheelchairs. Another example, particularly in the new era post-COVID, is where online classes or services are provided. If a disabled customer, vendor, or employee asks for in-person services, but the request is denied due to lack of staff or infrastructure, such denial will be deemed a violation of law.

The new law also provides measures for local governments to set up consultation services for private industry to consult about needed changes. These consultation services also assist disabled people who feel they have been discriminated against. Heightened scrutiny will find many unprepared companies facing administrative audits and corrective actions for non-compliance. Failure to make corrections will result in monetary penalties

WHY IS ACCOMMODATION A PROBLEM IN JAPAN?

To the Japanese, accommodation flies in the face of the Confucian principles of public order by granting something to a group of people (i.e., the disabled) that is not provided to everyone. To many Japanese stuck in a traditional thought process, this is special treatment, not “equality.” The new law will likely further confound some Japanese, as reasonable accommodation is lacking in many Japan workplaces where “fairness” means “no accommodations” rather than “reasonable accommodations,” and there is no precedent.

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