Leave of Absence in Japan: Length, Pay, Procedure and What It Means for Your Career

Kyushoku, or leave of absence, is an arrangement under which an employee who becomes unable to work through illness, injury or similar circumstances is released from the duty to work for a set period while remaining employed. Unlike resignation the employment relationship continues, but it is not a scheme mandated by statute, and both its length and whether pay continues vary considerably with the employer's work rules.

This article sets out the whole picture in order: the length of leave, the money, the paperwork, returning to work, and the bearing all of this has on changing jobs.

Leave of Absence Is Not a Statutory Scheme

The first point to grasp is that no law obliges an employer to offer leave of absence as a scheme. This differs fundamentally from maternity and childcare leave, which are statutory entitlements. Whether you can take leave, how many months you may take, and whether you are paid during it are all determined by your employer's work rules.

For that reason, applying a general account found online directly to your own situation is risky. The first thing to do is read the leave of absence chapter of your own work rules. Employers are required by law to keep work rules accessible to employees at all times, so a request to see them will not be refused.

Types of Leave

• Sickness and injury leave: For illness or injury arising outside work. The most common form.
• Extended personal absence: Where you are absent for a long period for personal reasons.
• Personal leave: Study abroad, caring for a family member and so on. Whether such a scheme exists depends on the employer.
• Leave pending legal proceedings, or leave for secondment: Ordered by the employer for its own reasons.

How Long Can Leave Last?

There is no statutory cap; it depends on the employer's rules. In practice many employers set graduated limits according to length of service, and periods running from a few months to around a year are typical. Larger employers tend to allow longer.

What deserves attention is that most work rules provide that if you cannot return to work by the time the leave period expires, the employment ends by resignation or dismissal. The length of your leave is therefore, in substance, the deadline by which you must retain your employment. People who continue their recovery without knowing this often find themselves in difficulty as the deadline approaches.

Money During Leave: Pay Normally Stops

Since you are not providing labour, the employer as a rule has no obligation to pay wages. Some employers do continue pay, but most do not. What is paid instead, from your health insurance, is the injury and sickness allowance (shobyo teate-kin).

It is payable where you are absent from work for illness or injury arising outside work and cannot receive adequate remuneration from your employer. After a waiting period of three consecutive days, the fourth day onwards is covered. The amount is calculated from your recent standard monthly remuneration and comes to roughly two thirds of a daily wage. The payment period is generally capped at one year and six months.

For the requirements and the calculation method in detail, check the primary source published by your health insurer. If you are covered by the Japan Health Insurance Association (Kyokai Kenpo), its page on being absent from work through illness or injury sets this out. If your employer belongs to a health insurance society, that society may offer additional top-up benefits, so check its own rules.

Social Insurance Contributions Continue Even Without Pay

This is easily overlooked. You remain insured under health insurance and the employees' pension throughout your leave, and contributions keep accruing even where no wages are paid. Maternity and childcare leave carry an exemption from contributions; leave for illness carries no equivalent. A great many people confuse the two, so take care here.

Because the amount cannot be deducted from pay, arrangements such as transferring your share to the employer become necessary. Confirming the monthly amount and the payment method with HR before your leave begins will save you trouble.

The Steps to Taking Leave

1. Consult your treating physician and obtain a medical certificate stating that treatment is required
2. Raise it with your manager or HR, and confirm the procedure under the work rules
3. Submit the leave application and medical certificate, and confirm in writing the start date, the expiry date, and how you will stay in contact
4. Obtain the application form for the injury and sickness allowance, and have your physician and employer complete their sections

Of these, confirming the expiry date in writing at step three matters most. Without knowing by when you need to be back, you can plan neither your treatment nor the career decisions that follow.

Returning to Work

The usual sequence is to submit a medical certificate from your treating physician confirming that you are fit to return, hold a meeting with your employer, work through a phased return such as shortened hours, and then resume fully. The point most often misunderstood here is that a certificate from your treating physician does not by itself settle the question of return. Your physician is assessing whether you can manage daily life; whether you can withstand the actual demands of the job is determined by the employer, informed by the opinion of the occupational physician. Keeping the three roles distinct makes it easier to avoid missteps.

Thinking About Leave and Changing Jobs

Where you cannot picture returning to your existing workplace even after a period of leave, changing jobs enters the field of options. Rushing that decision while still recovering is unwise, however. Self-assessment made at a point when your health has not returned tends to run below the reality, and people often narrow their own options further than they need to.

Start instead by establishing the expiry date of your leave and how much of your allowance period remains, and set out what has to be decided by when.

Common Questions About Leave of Absence

Will a prospective employer find out that I took leave?

There is no mechanism that notifies anyone automatically. Your period of employment appears on your work history, though, and where you are receiving the injury and sickness allowance the paperwork can make it apparent.

Does the injury and sickness allowance continue if I resign during leave?

Where certain requirements are met, including the length of your insured period up to the date of resignation, payment can continue after you leave. The requirements are detailed, however, and the outcome can turn on your working arrangements on the final day. Always check with your health insurer before deciding to resign.

Can I use annual paid leave during a period of leave of absence?

Because leave of absence releases you from the duty to work, applying paid leave to that period is generally not possible. Whether to use up any remaining paid leave before your leave of absence begins is therefore worth considering in advance.

My employer refused my request for leave.

Because leave of absence is not a statutory scheme, there is no basis for demanding it if the work rules contain no such provision. Where a scheme does exist and you meet its requirements but are still refused, that is a different matter. Identify the relevant article and consult the Labour Standards Inspection Office or a general labour consultation service.

Summary: Start With the Work Rules and the Expiry Date

Leave of absence is not a statutory scheme; its length and whether pay continues are set by the employer's rules. The injury and sickness allowance, by contrast, is a public scheme, and social insurance contributions keep accruing even without pay. Separating the employer's rules from the public rules is the shortest route to understanding how leave works.

This article sets out general principles. The content of any scheme varies with your employer's work rules and your health insurer, and is subject to legislative change. For specific procedures, check the primary sources and consult your HR department or a qualified professional such as a certified social insurance and labour consultant.