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Japan Publishes 393 Companies Referred to Prosecutors for Labor Law Violations — 62 Cases Involve Completely Unpaid Wages

If the company you work for was ever referred to prosecutors for unpaid wages or safety violations, its name could be sitting in this public list right now.

Japan Publishes 393 Companies Referred to Prosecutors for Labor Law Violations — 62 Cases Involve Completely Unpaid Wages
  • Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) updated, on September 30, 2026, its list of companies referred to prosecutors for labor law violations, compiling cases published by all 47 prefectural labor bureaus over one year (Sept 1, 2025 – Aug 31, 2026) — 393 cases in total.
  • The most common violation is failing to take required danger-prevention measures when working with machinery (Article 20 of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, 115 cases); another 41 cases involved failing to report workplace accidents on time.
  • 62 cases involved companies that paid workers nothing at all for 1 to 4 months, violating the Minimum Wage Act — for example, a transport company in Hokkaido owed one worker about 160,000 yen for a single month's wages.

A newly published list

On September 30, 2026, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) updated its list of companies referred to prosecutors for labor law violations.

The list compiles cases published by labor bureaus in all 47 prefectures over one year, from September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026 — 393 cases in total.

Which violations get companies listed the most

The most common is a violation of Article 20 of the Industrial Safety and Health Act — failing to take required preventive measures when working with machinery or dangerous tasks, accounting for 115 cases.

In 41 cases, companies failed to report workplace accidents to the Labor Standards Inspection Office within the required deadline — this can delay an injured worker's workers' compensation (rōsai) process.

And 62 companies that paid nothing at all

In addition, 62 cases violated Article 4 of the Minimum Wage Act — companies paid their workers absolutely nothing for one to four months.

For example, a transport company in Hokkaido failed to pay one worker about 160,000 yen for a month's wages and was referred to prosecutors on August 10, 2026.

Why workers should know about this

The list states the company name, location, publication date, the violated legal article, and a summary of the case — anyone can view it on the Ministry's website.

However, a company's name stays listed for only about one year from its publication date, and may be removed earlier once corrections are confirmed — so NOT finding a company's name doesn't mean it has never violated the law.

Words in this article

送検そうけん
referred to prosecutors
労働基準監督署ろうどうきじゅんかんとくしょ
Labor Standards Inspection Office
最低賃金法さいていちんぎんほう
Minimum Wage Act
労働安全衛生法ろうどうあんぜんえいせいほう
Industrial Safety and Health Act
未払いみはらい
unpaid
労働災害ろうどうさいがい
workplace accident
公表こうひょう
public disclosure

Notes

This article was checked on October 2, 2026.

If you want to check on your current or prospective employer, open the original list directly on the Ministry's website.

Source: 厚生労働省 (30 Sept 2026)