Annual Paid Leave in Japan: Eligibility, Timing, and How to Request It

2026年8月26日

A foreign employee in Japan checks a calendar while preparing an annual paid leave request.

Annual Paid Leave in Japan: A Practical Guide for Foreign Workers

In Japan, eligible employees can normally choose when to use their statutory annual paid leave. The right applies to foreign and Japanese workers alike, including many part-time, fixed-term, and dispatched workers.

Most employees first become eligible after working continuously for six months and attending at least 80% of their scheduled working days. A full-time employee usually receives 10 paid days at that point.

This guide is for foreign employees, students with part-time jobs, technical interns, and family members helping someone understand workplace rules in Japan.

The essentials:

Nationality and residence status do not reduce the statutory entitlement.
Eligible full-time employees generally receive 10 days after six months.
The employee normally selects the dates, although an employer can seek a change in limited operational circumstances.
Company procedures may set an application method or notice period, but they cannot remove the statutory right.
Unused statutory leave generally expires two years after it is granted.

TOC

Who qualifies for annual paid leave?

The basic eligibility test comes from Article 39 of Japan’s Labor Standards Act and applies nationwide.

You generally qualify when both conditions are met:

You have been employed continuously for six months.
You attended at least 80% of the working days used in the legal attendance calculation.

For a worker scheduled for at least five days a week—or at least 30 hours a week—the statutory schedule normally begins as follows:

After 6 months: 10 days
After 1 year and 6 months: 11 days
After 2 years and 6 months: 12 days
After 3 years and 6 months: 14 days
After 4 years and 6 months: 16 days
After 5 years and 6 months: 18 days
After 6 years and 6 months: 20 days

Twenty days is the statutory annual maximum under this schedule. An employer may offer more generous leave in its employment rules.

Does the rule apply to foreign workers?

Yes. The Labor Standards Act applies based on the employment relationship in Japan, not the employee’s nationality.

The same basic protection can cover:

Foreign employees working full time
International students working part time within the conditions of their residence status
Fixed-term and contract employees
Technical intern trainees
Specified skilled workers
Dispatched workers employed through a staffing agency
Managers and supervisors who meet the eligibility conditions

Annual leave does not give a person permission to work outside the limits of a residence status. However, a worker’s visa category does not allow an employer to offer less statutory leave simply because the worker is foreign.

What counts as continuous employment?

A renewed fixed-term contract does not necessarily restart the six-month clock. If the employment relationship continues in practice, successive contracts may be treated as continuous service.

For dispatched workers, the staffing agency is normally the employer responsible for granting paid leave—not the company where the worker performs daily duties. This distinction matters when submitting an application or checking a leave balance.

Part-time employees also receive paid leave

Working fewer hours does not automatically mean having no paid leave. Part-time workers who satisfy the six-month and 80% tests can receive leave in proportion to their scheduled working days.

For example, at the first six-month point, the statutory allocation is generally:

Four scheduled days per week: 7 days
Three scheduled days per week: 5 days
Two scheduled days per week: 3 days
One scheduled day per week: 1 day

These proportional figures generally apply when a person works fewer than 30 hours per week and no more than four scheduled days per week. Annual working-day totals may be used when the weekly schedule is not fixed.

A changing shift pattern can make the calculation less obvious. Ask payroll or human resources to show:

Your official scheduled working days
The date on which leave was granted
The number of days granted
Your current and expiring balances

Do not assume that a casual label such as arubaito removes the entitlement. The actual schedule and employment record matter more than the label.

When can an employee take the leave?

The employee normally chooses the date. Statutory annual leave is not simply a benefit that a manager may approve or reject at personal discretion.

Under the general rule, an employee specifies when the leave will be taken. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare explains that employer “approval” is not what creates the right to use an eligible day.

In practice, however, employees should follow the workplace’s reasonable application process. That may involve:

Entering the date in an attendance system
Sending a form to a manager or human resources department
Applying a stated number of days in advance
Arranging a handover for urgent work
Checking whether the workplace uses planned leave dates

Following the process reduces scheduling disputes. It does not turn statutory leave into an optional favor from the company.

Can the employer ask you to take a different date?

An employer may exercise its right to change the timing when granting leave on the requested date would interfere with the normal operation of the business. This is known as the employer’s right to change the season or timing of leave (jiki henkōken).

That is a limited exception, not a general right to say “we are busy.” Relevant facts can include:

How many employees requested the same period
The size and type of the workplace
The employee’s duties
Whether another worker can provide cover
A genuinely exceptional busy period
The length of a requested continuous absence

The issue must be considered specifically and objectively. If the employer invokes this exception, ask which alternative date is available. A change of timing should not become an indefinite refusal that prevents the leave from being used.

ここがポイント: The normal rule is that the employee selects the leave date. A company may seek a different date only when the requested timing would genuinely disrupt normal business operations.

Must you give a reason?

Annual paid leave can generally be used for the employee’s own purpose. A wedding, travel, rest, family duties, or an appointment does not normally change the legal character of the leave.

A company form may contain a reason field. If you are unsure how much information is required, check the employment rules or ask human resources whether a general entry such as “personal reasons” is sufficient.

Be careful not to confuse annual leave with a separate company program. Marriage leave, bereavement leave, childcare leave, family-care leave, and company sick leave can each have different conditions and supporting-document requirements.

How to request leave in practice

There is usually no government application, application fee, or municipal procedure. The request is handled inside the workplace.

Step 1: Check the grant date and balance

Look at the attendance portal, payslip, employment rules, or a notice from human resources. Confirm when each group of days was granted because the expiration date depends on it.

Some companies grant leave on the statutory six-month anniversary. Others grant it earlier or place employees on a common company-wide grant date. An early grant can be lawful when it is at least as favorable as the statutory standard, but it can make the balance harder to read.

Step 2: Read the application procedure

Find the relevant section of the work rules, employee handbook, or staffing-agency portal. Note the normal notice period and who receives the request.

There is no single national “three days before” or “one month before” rule for every workplace. The practical deadline can vary by employer, while the underlying statutory right remains national.

Step 3: Submit the exact date in writing

Use the official system when one exists. If the process is informal, retain a dated email or message showing:

The requested date or dates
When the request was sent
The leave category selected
Any reply from the employer

Written records are especially useful if a manager gives only a verbal refusal.

Step 4: Confirm how the absence appears

After the leave, check the attendance record and payslip. The day should not accidentally appear as unpaid absence, an ordinary holiday, or a different leave category.

If the deduction or balance looks wrong, raise it promptly with payroll and keep copies of the relevant records.

How much are you paid on a leave day?

Annual paid leave is paid; it is not an unpaid absence. Japanese law permits specified methods for calculating the amount, including ordinary wages, average wages, or—where the required labor-management arrangement exists—a method based on the standard daily remuneration used for health insurance.

The method should be established in the workplace rules or applicable agreement. For a worker with a simple fixed daily wage, the result may be easy to understand. Shift premiums, variable hours, or commission-based pay can make the figure less obvious.

Before assuming the amount is wrong, check:

Which calculation method the workplace uses
Whether the day was recorded as statutory annual leave
Which allowances are normally included
Whether the payslip reflects the correct number of days or hours

Using annual leave should not simply turn an otherwise paid working day into an unpaid day.

Five days must be taken in certain cases

Since April 2019, employers have had an additional duty covering workers who receive at least 10 statutory annual-leave days.

The employer must ensure that the worker takes at least five days within one year of the relevant grant date. Days chosen by the worker and qualifying days assigned through a planned-leave arrangement count toward the five-day total.

If fewer than five days have been taken, the employer must listen to the worker’s preference and designate the remaining dates. This obligation also covers qualifying managers and supervisors.

It does not mean that only five days may be used. If an employee has 10 or more available days, the remaining balance continues to exist under the normal rules.

Planned annual leave is different

A workplace may have a planned annual-leave system based on a written labor-management agreement. It can assign dates from the portion exceeding five days that workers must be free to choose themselves.

This commonly appears around summer shutdowns or year-end closures. Check whether a company closure uses:

A statutory holiday
A normal company holiday
Planned annual paid leave
A separate special-leave day

The labels matter because only annual leave reduces the employee’s statutory balance.

Full days, half-days, and hourly leave

A full working day is the basic legal unit for annual leave.

Half-day leave is widely used, but its availability often depends on workplace arrangements. Hourly annual leave requires a written labor-management agreement and is limited to the equivalent of five days per year.

This creates two common points of confusion:

A company does not have to offer hourly leave merely because another employer does.
Hourly leave does not count toward the employer’s separate duty to ensure five full days are taken.

Check how your employer converts one leave day into hours, especially if daily working hours vary.

Expiration, resignation, and unused days

Statutory annual leave generally remains usable for two years from the date it arises. This usually allows unused days from the previous grant year to carry over, but older days can expire.

When using leave, confirm whether the employer deducts the oldest balance first. The workplace record should make grant dates and remaining days clear.

What happens when you resign?

Unused statutory leave ends with the employment relationship. Japan does not have a general rule requiring employers to buy out every unused day at resignation.

An employee may request remaining leave before the final employment date. Because there is no later date within the employment period to which the employer can move the leave, the normal timing-change mechanism becomes difficult to use once the resignation date is fixed. Still, early discussion is practical so that handover work and leave dates can be arranged.

Do not assume that the final day physically worked and the official resignation date must be the same. They can differ when approved leave fills the period between them.

Common mistakes to avoid

Small misunderstandings often cause more trouble than the legal rule itself.

Assuming paid leave starts on the first day: The statutory right normally begins after six months, although a company may grant leave earlier.
Believing part-time workers receive nothing: Many part-time workers qualify for proportional leave.
Treating “five mandatory days” as the total allowance: Five days is the employer’s minimum take-up duty for qualifying workers, not a general cap.
Using the wrong request category: “Paid leave,” “absence,” “substitute holiday,” and “compensatory leave” are not interchangeable.
Waiting until days expire: Check each grant date instead of looking only at one combined balance.
Assuming a verbal request is enough: Use the official system or keep a written record.
Confusing company sick leave with annual leave: Japan does not provide a universal statutory paid-sick-leave balance equivalent to annual paid leave. Company benefits and other leave systems vary.
Ignoring staffing-agency responsibility: A dispatched worker generally requests statutory leave from the staffing agency as the legal employer.

If your request is refused or your pay is deducted

Start by asking for a written explanation and the relevant part of the employment rules. Keep the employment contract, work schedule, attendance records, leave request, response, leave balance, and payslip.

Useful questions include:

Is the company refusing the leave or proposing another date?
What specific operational problem prevents the requested date?
Which alternative date can be used?
How was the attendance rate calculated?
Why was the day recorded as unpaid?
Which employer handles the request if this is dispatched work?

If the problem remains unresolved, foreign workers can contact a prefectural Labour Bureau, a Labour Standards Inspection Office, or the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s consultation services. The official Labour Standards Advice Hotline offers support in multiple languages on specified days and hours.

For an individual dispute, obtain current guidance from an official consultation service or a qualified professional. This article provides general information and cannot determine how the law applies to every set of facts.

Current position in 2026

As of August 2026, the practical foundation remains the national Labor Standards Act: the six-month and 80% eligibility test, proportional leave for qualifying part-time workers, the two-year validity period, and the employer’s five-day duty for workers granted at least 10 days.

The national rules do not vary by prefecture or municipality. What can vary is the employer’s administration:

An earlier or common grant date
The request form and ordinary notice period
Availability of half-day leave
A labor-management agreement for hourly leave
Planned leave dates
Extra company leave beyond the statutory minimum
The wage-calculation method permitted under the rules

Your next practical step is simple: find your grant date, current balance, expiration dates, and written request procedure before choosing the day. If the company cannot explain those four items, ask human resources—or the staffing agency for dispatched work—to provide the records.

参照リンク

Let's share this post !

Copied the URL !

Copied the URL !