Harassment in the Japanese Workplace: Pawahara, Sekuhara, Matahara

Harassment in the Japanese Workplace: Pawahara, Sekuhara, Matahara explains the three abuse categories Japanese statutes name, what employers must do about each, and where you can report when the internal route fails.¹²³ If you are experiencing or witnessing abuse at work, this article gives you the legal frame, the reporting ladder, and a realistic picture of outcomes.

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW). This article is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed bengoshi (lawyer) for a contested harassment claim, or a shakai hoken rōmushi (labor and social security attorney) for an employer-measure or documentation read.

Overview

This article is for all employees working in Japan, on any work-permitting status of residence, and for Japanese nationals alike.⁴⁵ The three regimes attach to the employment relationship itself, so coverage does not depend on your visa category.¹²

The rules below are national statutes, so there is no ward, city, or prefectural variance to chase.¹²³ What varies from workplace to workplace is whether your employer runs a functioning consultation desk and how seriously it investigates. Company practice explains more of that variance than geography does.⁶

Pawahara: Power Harassment Under the 2020 Definition

The パワハラ (pawahara, "power harassment") regime comes from the 2019 amendment to the Act on Comprehensive Promotion of Labor Policies, in force for large employers from June 2020 and extended to small and medium employers in April 2022.⁶⁷⁸ It was the first time Japanese law defined the concept and imposed prevention duties; sekuhara and matahara duties already existed under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.⁶

Every employer must take prevention measures, and an employer that ignores an MHLW recommendation faces possible public disclosure of that non-compliance.¹⁸ There is no direct criminal penalty for failing the measure duty itself.⁸

The three-element statutory test

Conduct counts as workplace power harassment only when all three statutory elements hold together.¹⁴ First, the language or behavior comes from a position of power. Second, it exceeds the necessary and reasonable scope of work duties. Third, it harms the worker's environment.

"Position of power" reaches beyond boss over subordinate.⁴ It includes a senior over a junior, a knowledgeable colleague whose cooperation you need to do your job, and group conduct that is hard to resist or reject.⁴

"Harmed environment" is judged by the average-worker standard: whether a typical worker in similar circumstances would suffer a serious adverse effect on the ability to perform the job.⁴ Frequency and continuity count, but a single severe incident can qualify.⁴

The six MHLW pattern types

The MHLW prevention guidelines name six typical patterns as the starting point for conduct that is clearly not necessary or reasonable.⁶⁸ The six are physical attack, psychological attack, isolation from human relations, excessive demands, insufficient demands, and invasion of privacy.⁶

Pattern	What it covers
Physical attack	Assault or injury6
Psychological attack	Threats, defamation, insults, abusive language6
Isolation	Segregation, exclusion, ignoring6
Excessive demands	Clearly unnecessary or impossible tasks, obstruction of work6
Insufficient demands	Menial work far below ability or experience without business justification, or no work at all6
Invasion of privacy	Excessive intrusion into personal matters6

These six are typical examples, not a closed list.⁶ Other conduct meeting the three-element test can still qualify.⁶

What strict supervision is not

Direction and guidance that is objectively necessary and reasonable for performing duties is not power harassment.⁴ A reprimand proportionate to the nature and degree of a worker's own problematic behavior stays within lawful direction when judged from an all-round perspective.⁴

That perspective weighs the objective of the conduct, its background, the business type, the manner and frequency, the worker's attributes and condition, and the relationship between those involved.⁴ Nationality is one of the attributes expressly listed for consideration.⁴

Even where the worker behaved badly, a response that denies human dignity or otherwise exceeds the necessary and reasonable scope can still be pawahara.⁴ The worker's misconduct does not license an unlimited response.

Sekuhara: Sexual Harassment Under the EEO Act

The セクハラ (sekuhara, "sexual harassment") regime sits in Article 11 of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.²⁹ Employers must run employment-management measures so workers neither suffer disadvantageous conditions for their response to sekuhara nor suffer harm to their environment from it.²

Quid pro quo versus hostile environment

Workplace sekuhara takes two forms.⁹ In the quid pro quo form, the worker suffers a disadvantage in working conditions because of the worker's response to sexual language or behavior against the worker's will. In the hostile environment form, sexual language or behavior itself harms the working environment.²⁹

"Sexual language or behavior" means conduct related to sexual matters.⁹ Examples include questions about sexual facts, sexual rumors, sexual jokes or teasing, persistent dinner or date invitations, sharing sexual episodes, forced sexual relationships, unnecessary physical contact, and distributing or displaying obscene images.⁹

Either men or women can be perpetrator or victim, including in same-sex cases, and coverage applies regardless of the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity where sexual conduct is involved.⁹ Perpetrators are not limited to managers and colleagues; they include business partners and their workers, customers, patients and families, and students.⁹

Employer prevention duties

The Article 11 duties mirror the pawahara structure with sekuhara-specific additions.² Employers must maintain consultation systems and handle matters appropriately, and they must not dismiss or otherwise disadvantage a worker for seeking consultation or stating facts in cooperation with the response.²⁹

Where a worker of one company sexually harasses a worker of another company, each employer must endeavor to cooperate with the other's implementation of its measures.²⁹ In practice the guideline measures include a stated no-tolerance policy, disciplinary provisions in the work rules, a consultation desk run with privacy consideration, prompt fact-finding with victim care and perpetrator measures, and awareness training.⁶⁸

Matahara: Maternity Harassment Under Two Acts

The マタハラ (matahara, "maternity harassment") regime spans two statutes.²¹⁰³ Pregnancy and childbirth harassment sits in the EEO Act, while harassment tied to using childcare or family-care leave sits in the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act.¹⁰³

MHLW states in its foreign-worker materials that dismissing or otherwise mistreating employees for pregnancy, childbirth, or taking childcare leave is prohibited by law.¹¹

Pregnancy and childbirth related harassment

Article 9 of the EEO Act bars the employer from using marriage, pregnancy, or childbirth as grounds to terminate a female worker, and from dismissing on grounds of marriage.² It further bars dismissal or disadvantageous treatment on grounds of pregnancy, childbirth, requesting or taking statutory pre- and post-childbirth absence, or other pregnancy-related reasons set by MHLW ordinance.²

Dismissal of a pregnant worker or a worker in the first year after childbirth is invalid unless the employer proves it was not for one of those reasons.²

On top of the prohibition, Article 11-3 requires employment-management measures so a female worker's environment is not harmed by workplace language or behavior tied to pregnancy, childbirth, or ordinance-specified related reasons.²¹⁰ The no-retaliation protection of Article 11(2) applies to these consultations as well.²¹⁰ Harassment exists where a causal relationship links the pregnancy or the use of a pregnancy system such as maternity leave to the harassing behavior.¹⁰

Childcare leave and family-care harassment

Article 10 of the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act prohibits disadvantageous treatment for applying for or taking childcare leave, and Article 16 gives the parallel prohibition for caregiver leave.³ Article 25 requires counseling services and system improvements so a worker using childcare leave, caregiver leave, or other ordinance-specified child-raising or family-care systems suffers no disadvantage in working conditions.¹⁰³

Retaliation is separately barred: Article 25(2) prohibits dismissal or disadvantageous treatment for seeking consultation or stating facts in cooperation with the response.¹⁰³ Article 25-2 adds state awareness duties and employer training and consideration duties on childcare-leave conduct issues.³

Immediate leave cannot be blocked but timing can be discussed

Blocking leave that must be taken at once for physical condition, such as physician-ordered absence, with reasoning like short staffing counts as harassment.¹⁰ Confirming intentions to adjust the timing of flexible leave, such as a routine pregnancy checkup date, is not prohibited, but a unilateral manager notification that ignores the worker's intentions may be harassment.¹⁰

Internal Versus External Reporting Paths

The statutes require every employer to maintain a consultation system for each regime: pawahara under Article 30-2, sekuhara under Article 11, pregnancy harassment under Article 11-3, and childcare-leave conduct under Article 25.¹²³ The practical escalation runs from that internal desk outward, as the diagram below shows.⁶⁷

Inside the company: HR and compliance desks

The guideline-level response flow has a fixed shape.⁶ The employer publicizes a consultation contact, responds with attention to the consulter's mental and physical state, investigates facts promptly by hearing both sides, cares for the victim through relationship-repair assistance or separation by transfer, disciplines the perpetrator under the work rules, acts to prevent recurrence, and protects the privacy of everyone involved while informing workers of the confidentiality and no-retaliation rules.⁶

Trying the internal channel first is generally recommended but not legally required.¹² Where the internal channel is unsafe or retaliatory, or where the harasser is the employer, a worker may go directly to an outside agency.¹²

Retaliation after a report is a separate violation

Dismissal, demotion, pay cuts, or disadvantageous transfers imposed because a worker sought consultation or cooperated with fact-finding are independently prohibited under each regime.¹²³ A retaliatory act after a report is a fresh violation to escalate, not the end of the case.

Outside the company: three external channels

The three outside channels serve different functions, summarized in the table below (as a group; confirm current counter details with MHLW before visiting).¹²¹³

Channel	Counter	What it does
Labor Bureau advice and conciliation	Prefectural Labor Bureau director and dispute coordinating committee12	Advice, guidance, or recommendations to either party; conciliation toward a voluntary settlement17
Equal Employment Office	Koyō Kintō Shitsu, the EEO division inside each prefectural Labor Bureau2	Sekuhara and matahara consultations with the Article 17 advice track and Article 18 conciliation track2
Bar Association consultation	Local bar association legal counseling windows for foreigners13	Case-specific legal read, for example the Tokyo Shinjuku center at ¥5,500 for 30 minutes including tax (as of 2026-09; confirm current fees with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations)13

Either party to a pawahara dispute may request the Bureau director's advice, guidance, or recommendations, or apply for conciliation; the EEO Act and the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act give the same two-track structure for sekuhara and matahara disputes.¹²³ Bureau mediation is free, but employer participation is voluntary, so an employer may decline; successful outcomes are voluntary settlements, typically faster than litigation rather than court judgments.¹⁴

For foreign workers, the entry points include the MHLW foreign-worker harassment portal with explanatory leaflets in thirteen languages from English to Korean.¹¹ The Tokyo Labor Consultation Center runs foreign-worker windows with English and Chinese interpreters and states that consultations stay strictly confidential.⁵

File harassment at the Bureau counter, not the inspection office

Harassment consultation and conciliation sit with the prefectural Labor Bureau and its corners, not the Labor Standards Inspection Office.¹² The Inspection Office enforces wage, hours, and safety conditions and enters a harassment matter only where it overlaps with such a violation.¹²

Realistic Outcomes and What to Expect

A confirmed finding inside the company leads to two things: care for the victim and measures against the perpetrator.⁶⁷ Victim care means relationship-repair assistance or separation by transfer; perpetrator measures mean discipline under the work rules plus recurrence prevention.⁶

The administrative outcomes are advice, guidance, or recommendations to the employer.¹² Where an employer ignores a pawahara recommendation, the Minister may make that non-compliance public; the EEO Act gives the same publication trigger for its violations.¹² A worker dissatisfied with the employer's solution may request mediation through the prefectural Labor Bureau.⁷

Conciliation runs before three conciliators who may propose a settlement and recommend acceptance; where conciliation stops without agreement, the civil filing path remains with prescription-period postponement rules.² No source consulted guarantees a fixed timetable, and practitioner material describes mediation as typically concluding within weeks while stressing that employer participation is voluntary.¹⁴

Dated records decide investigations more than testimony does

Consultation representatives must confirm facts from both the worker and the alleged perpetrator, so contemporaneous dated records kept off company devices carry the most weight.⁴¹² Start the record at the first incident, not at the first consultation.

Foreign Employees: Documented Friction Points

Statutory coverage is equal: foreign workers hold the same consultation, no-retaliation, and mediation rights as Japanese workers.⁴⁵ The guidelines list nationality among the worker attributes to weigh when judging the manner and context of conduct.⁴

The documented friction is practical rather than legal.¹¹¹² Practitioner sources describe three recurring barriers: fear that reporting affects visa status, language-based exclusion or mockery of Japanese ability, and hesitation before Japanese-only counters.¹² On the visa point, reporting alone does not change status, and visa cancellation is an immigration decision rather than something an employer can impose; the three-month activity-cessation revocation trigger sits in immigration law outside the labor statutes cited here.¹²

A free multilingual first call exists in the Yorisoi Hotline at 0120-279-338, with Japanese available around the clock and foreign languages on limited schedules through the automated foreign-language option (as of 2026-05; confirm current language schedules with the hotline operator).¹² MHLW also lists multilingual working-conditions consultation by language on its foreign-worker page.¹⁴

Good to know

Keep a dated record from the first incident

Contemporaneous notes, messages, and logs kept off company devices are the decisive material in later fact-finding, since consultation representatives must confirm facts from both sides.⁴¹² Without dated evidence, the employer's investigation and any later Bureau conciliation turn on competing recollections.¹²

Retaliation for reporting is itself prohibited

Each regime separately bars dismissal or disadvantageous treatment for seeking consultation or stating facts in cooperation.¹²³ A retaliatory demotion, pay cut, transfer, or dismissal after a report is a fresh violation to escalate.¹²³

The Labor Standards Inspection Office is not the harassment counter

Harassment consultation and conciliation competence sits with the prefectural Labor Bureau and its EEO division and consultation corners.¹²¹² Filing at the Inspection Office costs weeks unless the matter overlaps with a wage, hours, or safety violation it enforces.¹²

Physical or sexual assault goes to the police in parallel

Conduct that is also a crime, such as assault, injury, indecent assault, or threats, can be reported to the police alongside the labor track.¹² The labor track of consultation and mediation and the criminal track run in parallel rather than substituting for each other.¹² Waiting for the internal process to finish before reporting a crime risks lost evidence.¹²

Customer harassment rules from October 2026 sit outside this article

Professional commentary describes new customer-harassment employment-management duties and job-hunting sexual-harassment measures taking effect from October 1 2026 (as of 2026-07; confirm current details with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).¹⁵ Those duties concern abuse by customers and conduct toward job applicants, not the three in-workplace categories covered here, so this article notes the boundary and stops.¹⁵

See also

• Service Overtime and the Karoshi Discourse
• Overtime, Working Hours, and the 36-Agreement
• Reading a Japanese Employment Contract
• Dismissal Law and the Unfair-Dismissal Standard
• The Foreigner Exception Trap
• Employment-Dispute Paths

References

Footnotes

1. Japanese Law Translation (Ministry of Justice). "Act on Comprehensively Advancing Labor Measures, and Stabilizing the Employment of Workers, and Enriching Workers' Vocational Lives" (労働施策の総合的な推進並びに労働者の雇用の安定及び職業生活の充実等に関する法律), Act No. 132 of 1966, last version Act No. 102 of 2019. https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3957/en ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶

2. Japanese Law Translation (Ministry of Justice). "Act on Equal Opportunity and Treatment between Men and Women in Employment" (雇用の分野における男女の均等な機会及び待遇の確保等に関する法律), Act No. 113 of 1972, last version Act No. 24 of 2019. https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4190/en ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸

3. Japanese Law Translation (Ministry of Justice). "Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members" (育児休業、介護休業等育児又は家族介護を行う労働者の福祉に関する法律), Act No. 76 of 1991, last version Act No. 58 of 2021. https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4340/en ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

4. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. "1 Power Harassment in the Workplace" (Akarui Shokuba Oendan foreign-workers English page, excerpts Act on Comprehensive Promotion of Labor Policies Article 30-2). https://www.no-harassment.mhlw.go.jp/foreign_workers/foreign_workers_en/1power/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵

5. Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Labor Consultation Center. "Labor Consultation Service for Foreign Workers" (foreign-worker labor consultation windows, confidentiality notice). https://www.hataraku.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/sodan/sodan/foreign.html ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. Kojima Law Offices. "Advice from Japan's Law Against Power Harassment" (professional labor-law guidance: six guideline types, June 1 2020 / April 1 2022 application dates, employer-measure categories). https://www.kojimalaw.jp/en/articles/0003 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹

7. Umeda, Sayuri (Law Library of Congress). "Japan: Law to Prevent Powa-Hara (Power Harassment) Takes Effect" (Global Legal Monitor, 2020-06-22; summarizes 2019 amendment, June 1 2020 effect, MHLW Notification No. 5 of 2020 guideline measures, Article 30-6 mediation). https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2020-06-22/japan-law-to-prevent-powa-hara-power-harassment-takes-effect/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

8. Stellex Law Firm (Arisawa). "Understanding Power Harassment in Japan: Legal Framework and Workplace Reality (Part 1)" (2025-10-30; professional guidance: three-element definition, six types, employer obligations, no-penalty plus advice/guidance/recommendation and publication structure). https://stellexlaw.com/en/japan-power-harassment-law-p1-definition-obligations/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

9. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. "2 Sexual Harassment in the Workplace" (Akarui Shokuba Oendan foreign-workers English page, excerpts Equal Employment Opportunity Act Article 11). https://www.no-harassment.mhlw.go.jp/foreign_workers/foreign_workers_en/2sexual/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

10. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. "3 Harassment Related to Pregnancy, Childbirth, Childcare Leave, etc. in the Workplace" (Akarui Shokuba Oendan foreign-workers English page, excerpts EEO Act Article 11-3 and Child Care and Family Care Leave Act Article 25). https://www.no-harassment.mhlw.go.jp/foreign_workers/foreign_workers_en/3maternity/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

11. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. "For workers. Do you have a hard time at your workplace?" (Akarui Shokuba Oendan foreign-workers portal: multilingual leaflets, pregnancy/childbirth/childcare-leave disadvantage prohibition). https://www.no-harassment.mhlw.go.jp/foreign_workers/ ↩ ↩² ↩³

12. TreeGlobalPartners (Sakurai Yuki). "Workplace Harassment in Japan: Your Rights and How to Report It as a Foreign Worker" (2026-05-11; resident-focused publisher guide: internal-first-not-required, Yorisoi Hotline number, inspection-office vs bureau distinction). https://treeglobalpartners.com/en/articles/workplace-harassment-japan/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶

13. Japan Federation of Bar Associations. "Legal Counseling for Foreigners" (local bar association windows, appointment and fee table). https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/en/legalinfo/counceling.html ↩ ↩² ↩³

14. TreeGlobalPartners (Sakurai Yuki). "Labor Consultation Hotlines and Resources in Japan: A Complete Guide for Foreign Workers" (2026-05-02; resident-focused publisher guide: Comprehensive Labor Consultation Corner mediation mechanics, MHLW multilingual page, community unions). https://treeglobalpartners.com/en/articles/labor-consultation-hotlines/ ↩ ↩² ↩³

15. Mori Hamada. "Recent Amendments to Japanese Employment Laws" (newsletter, 2026-07-24; professional guidance: October 1 2026 customer-harassment and job-hunting sexual-harassment employment-management measures). https://www.morihamada.com/en/insights/newsletters/143166 ↩ ↩²