Probation Period (Shiyō Kikan)
The Japan probation period starts your employment contract on day one, with the employer holding only a limited right to cancel it. Misreading those first 3 to 6 months as fire-at-will is the costliest mistake a new hire can make.12
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and the Japanese Law Translation site. This article is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed bengoshi (lawyer) or shakai hoken rōmushi (labor and social insurance attorney) for a contested probation dismissal or refusal-of-employment dispute.
Overview
This article explains the 試用期間 (shiyō kikan, "probation period") for new hires serving their first months in Japan. It covers how long probation runs, why dismissal during probation still faces a strong legal test, what pay and notice rules apply, and how confirmation works.12
The dismissal standard and notice rules below are national law. They apply identically in every prefecture and municipality.34 What varies company to company is duration, pay treatment, and evaluation steps, so check your own contract and work rules.
Who this article is for
You are a new hire before signing or inside your first months, whether a fresh graduate or a mid-career entrant. The article assumes a standard open-term hire with a probation clause.12
It does not design employer dismissal procedures and does not resolve an individual dispute. A contested refusal needs licensed counsel reading your facts.15
How Probation Works in Japan
Typical 3-month and 6-month terms
Three months is the common probation term, and 6 months appears where skills take longer to assess. No statute fixes a single mandatory length.12
Your employer must state your term in writing in your contract or 労働条件通知書 (rōdō jōken tsūchisho, "labor conditions notice") and align it with the 就業規則 (shūgyō kisoku, "work rules"). An unclear duration, evaluation standard, or extension clause is itself a dispute risk.42
Since April 2024, the labor conditions notice must also state the scope of possible future change to your workplace and duties, not only conditions at hiring.6 Ask for that item in writing if your template predates the revision.
Extension is allowed only where your contract or work rules expressly reserve it, and the extended total must stay reasonable. Practitioner guidance treats extension toward 6 months as needing care, with a stated reason and worker consent handled carefully.12
A term beyond about one year risks being treated as invalid for unreasonable length.1 Rolling extensions without a stated basis invite the same finding.
Probation as employment from day one
A probationary contract is already a labor contract in force. Courts describe it as a contract with a 解約権留保 (kaiyakuken ryūho, "reserved right of cancellation") exercisable at or near the end of probation.1
The leading framework comes from the Supreme Court judgment of 12 December 1973. Where facts unknown and not reasonably discoverable before hiring emerge during probation, and continued employment is objectively unreasonable in light of that reservation purpose, the employer may lawfully exercise the reserved termination right.1
A refusal of regular employment at term end, 本採用拒否 (hon-saiyō kyohi, "refusal of regular employment"), counts as a dismissal. It is not a non-event outside dismissal law.1
Dismissal in the middle of the term is possible but reviewed more strictly than end-of-term refusal. Courts reason that you could still improve through instruction in the remaining term.1
Probation differs from a 研修期間 (kenshū kikan, "training period"). A training period teaches duties without the reserved cancellation function.7
The diagram below shows the standard shape from hiring to confirmation.
Dismissal During Probation: The Legal Standard
The abuse-of-dismissal-rights standard still applies
Labor Contracts Act Article 16 states the core test: a dismissal lacking objectively reasonable grounds and not considered appropriate in general societal terms is treated as an abuse of rights and is invalid.3
That two-part test governs probation refusals as well as ordinary dismissals. Courts give employers somewhat wider room during probation because suitability assessment is the point, but they still apply real scrutiny.315
Documented effort decides many cases. Specific feedback, coaching, warnings, a chance to improve, and consistent standards strengthen a refusal. Months of silence followed by abrupt refusal weaken it.52
Paying 30 days allowance satisfies the procedure but leaves the reasonableness test untouched. A paid but groundless refusal can still be ruled invalid.5
Vague dissatisfaction with no examples, hiring regret, replacing you with cheaper labor, or punishing questions about pay, overtime, or visa paperwork are weak grounds. They do not satisfy Article 16 on practitioner reading.2
Discriminatory treatment on nationality, creed, or social status is barred for wages, hours, and other conditions under Labor Standards Act Article 3.4 Phrases tied to nationality or visa annoyance are not proper dismissal reasons.42
No statute compels a formal hearing before ordinary dismissal. Courts still weigh fair process under social appropriateness, so dismissal without hearing your side risks an invalidity finding.5
What courts have allowed and rejected
Courts draw the realistic line around three patterns: persistent incompetence after guidance, undisclosed disqualifying facts that destroy trust, and serious misconduct or safety breaches.12 The employer carries the burden to show specific documented reasons, since vague explanations rarely survive review.7
| Case | Facts | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo District Court, 31 Aug 20091 | Mid-career insurance hire, 6-month term dismissed at month 5; concealed recent employment and pending litigation, plus unauthorized side jobs and poor attitude | Upheld; trust destroyed beyond guidance repair |
| Tokyo District Court, 28 Jan 20151 | Civil-engineering hire, 3-month term; initial drafting defects improved through instruction | Invalidated; skills present and responsive to guidance |
| Tokyo District Court, 25 Feb 20191 | Financial-institution regulatory role, 3-month term; near-daily material errors with minimal improvement despite support | Upheld; weighed against accuracy-sensitive duties |
Ending employment before the term expires draws harder scrutiny because the remaining period could have produced improvement. Employers need a stronger record to justify cutting the evaluation short.1
The flow below states the test a court applies to a probation refusal.
Pay, Hours, and Working Conditions During Probation
Salary, minimum wage, and working hours
Minimum-wage, working-hour, and overtime floors apply during probation exactly as after confirmation.42 Probation status does not suspend the Labor Standards Act.
A lower probationary salary is allowed only where your written conditions state it clearly and the figure still clears minimum wage. An unwritten cut or a job-ad figure quietly lowered in the contract is challengeable.42
Productive work under employer direction must be paid. Relabeling it as unpaid trial, shadowing, or assessment does not remove the wage duty.2
Bonuses and company-specific perks may differ during probation only where your work rules or contract say so. Statutory entitlements cannot be reduced by probation status on practitioner reading.2
Labor Standards Act Article 15(1) requires explicit disclosure of wages, hours, and other conditions at hiring. Where a stated condition diverges from fact, Article 15(2) lets you cancel immediately, with Article 15(3) travel-expense cover for a relocated worker returning home within 14 days.4
Workplaces with 10 or more workers must draw up work rules covering hours, wages, and separation matters including dismissal grounds, and file them. Your contract terms should not contradict those filed rules.42
Dismissal notice and the 14-day exception
Labor Standards Act Article 20 requires at least 30 days advance notice of dismissal, or payment of average wages for the shortfall as 解雇予告手当 (kaiko yokoku teate, "dismissal notice allowance").45
Article 21 exempts workers in a probationary period from Article 20. That exemption ends once you have been employed consecutively for more than 14 days.4
| Tenure at dismissal | Notice rule |
|---|---|
| Within first 14 consecutive days of probation | Article 20 notice or allowance may not be required42 |
| After 14 consecutive days, including rest of probation | 30 days notice or allowance generally required42 |
Treating the whole 3-month or 6-month probation as notice-free is the common misunderstanding. The statute limits the exception to the first 14 days only.42
Separately, Article 19 bars dismissal during work-injury medical leave plus 30 days, and during pre- and post-natal leave plus 30 days, except with discontinuation compensation or certified unavoidable closure.4
On separation you may request a certificate stating period, occupation, position, wages, and reason for separation including dismissal grounds. Your employer must deliver it without delay and must not add unrequested particulars.4
Ending Probation: Confirmation, Extension, and Resignation
Confirmation to regular employment
Confirmation follows either automatic continuation absent a refusal, or an evaluation step where your contract or work rules provide one. Obtain the outcome in writing.12
Criteria should be stated in advance: attendance, core-duty performance, rule compliance, communication, response to feedback, and hiring-statement accuracy. Vague post hoc standards weaken a later refusal.2
Request the evaluation items, the feedback schedule, and the decision date in writing. Clear standards protect both sides and make any refusal easier to test fairly.2
Extension and resignation during probation
Extension needs an express reservation in your contract or work rules, a stated reason, and a total period that stays reasonable. Rolling extensions without basis invite dispute.12
You may resign during probation. Practitioner guidance treats written notice with a retained copy as the safe default for indefinite-term resignation.2
Fixed-term hires keep an extra layer. Labor Contracts Act Article 17 bars mid-term dismissal absent unavoidable circumstances, a stricter bar than the open-term refusal standard.32 Non-renewal at fixed-term expiry is distinct from mid-term dismissal, but Article 19 can still constrain refusal where repeated renewal or reasonable expectation of renewal exists.3
Good to know
Probation is not fire-at-will, even in month one
Article 16 scrutiny applies from day one, and the Article 21 notice exception ends after 14 consecutive days. Paying notice allowance still leaves the reasonableness test to satisfy, so early tenure does not create a reason-free zone.345
A missing probation clause helps the worker, not the employer
Article 15 requires explicit conditions, and the 2024 MHLW rules add scope-of-change disclosure for workplace and duties. An employer that later invokes an unwritten probation term faces the Article 16 burden without documentary footing.46
Undisclosed resume facts are the fastest route to a lawful refusal
The 2009 Tokyo decision upheld refusal where deliberate concealment of recent employment and pending litigation destroyed trust beyond guidance repair. Accuracy at hiring is your highest-leverage control.1
Resigning during probation still needs written notice
Practitioner guidance treats written notice with a retained copy as the safe default for indefinite-term resignation. An undocumented exit complicates final pay, separation documents, and handover.2
Your duties clause and visa status still interact during probation
Status-of-residence activity must still match your permitted category throughout probation. Practitioner sources flag visa paperwork timing and documentation as probation-period risks for foreign hires, with no probation exception in the labor statutes cited.27
See also
- Paid Leave (Yukyu-Kyuka) and How It's Taken
- Salary Negotiation in Japan
- The Japanese Resume: Rirekisho and Shokumukeirekisho
- Dismissal Law and the Unfair-Dismissal Standard
- Overtime, Working Hours, and the 36-Agreement