Labor Policy Report No.13
Historical Development of Labor Law Policy on Pension Insurance in Japan

January 14, 2020

Summary

Research Objective

This research aims to clarify the relationship between the policies of pension law and labor law, tracing in detail the historical developments in expanding pension coverage for part-time workers and increasing flexibility in the timing of pension benefits, which are key points in discussions on the reform of the pension system, etc.

Research Method

Literature review

Key Findings

There is no new finding in the strict meaning. Originally, the Employees' Pension Insurance Act had provided for exemptions of day workers employed temporarily, but part-time workers had not been exempted from employees' pension insurance. The three division directors’ (of Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Social Insurance Agency) communication issued in 1980 introduced exemptions of part-time workers on the grounds that the requests from Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren, the predecessor to the Japan Business Federation [Keidanren]), treatment under the Employment Insurance Act, and the treatment of "dependents" under the Health Insurance Act. From the 21st century, equal treatment and balanced or proportional treatment of non-regular workers became an issue in labor policy, and attempts were repeatedly made to expand the coverage of employees' pension insurance for part-time workers. This was achieved as a result of the amendment to the Employees' Pension Insurance Act in 2012. Still, many part-time workers remain uninsured in small and medium-sized companies, and efforts are underway to extend coverage.

Chronological table

Year	Social security policy (major revisions)	Labor policy (major revisions)
1922	April: Health Insurance Act (Kenko Hoken Ho) enacted.
1926	June: Enforcement Order of Health Insurance Act enacted.
1927	January: Health Insurance Act enforced.
1934	Health Insurance Act amended.
1936		June: Retirement Reserve and Retirement Allowance Act (Taishoku Tsumitate-kin Oyobi Taishoku Teate Ho) enacted.
1939	March: Mariners Insurance Act (Sen-in Hoken Ho) enacted. April: Employees Health Insurance Act (Shokuin Kenko Hoken Ho) enacted. Health Insurance Act amended.
1940	Enforcement Order of Health Insurance Act amended.
1941	February: Workers' Pension Insurance Act (Rodosha Nenkin Hoken Ho) enacted.
1942	Health Insurance Act amended (provisions on an insured person’s dependent).
1944	February: Workers' Pension Insurance Act amended (to be replaced with Employees' Pension Insurance Act [Kosei Nenkin Hoken Ho]).
1947	April: Employees' Pension Insurance Act, and Health Insurance Act amended (transfer of insurance benefits for occupational accidents, etc.).	April: Labor Standards Act (Rodo Kijun Ho), and Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (Rodosha Saigai Hosho Hoken Ho) enacted. November: Unemployment Insurance Act enacted.
1948	July: Employees' Pension Insurance Act amended (monthly amount of remuneration). December: Act for Establishment of Advisory Council on Social Security enacted.
1949	July: Notice Ho-Hatsu No. 74 “The insured eligibility of the representative or managing partner of a legal entity.”
1590	November: Notice Ho-Bun-Hatsu No. 3082 “Application of the Health Insurance Act and the Employees' Pension Insurance Act to members of an enterprise cooperative established under the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Cooperatives Act.”	January: Notice Shoku-Hatsu No. 49 “Application of the Unemployment Insurance Law to persons employed in temporary or industrial homework jobs.”
1953	August: Employees' Pension Insurance Act amended (expansion of coverage).
1954	May: Employees' Pension Insurance Act fully amended (payment of pension benefits to males starting at the age of 60, etc.).
1956	July: Notice Ho-Bun-Hatsu No. 5114 “Application of the Health Insurance Act and the Employees' Pension Insurance Act to telephone operator renewing employment contract over two months.”
1957	Health Insurance Act amended (scope of dependents).
1959	April: National Pension Act (Kokumin Nenkin Ho) enacted.
1961	November: Nikkeiren requested adjustment of each pension scheme to the government.
1965	June: Employees' Pension Insurance Act amended (employees' pension fund [Kosei Nenkin Kikin] and occupational old-age pension scheme for workers aged 65 and over [Konenreisha Zaishoku Rorei Nenkin, also known as kozairo]1).
1968		June: Notice Shitsu-Ho-Hatsu No. 69 (three-fourths requirement (the unemployment insurance coverage for part-time workers whose prescribed working hours amount to three-fourths of those of full-time workers)).
1969	Employees' Pension Insurance Act amended (Zaishoku Rorei Nenkin, also known as teizairo,2 revision in the stipulation of applicable business establishments).
1970	March: Request by Nikkeiren (exemption of female part-time workers).
1973		September: Employment Measures Act (Koyo Taisaku Ho) amended (support for extension of mandatory retirement age).
1977	April: Notice Ho-Hatsu No. 9 “On certifying dependents who have some income.”
1980	June: 3 Kacho Naikan (Communication issued by three division directors on application of Health Insurance and Employee Pension Insurance Coverage to part-time workers).
1985	April: National Pension Act and Employees' Pension Insurance Act. amended (basic pension, Category III insured persons, payment of pension benefits to females starting at the age of 60, etc., deferred payment, abolition of kozairo).
1986		April: Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons (Konenreisha Koyo Antei Ho, originally enacted in 1971) (duty to endeavor to set the mandatory retirement age at 60, etc.).
1989	National Pension Act, and Employees' Pension Insurance Act amended (Mangatory enrollment for students aged 20 or older to the pension plan (with deletion of the provisions on payment of the basic part of pension benefits starting at the age of 65)).	June: Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons amended (duty to endeavor to re-employ persons aged up to 65).
1991		May: Childcare Leave Act (Ikuji Kyugyo Ho) enacted.
1993		June: Part-time Workers Act (Pato Rodo Ho) enacted (balanced or proportional treatment).
1994	National Pension Act, and Employees' Pension Insurance Act amended (payment of the basic part of pension benefits starting at the age of 65, earlier payment of basic pension, phased raising of teizairo, exemption of the insured from payment of insurance premiums during the childcare leave period).	June: Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons amended (prohibition of mandatory retirement age under 60, duty to endeavor to continue to employ persons aged up to 65). Employment Insurance Act amended (continuous employment benefits for the elderly, childcare leave benefits).
1998	April: Request by Nikkeiren (return to the State of the obligation to pay part of pension) October: Opinions from the Pension Council (Category III insured persons, part-time workers, etc.)
2000	March: National Pension Act, and Employees' Pension Insurance Act amended (payment starting at the age of 65 of the remuneration-proportional part of pension benefits, special measures for deferred payment of insurance premiums by students, abolition of early payment or deferred payment of employees' pension benefits, revival of kozairo exemption of the insured from payment of insurance premiums during the childcare leave period).	May: Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons amended (duty to endeavor to take measures to secure employment for persons aged up to 65).
2001	June: Defined Contribution Pension Act enacted. Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act enacted. December: Report of the Study Group on the Pension System Responding to Changes in Women's Lifestyle (Category III insured persons, part-time workers, childcare leave period).	November: Childcare and Family Care Leave Act amended (measures to shorten working hours).
2004	National Pension Act, and Employees' Pension Insurance Act amended (fixed upper limit for insurance premiums, automatic adjustment of the benefit level, revival of deferred pension payment, reform of the teizairo, expansion of measures giving consideration during the childcare leave period (delayed for part-time workers)).	June: Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons amended (obligation to take measures for securing employment for persons aged up to 65 (with exception under labor-management agreement)).
2006	National Pension Act, and Employees' Pension Insurance Act amended (expansion of kozairo).
2007	Bill for the amendment of the Employees' Pension Insurance Act toward integration of employees' pension plans submitted (expansion of coverage for part-time workers).	May: Part-time Workers Act amended (prohibition of employment discrimination against part-time workers).
2009	2007 Bill abandoned.
2010	December: Notice Nen- Kan-Ki-Hatsu No. 1215-2 “Handling of cases where it is subsequently discovered that a period recorded and managed as being insured under Category III was, in fact, the period insured under Category I.”
2012	August: Amendment of the Pension Act for Reinforcing the Financial Basis and the Minimum Level of Security Functions of Public Pensions (first phase of expansion of coverage for part-time workers, and measures giving consideration to maternity leave).	August: Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons amended (duty to take measures to secure employment for persons aged up to 65).
2013	June: Amendment of the Pension Act for Ensuring Soundness and Reliability of the Public Pension System (abolition of the employees' pension fund, resolution of the issue of treatment as Category III insured persons). October: Act on Promotion of Reform for Establishing a Sustainable Social Security System (Shakai Hosho Kaikaku Puroguramu Ho).
2016	June: Defined Contribution Pension Act (Kakutei Kyoshutsu Nenkin Ho) amended (expansion of the scope of the pension plan participants). December: Amendment of the Pension Act for Improving Sustainability of the Public Pension System (second phase of expansion of coverage for part-time workers).
2019	September: Results of the discussion of the Meeting to Discuss the Response of Social Insurance to Diversification of Work Styles; Discussion at the Pension Subcommittee of the Social Security Council. December: The Council compiled the “summary of the discussion.”	June: Action Plan of the Growth Strategy (securing employment opportunity for persons aged up to 70), discussed at the Subcommittee on Basic Employment Measures of the Labour Policy Council. December: The Subcommittee compiled results of the discussion.

Contribution to Policy

While this report may appear to be an accumulation of well-known facts for policymakers, it could be a useful summary as there is nothing equivalent that indicates the association between labor policy and social security policy in such a historical manner.

Contents

• Labor Policy Report No.13, full text (PDF:1.3MB) [in Japanese]

For Citation

Hamaguchi, Keiichiro. 2020. Nenkin Hoken no Rodo Seisaku [Historical Development of Labor Law Policy on Pension Insurance in Japan]. JILPT Labor Policy Report no.13. Tokyo: The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training.

Category

Employment/Unemployment

Research Period

FY2019

Author

HAMAGUCHI Keiichiro

Research Director General, The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training

Related Research

• JILPT Labor Policy Report No. 7, Safety Nets for Labor Market in Japan (2010)
• JILPT Research Series No. 182, Survey on Response to Expansion of Social Insurance Coverage and Survey on Changes in Work Styles along with Expansion of Coverage of Social Insurance (2018)