Penalties for employing someone illegally rise in April 2027: what due diligence means now
For any company in Japan with foreign staff, the heaviest legal risk is the offense of facilitating illegal employment under Article 73-2 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (in Japanese). It reaches the person who hired and the company behind them, and the penalty goes up on April 1, 2027. This article walks through what the law says and what a reasonable hiring check looks like.
What is punished
Paragraph 1 of Article 73-2 covers three acts: having a foreign national engage in illegal work in the course of business, placing a foreign national under one's control in order to have them work illegally, and brokering either of those as a business.
"Illegal work" is broader than hiring someone who has overstayed. The Immigration Services Agency's leaflet for employers (in Japanese) gives three cases: people with no right to be in Japan working, people whose status does not permit work working without permission, and people working outside the scope they were granted. Its examples include someone approved as a language teacher working on a factory line and a student working more hours than permitted.
The penalty before and after April 1, 2027
| Period | Maximum penalty | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Now, through March 31, 2027 | Imprisonment of up to 3 years, a fine of up to 3 million yen, or both | Current Article 73-2 |
| From April 1, 2027 | Imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to 5 million yen, or both | Article 73-2 as amended by Act No. 60 of 2024 |
The increase comes from the amendment promulgated on June 21, 2024, and the e-Gov law database lists April 1, 2027 as its effective date. Some articles online already quote the higher figures. As of October 2026 the three year and 3 million yen limits still apply.
Article 76-2 adds that when an employee commits this offense in the course of the company's business, the company is fined as well as the individual.
Not knowing is no defense unless you were careful
Paragraph 2 of Article 73-2 says that a person cannot escape punishment by claiming they did not know one of three things: that the worker's activity was outside what their status allows, that the worker had no permission to work outside their status under Article 19 paragraph 2, or that the worker was an overstayer or otherwise listed in Article 70. The only exception is when there was no negligence. The ISA leaflet spells out what negligence means in practice: not checking the residence card.
So due diligence here is concrete. It means reading the card correctly, confirming any permission for work outside the status, and keeping a record that you did.
A hiring check in five steps
- Ask for the original residence card. Apart from special permanent residents, a person without a card generally cannot work.
- Read the work restriction field on the front. "No restriction on work" means any job. "Work permitted only within the status of residence" means you confirm that the job you are offering falls inside that status. "Work permitted only as designated in the designation document" (Designated Activities), and any Specified Skilled Worker card, means you also read the designation document. "Work not permitted" means you cannot hire unless step 3 applies.
- Check for permission to engage in activities outside the status. Under Article 19 paragraph 5 of the enforcement rules (in Japanese), the general permission allows up to 28 hours a week (up to 8 hours a day for students during school holidays set by their institution) and excludes work at adult entertainment businesses. If you hire students or dependents, managing those hours is your responsibility.
- Note the expiry date of the period of stay and check again at every renewal. Cards issued on or after June 14, 2026 do not print the period of stay; the ISA card reader app displays it from the version released on August 19, 2026.
- Use the reader app to compare the IC chip with the printed card, and run the card number through the ISA's invalid number lookup.
We cover the details in checking the new residence card and the 28 hour rule. Remember too that every foreign hire and departure must be reported to Hello Work, and missing that filing carries a fine of up to 300,000 yen (our guide).
Enforcement is real
The ISA designates June each year as a campaign month for proper employment of foreign nationals. During June 2026 (in Japanese) it carried out enforcement at more than 190 homes and workplaces and caught more than 400 people. One of the published cases involved a farm that had a legally resident foreign national do piecework at home without permission; the farmer was arrested for facilitating illegal employment. Small jobs are not exempt.
As the dispatching employer, Sincero Global checks the residence status and permitted scope of work of every person we dispatch before introducing them to a client. If you hire directly and want a second pair of eyes on a card, or are unsure whether a role fits a candidate's status, reach us by phone at +81 90 7841 8887, by email at info@sinceroglobal.jp, or on LINE.
