41% of companies fail to meet legal employment rate for people with disabilities in Wakayama

From NHK

January 23 2025

WAKAYAMA – As of June last year (2024), the employment rate of people with disabilities at companies in the prefecture was 2.78% on average, the highest ever, while 41% of the target companies did not meet the statutory employment rate set by the national government. The Wakayama Labor Bureau stated, “There are companies that do not fully understand or prepare for the system, and we would like to continue to support them.”

The national government sets employment rates for people with disabilities by law for each company and public institution, with the rate set at 2.5% for private companies.

According to the Wakayama Labor Bureau, the employment rate of people with disabilities at 700 target companies in the prefecture was 2.78% on average as of June 1 last year, up 0.07 points from the same period the year before (2023), the highest ever.

However, only 413 of the 700 companies met the statutory employment rate of 2.5%, and 287 companies, or 41% of the total, did not meet the statutory employment rate.

In addition, 169 of the 287 companies that did not meet the statutory employment rate did not employ a single person with a disability.

The Wakayama Labor Bureau commented, “There are companies that do not adequately understand or prepare for the system. We will provide guidance to companies that do not meet the statutory employment rate, and we would like to provide a range of support, from recruiting to employee retention.”

The statutory employment rate for companies is scheduled to be raised to 2.7% in July next year (2026), so further measures will be required.