25% of Japan firms have failed to accommodate workers with disabilities: survey

From The Mainichi

November 16 2025

TOKYO – One in four major companies in Japan have had cases where they failed to reasonably accommodate employees with disabilities, a Mainichi Shimbun survey has shown.

In the Mainichi survey on the employment of workers with disabilities, 23 out of 92 major firms that responded reported failures.

The revised Act to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which took effect in 2016, mandates reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. The 2024 amendment to the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities requires private businesses to provide reasonable considerations for people with disabilities in general.

In 2024, the employment rate of people with disabilities at private companies reached a record high of 2.41%. However, the survey indicates that companies are struggling to address the employment of individuals with disabilities, as the accommodations they requested vary from case to case.

Cases of resignation due to ‘feeling alienated’

In September, the Mainichi distributed the survey questionnaire to 126 firms and had received responses from 92 by November. When asked if there were instances where reasonable accommodations were not made for employees with disabilities, 23 companies said “yes,” 54 said “no,” while 15 did not answer, giving reasons such as “it is difficult to judge.”

The employment promotion act requires businesses to take necessary measures to accommodate the characteristics of disabilities upon request, provided this does not impose an undue burden on the employer.

When asked about cases where accommodations were not made, companies cited challenges related to improvement of the workplace environment, such as there being “an insufficient environment to accommodate disability characteristics, leading to unsuccessful hiring” and “the cost and time required for making facilities barrier-free, which has not been fully addressed, thus limiting employment.”

There were also cases where there was insufficient coordination with the individuals involved regarding appropriate considerations, with firms’ comments including, “A hearing-impaired employee felt alienated due to insufficient communication and resigned,” “A physically disabled employee suddenly resigned because the accommodations provided did not match their expectations,” and, “When a supervisor changed, the handover of accommodative measures was inadequate, causing the employee so much distress that they considered leaving their job.”

Calls for a consultation desk 

On the other hand, 79 companies reported that they had instances where they did provide reasonable considerations. Examples included, “When difficulties arose in job operations, we introduced the local government’s job coaching support program to facilitate smoother communication,” and, “We allowed the use of earmuffs for noise reduction and sunglasses for light sensitivity after discussions with the employee.”

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare regularly publishes past examples for reference to help address challenges posed by the varying needs of individuals with different disabilities.

Companies expressed the need for “the creation and dissemination of more specific case studies based on compatibility with the Labor Standards Act” and “a dedicated consultation desk for businesses to seek expert advice as there are cases where it is difficult to determine the extent of accommodation required without incurring an undue burden.”

The survey also addressed the careers of employees with disabilities. When asked if there are employees with disabilities in managerial or executive positions, 62 firms said “yes,” and 13 said “no.” When asked if they made efforts to take employees with disabilities into account in their human resources systems, 58 companies said “yes,” and 23 said “no.” Specific initiatives included “a system for promoting contract workers to full-time positions after a certain period” and “salary increases based on job performance and work attitude.”