Miyagi steps up disability employment support after Sendai welfare provider suspension

By Barrier Free Japan

August 25 2026

MIYAGI – The Miyagi Labour Bureau, Sendai city government and the Miyagi branch of the Japan Organization for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers will jointly call on employers and economic organizations to strengthen efforts to promote and maintain employment of people with disabilities, prefectural officials said Monday. The initiative comes amid scrutiny of the provision of disability welfare services in Sendai.

The initiative will be carried out in September, which is designated as Disability Employment Support Month.

Officials will visit the Miyagi Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Sendai at 2 p.m. on Sept. 1 to make the request. The prefecture will also send written requests to about 2,300 businesses across Miyagi.

The request calls on employers to further promote the hiring of people with disabilities, develop their vocational skills, prohibit discrimination and provide reasonable accommodation. It also urges businesses to accept workplace visits and work-experience placements for people seeking employment and to take steps to help them remain in their jobs.

Companies that have not met the statutory employment quota for people with disabilities will also be urged to achieve the quota as soon as possible.

The initiative comes amid scrutiny of the provision of disability welfare services in Sendai.

On Aug. 7, Sendai announced that it had suspended for three months the designation of disability welfare services operated by Kibidango Co. after finding that the company had improperly obtained designation for a Type B continuous employment support facility and received benefits despite failing to meet required staffing levels.

The suspension runs from Aug. 10 through Nov. 9 and concerns the company’s Carikaku Sendai Yaotome Station Office in Izumi Ward.

According to the city, Kibidango provided information that differed from the facts concerning the working arrangements of full-time employees when applying for designation in January. The city subsequently found that the facility failed to meet statutory staffing requirements from January through March and improperly claimed training-related benefits without applying a required reduction.

Sendai is seeking repayment of ¥14,896, including ¥10,640 in improperly claimed benefits and a ¥4,256 penalty.

The facility had already been suspended since May 20 and had no users at the time of the latest administrative action, so the city said the three-month suspension would not affect current service users.

Against this backdrop, Miyagi’s employment support initiative emphasizes both expanding opportunities for people with disabilities to enter the workforce and ensuring that employment and support services are provided appropriately.

The prefecture is accepting media applications to cover the Sept. 1 visit until 5 p.m. Thursday.