Category: Employment

Last December, the company had its designation revoked by Kanazawa City for fraudulently receiving 30.41 million yen in benefit payments intended for employment support for people with disabilities. The city had demanded a payment of 42.58 million yen, which included additional penalties, but it was not paid by the January 5th deadline of this year and the city is currently considering filing criminal charges.

The statutory employment quota (hōtei koyōritsu) requiring companies to employ a minimum proportion of people with disabilities will be raised from 2.5% to 2.7% on July 1. The aim is to further promote employment of people with disabilities. However, fewer than half of companies currently meet even the existing quota, highlighting ongoing challenges in creating suitable workplace environments.

A new welfare service designed to help disabled people find jobs suited to their abilities is spreading across Japan, but concerns remain that providers may steer users toward affiliated workplaces rather than make impartial recommendations. While supporters say the program can help people find more suitable career paths, critics warn that operators involved in assessing users may have a financial incentive to direct them to their own facilities.

“How am I supposed to make a living from now on? More than anger toward the company, what I feel is anxiety.” With these words, a 40-year-old Osaka man who had been using one of Kizuna HD’s facilities lowered his shoulders in discouragement.

Fraudulent claims for public disability welfare payments by operators providing services to support the daily lives and employment of people with disabilities totaled approximately ¥8 billion nationwide over the five years from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2024, it was revealed on the 6th. The figure was obtained by Kyodo News through an information disclosure request for data held by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. During the same five-year period, 936 cases of administrative sanctions were imposed in connection with fraudulent claims and related misconduct.

The fraudulent claims amounted to approximately 7 million yen in total, disbursed across 17 municipalities in four prefectures: Ibaraki, Chiba, Saitama, and Tokyo. The respective local governments will demand the return of approximately 9.8 million yen, which includes surcharge penalties. This marks the fifth time since July 2025 that Ibaraki prefecture has revoked a facility’s designation due to fraudulent benefit claims and document forgery.