◆445 cases of violations
November 1 marked one year since the enforcement of the Freelance Business Transactions Law (hereinafter referred to as the “Freelance Law”), and the Fair Trade Commission, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which are the ministries and agencies under the jurisdiction of the Law, announced the results of a survey (November 2024 to September 2025) conducted among 30,000 ordering businesses regarding their transactions with freelance workers. The results of the survey are now publicly available.
According to the results, the Fair Trade Commission issued 4 “recommendations” and 441 “instructions” for violations of the Freelance Law. The recommendations were made to major publishing companies, music schools, and others for violations of Article 3, Paragraph 1 (obligation to clearly state business terms), Article 4, Paragraph 5 (obligation to pay remuneration on time), and Article 5, Paragraph 2, Item 1 (prohibition of requests to provide unfair economic benefits) of the Act.
In addition, in March of this year, the Committee intensively investigated businesses in the game software industry, animation production work, and relaxation industry, and instructed 45 companies to correct the descriptions in contracts and purchase orders, the method of placing orders, and the method of setting payment due dates.
◆Attention should also be paid to anti-harassment measures and recruitment.
According to prefectural labor bureaus, there have been many cases of guidance, etc. concerning violations of the obligation to establish a system for anti-harassment measures (Article 14 of the Freelance Law) and the obligation to accurately display recruitment information (Article 14 of the same law).
The ordering business must take measures such as establishing a system for consultation to prevent harassment from harming the working environment of freelancers.
When recruiting freelancers through advertisements, etc., the information must not be false or misleading, and must be kept accurate and up-to-date.
When outsourcing work to freelancers, it is necessary to reconfirm the items regulated by the Freelance Law.
Record of the regular press conference of the Director-General dated November 5, 2025, Fair Trade Commission of Japan.
https://www.jftc.go.jp/houdou/teirei/2025/251105.html
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “One year has passed since the enforcement of the Act on the Proper Treatment of Transactions between Freelancers and Business Operators!
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/bunya/freelance_00006.html
