Japan introduces legal safeguards against harassment of jobseekers

Japan has introduced legal safeguards against sexual harassment directed at people seeking jobs, requiring employers to take steps to prevent staff from harassing applicants during recruitment. The amendments to the Equal Employment Opportunity Act took effect last week. They cover harassment in workplaces and other settings, including abuse by customers, and specifically address what the health and labour ministry calls “job-seeking sexual harassment”.

The ministry lists conduct including sexual jokes that cause distress, pressure to enter a sexual relationship and repeated invitations to one-to-one meals or drinks. It also identifies inappropriate questions about sexual matters as part of the problem. Companies that fail to act can be publicly identified by the ministry and may face civil lawsuits and financial damages.

Chisato Kitanaka, a sociology professor at Hiroshima University who advises the government on gender issues, described the reform as a step forward but said it did not provide formal punishment for companies. A labour ministry survey of 1,000 recent jobseekers in 2023 found that 31.9% said they had experienced harassment. More than a quarter of those affected cited unnecessary physical contact or sexual questions, while nearly 29% reported sexual jokes or teasing.

Kitanaka said government discussions had taken five years and that protections remained weaker for part-time workers, freelancers and others in precarious employment. Sumie Kawakami, a Yamanashi Gakuin University lecturer, said the conduct had continued for decades. Several cases have brought the issue to public attention, including allegations involving recruiters who invited students to private premises or used job-related contacts to facilitate sexual assaults.

Kawakami said public naming could still influence companies because employers were competing for qualified staff.