Employer of Record
Hire in Japan without a local entity
through a licensed local employer
EMPLOYER OF RECORD IN JAPAN
Hire in Japan without setting up a company — through a licensed local employer.
iAP becomes the legal employer of your Japan staff. We handle the contract, payroll, social insurance, tax and work visa. You direct the work. When you are ready, we move them into your own KK.
WHY EOR
Hire in Japan without running a Japanese company
No accounting
No Japanese books, monthly closing or statutory audit to maintain. You receive one monthly invoice from iAP.
No tax filing
No Japanese corporate tax, consumption tax or local tax returns. As the employer, iAP handles payroll withholding and the year-end adjustment.
No PE
Your hire is employed by iAP, not by your company, so you do not open a branch or office in Japan.*
* A permanent establishment can still arise if the employee habitually negotiates or signs contracts on your behalf. We review the role with you before the hire.
WHY A LICENSE
Japan has no EOR law. It has a worker dispatch law.
When a local company employs someone who works under your direction, Japanese authorities can treat it as worker dispatch. Running dispatch without a license is an offence under the Worker Dispatching Act.
The risk also lands on you. Under Article 40-6, a client that receives unlicensed dispatch can be deemed to have offered the worker direct employment on their current terms.
iAP holds a dispatch license, so your arrangement sits inside the law from day one.
HOW IT WORKS
From signed offer to first payday in about two weeks
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01
Tell us about the hire
Role, salary, start date and where they will work. We send a full cost estimate in yen.
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02
We issue a compliant contract
Bilingual employment contract and dispatch agreement, plus the work visa application if needed.
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03
Start in about 2 weeks
Social insurance enrolment, monthly payroll and a single invoice with an English report.
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04
Move to your own KK
When your team grows, we set up your entity and transfer staff, books and payroll with no new vendor.
SERVICE
What’s included
Employment contracts and work rules
Bilingual contracts, work rules and the 36 Agreement for overtime, filed with the Labour Standards Office.
Monthly payroll
Salary calculation, withholding tax, payslips in English and Japanese, and payment in yen.
Social and labour insurance
Health insurance, pension, employment insurance and workers’ compensation — enrolment, changes and annual updates.
Work visa support
We support the work visa application for hires coming from overseas, as their employer in Japan.
Year-end adjustment and filings
Nenmatsu chōsei, withholding slips and statutory reports to tax offices and municipalities.
Bilingual support and offboarding
A named contact for employees, and notice, final pay and insurance filings handled the Japanese way.
FOR EOR AND GLOBAL PAYROLL PLATFORMS
Your in-country partner for Japan
No Japan entity of your own? iAP can be the local employer behind your platform, or run payroll for your customers’ Japanese entities. Your brand stays in front of the customer.
Discuss a partnership ›-
Licensed local employer
Removes the dispatch-law exposure that partner-routed EOR faces in Japan.
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English data and reporting
Payroll inputs and outputs in your format, with a clear monthly cut-off.
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Senior point of contact
Led by our Representative Director, a US CPA who handles cross-border tax and compliance personally.
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Referral, white-label or in-country partner
We fit the model you already run with other countries.
PRICE
One monthly fee per employee, quoted in yen
EOR support
¥100,000 〜
per employee per month (excl. consumption tax)
Salary and statutory employer costs (social insurance, about 15–16% of salary) are invoiced at cost on top of the fee. Visa support and the move to your own KK are quoted with your estimate.
FAQ
Questions we hear often
Q. Who is the legal employer?
iAP Inc. signs the employment contract and is named on payslips and insurance records. Your company directs the day-to-day work under a dispatch agreement with us.
Q. How long until my hire can start?
About two weeks from the signed quote. Hires who need a new work visa take longer, depending on the immigration review.
Q. Can you support a work visa?
Yes. As the employer in Japan, we support the work visa application for hires coming from overseas.
Q. Is there a limit on how long someone can stay on EOR?
Dispatch rules generally limit one assignment to three years. Most clients move staff to their own KK well before then, and we plan that move with you from the start.
Q. When should I set up my own company instead?
Once you have a handful of employees in Japan, or need to sign contracts and invoice locally, your own KK usually costs less. We will tell you when that point arrives.
Planning your first hire in Japan?
Send us the role and salary. We reply with a full yen cost estimate and the steps to start.