---
title: Probation in Japan doesn't mean you can let someone go
description: In Japan, not confirming a hire after probation is a dismissal and needs a solid reason. Notice applies after day 14, and fixed-term contracts don't help.
image: https://nobusato.jp/hubfs/probation-dismissal-in-japan-cover-en.png
---

[Nobu Sato](https://nobusato.jp/en?hsLang=en)

[Home](https://nobusato.jp/en?hsLang=en) [Profile](https://nobusato.jp/en/profile?hsLang=en) [Articles](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog?hsLang=en) [Contact](https://nobusato.jp/en/contact?hsLang=en)

[日本語](https://nobusato.jp/ja/blog/probation-dismissal-in-japan)[English](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/probation-dismissal-in-japan)[中文](https://nobusato.jp/zh/blog/probation-dismissal-in-japan)

[Organizations & Hiring](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/tag/organizations-hiring)

# Probation in Japan doesn't mean you can let someone go

[Nobu Sato](https://nobusato.jp/en/profile?hsLang=en)

![Probation in Japan doesn't mean you can let someone go](https://nobusato.jp/hs-fs/hubfs/probation-dismissal-in-japan-cover-en.png?width=1200&height=630&name=probation-dismissal-in-japan-cover-en.png)

In Japan, a probation period is not a free exit. Refusing to confirm someone at the end of probation is legally a dismissal, and it needs a reason that would stand up in court.

A hire of mine once went wrong. Every reference had been glowing. Once he started, his execution fell well short of what we needed.

## What probation means under Japanese law

The rule comes from the Supreme Court's 1973 Mitsubishi Jushi decision. Probation is an employment contract with a reserved right to terminate. The contract exists from day one. The company has only kept the right to end it.

That right can be used only when the company learns something during probation that it couldn't have known at hiring, and ending the contract on that basis is objectively reasonable. Courts give employers more room than for a regular dismissal. Not as much more as most headquarters assume.

Probation: termination right reserved, dismissal rules still applyStartDay 14End of probationRegularContract in forceAfter this, 30 days' noticeor 30 days' payNot confirming = dismissalNeeds a sound reason

**Fig.1**Three points in a Japanese probation period. The contract is in force from day one, notice rules apply after day 14, and not confirming someone at the end is legally a dismissal.

## The 14-day rule is about notice, not reasons

Article 21 of the Labor Standards Act lets you dismiss a probationary employee in the first 14 days without the usual 30 days' notice. After day 14 you need 30 days' notice or 30 days' average pay, like anyone else.

It's often misread as "no notice needed during probation." The 14 days only affect the notice procedure. The need for a valid reason applies from the first day.

## What Japanese courts have decided

Employers do win these cases, including for mid-career hires.

In the G-sha case (Tokyo District Court, February 2019), a securities salesperson hired as ready-to-go kept repeating the same mistakes after many rounds of guidance. Dismissal at the end of probation was upheld. In the Doronko-kai case (Tokyo District Court, January 2019), a department head hired at ¥10 million a year lacked the management ability he was hired for, and the refusal to confirm him was upheld.

Employers also lose. In the Open Tide Japan case, a senior manager hired on generous terms was let go for poor performance, and the court did not accept that his ability was poor enough. Another company lost after dismissing someone for not greeting the chairman out loud.

The employers who won had a few things in common. The role's expectations were written down at hiring. Guidance was recorded. The employee had a real chance to improve, and the problems kept coming back. The ones who lost were usually missing one of those.

## Three traps foreign companies fall into

**Using a one-year contract instead of probation.** In the Kobe Koryo Gakuen case (1990), the Supreme Court said that if the purpose of a fixed term is to test suitability, it is treated as probation. Not renewing is judged like not confirming. Some experts think the bar is actually higher in a fixed-term setup.

**Ending probation early.** Unless your work rules say employment can be ended during probation, you generally can't, short of something like a falsified resume.

**Keeping no records.** Probation is partly a training period. A court will ask what training and guidance you gave and how many conversations you had. "It didn't feel right" won't hold.

Probation also can't run forever. An unreasonably long period can be ruled invalid. Six months is generally treated as the practical ceiling.

## If you think you've hired wrong

Write down the facts early, ideally in the first month: what you expected at hiring, what actually happened, where the gap is, each conversation and what changed after it.

Then talk honestly. When both sides know it isn't working, a mutually agreed exit is usually better for everyone than a labor tribunal. Whether to offer a settlement, and how much, depends on the case, so talk to a lawyer first. Even at a tribunal, about seven in ten cases end in a settlement, as I wrote in [the labor tribunal numbers](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/japan-labor-tribunal-cases?hsLang=en).

Two things not to do: walk someone out of the building on the day, or stop giving them work until they quit. The first is what IBM Japan did in the lockout dismissals the courts struck down. The second is easily seen as forcing a resignation.

## The cheaper fix is hiring right

By the time you know a hire was wrong, most of the money is gone. As I worked out in [what one hire in Japan really costs](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/true-cost-of-hiring-in-japan?hsLang=en), year one through an agency runs about 1.5x salary.

Two things help. Write what the role must deliver in the first 90 days into the job description, as events and numbers rather than adjectives. Clear expectations at hiring are exactly what helped the employers who won. And in reference checks, ask about specific things the person did, not whether they're good. What you can learn from references in Japan is limited, as I wrote in [reference checks in Japan](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/background-checks-in-japan?hsLang=en).

## Where I'm not sure

Each case turns on its facts. The same performance gap can go either way with different facts or a different judge, and there are rulings on both sides for well-paid mid-career managers. This isn't legal advice. If you're facing it, talk to an employment lawyer.

Have you had a probation in Japan that didn't work out? How did it end?

References

- [BUSINESS LAWYERS: points to note when refusing regular employment, Chuo Sogo Law Office (Japanese)](https://www.businesslawyers.jp/practices/350)
- [Zennichi: is dismissal during probation easy? Ohno Labor and Social Security Attorneys (Japanese)](https://www.zennichi.or.jp/law_faq/%E8%A9%A6%E7%94%A8%E6%9C%9F%E9%96%93%E4%B8%AD%E3%81%AE%E8%A7%A3%E9%9B%87%E3%83%BB%E6%9C%AC%E6%8E%A1%E7%94%A8%E6%8B%92%E5%90%A6%E3%81%AF%E5%AE%B9%E6%98%93%E3%81%AB%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8B%E3%81%AE/)
- [Keiyaku Watch: refusing regular employment, Katsuura Sogo Law Office (Japanese)](https://keiyaku-watch.jp/chokoben/media/honsaiyo_kyohishitai)
- [MHLW: court cases on probation, Kobe Koryo Gakuen (Japanese)](https://www.check-roudou.mhlw.go.jp/hanrei/shogu/shiyou.html)
- [Okinawa Labour Bureau: dismissal during probation, Labor Standards Act Article 21 (Japanese)](https://jsite.mhlw.go.jp/okinawa-roudoukyoku/yokuaru_goshitsumon/jigyounushi/careers_question_3.html)
- [Rodo Shimbun case law: G-sha, Tokyo District Court, February 25, 2019 (Japanese)](https://www.rodo.co.jp/precedent/89571/)
- [Rodo Shimbun case law: Doronko-kai, Tokyo District Court, January 11, 2019 (Japanese)](https://www.rodo.co.jp/precedent/82928/)

As of October 2026. Not legal advice.

---

Shorter notes that don't make it into a full article go on LinkedIn. [Follow me there](https://www.linkedin.com/in/realnobusato/).

## More in this column

- ### [The people who aren't on the org chart](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/people-not-on-the-org-chart?hsLang=en)
  
  An org chart shows how a company wants information to flow, not how it flows. Reporting line vs influence line, and how ...
- ### [Why exit surveys never tell you why people left](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/why-exit-surveys-lie?hsLang=en)
  
  48% of leavers tell the company it's family; 13% mean it. Exit surveys ask the outer two layers of a person. People ...
- ### [A talent map is not a list. Here's the question it answers](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/talent-map-is-not-a-list?hsLang=en)
  
  When you can't fill a role, which requirement do you drop? That is what a talent map answers. Requirements multiply, ...

[← All articles](https://nobusato.jp/en/blog?hsLang=en)

## Writing about launching in Japan, in three languages.

[Profile](https://nobusato.jp/en/profile?hsLang=en) [Get in touch](https://nobusato.jp/en/contact?hsLang=en)

Nobu Sato

Writing about launching in Japan, in three languages.

[info@nobusato.jp](mailto:info@nobusato.jp) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/realnobusato/) [X](https://x.com/nobusato5888)

© 2026 Nobu Sato. All rights reserved.

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BreadcrumbList",
  "itemListElement" : [ {
    "@type" : "ListItem",
    "item" : "https://nobusato.jp/en",
    "name" : "Home",
    "position" : 1
  }, {
    "@type" : "ListItem",
    "item" : "https://nobusato.jp/en/blog",
    "name" : "Articles",
    "position" : 2
  }, {
    "@type" : "ListItem",
    "item" : "https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/probation-dismissal-in-japan",
    "name" : "Probation in Japan doesn't mean you can let someone go",
    "position" : 3
  } ]
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@id" : "https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/probation-dismissal-in-japan",
  "@type" : "WebPage",
  "author" : {
    "@id" : "https://nobusato.jp/#person"
  },
  "inLanguage" : "en",
  "isPartOf" : {
    "@id" : "https://nobusato.jp/en/blog",
    "@type" : "Blog",
    "name" : "Articles"
  },
  "name" : "Probation in Japan doesn't mean you can let someone go",
  "url" : "https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/probation-dismissal-in-japan"
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@id" : "https://nobusato.jp/#person",
  "@type" : "Person",
  "name" : "Nobu Sato",
  "sameAs" : [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/realnobusato/", "https://x.com/nobusato5888" ],
  "url" : "https://nobusato.jp/en/profile"
}
```

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Nobu Sato",
    "url" : "https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/author/nobu-sato"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2026-10-23T17:51:45.295Z",
  "datePublished" : "2026-10-23T17:50:32.000Z",
  "headline" : "Probation in Japan doesn't mean you can let someone go",
  "image" : [ "https://nobusato.jp/hubfs/probation-dismissal-in-japan-cover-en.png" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://nobusato.jp/en/blog/probation-dismissal-in-japan",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://nobusato.jp/hubfs/nobusatojp-1.jpg"
    },
    "name" : "nobusato.jp"
  }
}
```