Renewed regional minimum wages became effective in October, but companies also need to pay attention to industrial minimum wages. This article explains about industrial minimum wages.
[1] Industrial minimum wages
Industrial minimum wages refer to the wage standards set for specific types of business. When requested by relevant labor and management, the prefectural minimum wage council reviews and discusses wage standards of the industry. If the council finds it necessary, a higher wage standard than the regional minimum wage is set.
Regional minimum wages serve as a safety net that guarantees all workers’ minimum wages, whereas industrial minimum wages are aimed to complement the effort of labor and management to set companies’ minimum wages. Applicable industries vary by prefectures. As of March 31, 2025, there are 224 cases where industrial minimum wages are set, covering about 2.9 million workers.
[2] Tricks and traps
Industrial minimum wages are applied to workers in the specific industries, including technical interns, foreign staff and workers hired exclusively to conduct administrative tasks. However, there are exclusions for each industry, such as workers under 18 or aged 65 or over, workers recently hired and are still in the process of acquiring necessary skills, or workers engage in light labor specific to the industry.
Unlike regional minimum wages, which are applied to all workers regardless of types of business or ages, industrial minimum wages may only be applied to certain workers in a same industry or workplace.
Companies need to comply with the regional or industrial minimum wage, whichever is higher. Even after revising wages according to the renewed regional minimum wage, companies may be required to revise them again, if the industrial minimum wage is set. Please check hourly wages of employees and be sure they are in line with the latest industrial standard.
[Reference]
The Labor Ministry, “Industrial minimum wages”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000041788.html
*The information is based on laws and regulations as of the date of the original article.
