On February 19^th, 2021, the 104^th meeting of the Labor Policy Council’s Subcommittee on Employment for Persons with Disabilities heard a report by the Japan Organization for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities, and Job Seekers (JEED) on the results of a survey of the employment situation in industries subject to the exclusion rate system relating to Mandatory Employment of Persons with Disabilities. Under this system, some industries are allowed to reduce the legal employment quota for persons with disabilities if it is deemed difficult for them to hire people with disabilities due to the nature of the industries (hereinafter referred to as “exempt industries”).

The exclusion rate system was once abolished by the amendment of the Law for Employment Promotion etc. of the Disabled in 2002; however, it has been maintained in practice for the time being, taking into consideration the situation of individual companies. The purpose of this survey was to understand the current situation and issues surrounding the employment of persons with disabilities in the exempt industries, as reference when considering the abolition of this system in the future. It consisted of a questionnaire survey sent to workplaces (February - March 2020) and interviews with companies (July - October 2020). Responses were received from 7,341 workplaces out of 25,700 (28.6%), and the cases of 8 companies are analyzed in the report, which includes the following points:

For more information, please visit the following link (Japanese only):https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/11704000/000742307.pdf