Key Upcoming Changes to Japan’s Whistleblower Protection Act: Enhanced Protections, Stricter Penalties

On 4 June 2025 Japan passed a bill to amend the Whistleblower Protection Act. The changes will have a significant impact on employers and increase noncompliance risks, including through criminalization of retaliatory behavior and intensified enforcement powers. The changes signal a new era of heightened regulatory scrutiny for whistleblower practices in Japan, and will require employers to review their obligations and systems and operationalize the changes. Whistleblowers are protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act (as amended, “Act”), which was initially enacted in 2004 and substantially reformed in 2020. The 2020 amendments, which became effective in 2022, greatly expanded the whistleblower protections, for example, by broadening the scope of who qualifies for protection and the nature of the matters eligible for reports,...To read the full article, please see the PDF file

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