First, let’s clear one thing up. Many so-called freelancers in Japan are actually misclassified by employers, often on purpose. They work under conditions that legally make them employees, subordinate to the company, with set hours, under direct supervision. If that’s you, then the Labour Standards Law and a whole host of other labor laws apply. You should be treated as an employee with full labour law protections, and you automatically have trade union rights. 

But that’s not the topic here. 

What we want to examine is what happens when you really are a freelancer, an independent contractor in form and in fact (or someone who doesn’t want to, or can’t, challenge their freelance status)? You set your own hours, you invoice, you pay your own tax. In that situation, can you still use a union? 

The Trade Union Law Test 

Japan’s Trade Union Law asks a very specific question: Are you a “worker”? Not “employee” in the Labour Standards Act sense—just “worker” under Article 3 of the Trade Union Law. 

If the answer is yes, then: 

• You can join a union. 

• The union can legally demand collective bargaining with your client. 

• If the client refuses, the union can file an unfair labour practice complaint at the Labour Commission. 

But it doesn’t go further than that. It doesn’t make you an employee. It doesn’t give you paid leave, social insurance (shakai hoken), or all the protections of the Labour Standards Act. This is a one-track question: union rights only. 

How the Law Decides 

There is a relatively simple test based on criteria developed by Japanese courts and labour commissions, most recently in the Uber Eats cases.  

Here is a summarised version of a checklist (go here for a more thorough test) that will help you think through your situation systematically. 

• Are you part of their business? 
  • Do they depend on people like you to run their main business operations?  

• Who controls the working relationship? 
  • Do they decide your pay rates, schedule, and working conditions without negotiation?

• How are you paid? 
  • Are you paid regularly (hourly/monthly) rather than per completed project?

• Can you say no?
  •  Would saying no to work assignments likely result in negative consequences?

• How much control does the contracting party/client have? 
  • Do they control when, where, and how you work in detail?  

• Are you really running your own business? 
  • This company is your only source of customers?

• You have no financial investment at risk – you just don’t get paid when there’s no work?  

• Your equipment is basic and not specialized for this business?

If you’ve mostly answered “yes”, you may be considered a “worker” under the Trade Union Law, even while remaining a freelancer for all other purposes. Please do note that the courts and labour commissions judge on a case-by-case basis, considering all circumstances together. Your checklist results don’t guarantee any particular legal outcome—they’re a starting point for understanding your rights. 

Why This Matters 

Take our original GABA branch. On paper, the company treated instructors as independent contractors, so they had no paid holidays, no employment insurance, and no health and pension insurance. At that time, we couldn’t get the Labour Standards Office, the Employment Insurance Office, or the Social Insurance Agency to declare them employees.  

So, when it came time to negotiate, GABA refused, saying they were not employees and therefore not eligible for union membership. The union then sued GABA at the Osaka Prefectural Labour Commission for refusal to enter into collective bargaining. The Labour Commission ruled that the instructors were “workers” under the Trade Union Law and therefore entitled to union rights. The Commission didn’t concern itself with whether they were employees—that question wasn’t its mandate. In the official world they were freelancers, but we could still use the Labour Commission to defend them and members had full trade union rights. 

Other cases—INAX maintenance technicians, opera singers at the New National Theatre, Uber Eats delivery riders—show the same principle. Freelancers can still have union rights when they’re economically dependent and structurally part of the company’s business. 

The Bottom Line 

Some freelancers are really employees in disguise. That’s another fight. 

But even if you are truly a freelancer, the Trade Union Law may still cover you. It only asks one question: are you a “worker”? If yes, you can unionise, bargain, and file at the Labour Commission. If no, you can’t. 

See our thorough checklist, then get in touch with us