Subsidy for Promoting Employment of Workers Aged 65 and Over (Course for Improving Evaluation Systems and Employment Management for Older Workers)

1) Overview: This subsidy, administered by JEED (Japan Organization for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers) under delegation from MHLW, supports employers who implement employment management improvement measures for older workers — including wage/HR evaluation systems, working-hour systems, telework, training, and health management systems — together with related equipment investments. The program is intended to expand employment opportunities for workers aged 65 and over, requiring two procedural steps: a plan certification application followed by a payment application. 2) Target: Employers covered by employment insurance who have introduced or improved employment management systems for older workers (55+) in their collective agreement or work rules, with at least one eligible insured worker (a 60+ employment-insured worker employed continuously for one year or longer). The employer must have appointed an Older Worker Employment Promoter, must not have received corrective recommendations under the Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons (Articles 8, 9, 10, 10-2), and must maintain documentary evidence of measure implementation and the six-month post-implementation operational status. 3) Eligible expenses and content: Eligible measures fall into six categories: (1) introduction/improvement of wage and HR-evaluation systems using older-worker capability evaluation (including specialist-track systems for older workers); (2) introduction/improvement of working-hour systems (short-time, alternating-day work, etc.); (3) introduction/improvement of telework systems; (4) introduction/improvement of training systems (at least four hours per person, with content including life-planning information for older workers); (5) introduction of supplementary health-management systems (including gastric-cancer screening etc. beyond legal minimums); (6) other measures expanding employment opportunities for older workers. Equipment, systems and software directly required for these measures are also subsidized. 4) Subsidy rate, ceiling, schedule, application tips: For measure (1) the subsidy is a fixed JPY 600,000 for SMEs (450,000 for non-SMEs); for measures (2)–(6) it is JPY 300,000 for SMEs (230,000 for non-SMEs). If multiple measures are implemented, only the highest-value measure is paid. For equipment introduction expenses, 60% (45% for non-SMEs) of expenditure capped at JPY 500,000 is added on top, giving a maximum top-up of JPY 300,000. The plan-certification application must be filed 6 to 3 months before the plan-implementation start date; the payment application must be filed within 2 months from 6 months after the plan-implementation end date. Submissions are accepted at the JEED prefectural branch office (or for Tokyo/Osaka, the High-Age/Disabled Service Counter), and e-Gov electronic submission is also available. Postal submissions must arrive within the window — postmark dates do not count.