Japan Ministry of Health reports lost minimum wage survey forms

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that a courier service lost survey forms related to the 2026 minimum wage basic survey. The forms, which included completed data from 86 businesses in Okinawa Prefecture, were handed over to Yamato Transport by the Survey Research Center but failed to reach the Okinawa Labour Bureau.

Yamato Transport was unable to pinpoint the exact location of the loss during the delivery process. The lost documents potentially contain personal information for approximately 339 individuals, including business names, addresses, contact details, employee names, gender, employment type, age, years of service, job type, salary, and working hours. The Ministry plans to apologize to the affected parties and will implement new management requirements for contractors to ensure delivery confirmation in the future. Despite the physical loss, the survey data remains intact as digital scans and electronic entries were delivered separately.

In other social welfare updates, the Pension Support Benefit for pensioners requires active claims; eligibility is determined by household tax status and income levels, with 2026 standard amounts set at 5,620 yen per month. Additionally, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has designated October as a period to promote the use of annual paid leave to help reach the government's 70% utilization target.