Sakuya Konohana Law Office (Location: Nishi-ku, Osaka), which boasts a track record of approximately 650 corporate clients nationwide (as of March 2026) and specializes in corporate legal affairs, particularly labor issues and HR, operating services such as "Corporate Legal Consultation Service," the useful information web media "Sakuya Corporate Legal.NET," and an "Official YouTube Channel" with 29,000 subscribers, has released a new book titled 'Employment Regulations Learned from Court Precedents: Provisions and Practicalities that Determined Victory or Defeat' (Publisher: Nihon Horei Co., Ltd.) on March 25, 2026.

The purpose of this book is to explain, through court precedents, "what kind of provisions disadvantage a company in litigation and what kind of provisions protect it," thereby preventing unexpected pitfalls in the application and interpretation of employment regulations, and enabling the establishment of employment regulations that will stand up in court, should a lawsuit occur.

In the practical work of preparing employment regulations, there are very few cases where templates can be applied as they are; it is naturally necessary to add or modify provisions to suit the actual circumstances of the company. To respond correctly in such situations, it is essential to understand the court's way of thinking shown in past court precedents and the lessons learned from them, and then acquire the true ability to apply them to the field. This book is one that cultivates that ability.

Unlike the previous hit work "Handbook for Creating Employment Regulations and Related Forms for Amicable Resolution of Labor-Management Disputes," this book is based on 45 court precedents and includes many important court precedents published after the previous work.

▶Click here for the book introduction page "Employment Regulations Learned from Court Precedents: Provisions and Practicalities that Determined Victory or Defeat"

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1. Why "Employment Regulations Learned from Court Precedents"?

Employment regulations are fundamental rules governing the relationship between companies and employees, and in essence, they have the same effect as contracts. On the other hand, employment regulations have the peculiarity that companies can establish them without obtaining the consent of individual employees, and their appropriateness is constantly questioned.

In recent years, labor disputes concerning dismissals, disciplinary actions, wage reductions, etc., have been on the rise, imposing a significant burden on both companies and employees. Furthermore, there are numerous cases where measures taken by companies based on employment regulations are later overturned in court.

This is because, despite employment regulations being "internal rules that companies can establish" and at the same time "rules ultimately judged by the courts," they are not designed based on the court's judgment criteria. Employment regulations created without understanding the court's way of thinking can, far from preventing trouble, actually become a cause of disputes.

Courts do not formally apply the wording of employment regulations established by companies but interpret them based on their rationality and specific circumstances, and this way of thinking has accumulated in numerous court precedents. The ideas from these court precedents are, in principle, what companies should always understand when preparing employment regulations. However, until now, there has been no material that systematically analyzes court precedents related to employment regulations and organizes "what kind of provisions are deemed valid and what kind are rejected" from a practical perspective.

This book was written with the aim of clarifying the court's judgment framework through the analysis of court precedents and providing practical guidelines for companies to prevent disputes and achieve appropriate labor management.

2. Role and Utilization of This Book

This book addresses 45 court precedents related to employment regulations. The main focus is on clarifying how courts judge the validity of employment regulations and measures based on them, and utilizing the rules and lessons learned from court precedents in the preparation of employment regulations.

Furthermore, for themes that are prone to practical problems such as dismissal, disciplinary action, wage systems, leave of absence, and return to work, it specifically shows what kind of employment regulation provisions would be evaluated as valid in court, and conversely, what kind of provisions or operations would cause problems.

By reading this book, readers can not only learn the conclusions of individual court precedents but also understand the thought process behind "why that judgment was reached," thereby acquiring the ability to think for themselves and make judgments with evidence even when faced with unknown problems. Furthermore, they can acquire the ability to correctly prepare employment regulations based on court judgment criteria and realize preventive labor management that prevents disputes.

We hope that social insurance labor consultants and HR personnel who are responsible for preparing employment regulations and corporate labor management will utilize this book as a reliable guide for developing practical judgment skills.

3. Book Content Introduction (Synopsis, Points, Table of Contents)

"Losing a lawsuit due to deficiencies in employment regulations - isn't that the situation a professional most wants to avoid?"

This book was written with the aim of explaining "what kind of provisions disadvantaged a company and what kind saved it" through 45 court precedents, and for readers to apply this knowledge in practice.

For each court precedent, it not only introduces the conclusion but also carefully organizes the points that the court found problematic, the ideas behind the provisions that were evaluated, and practical tips for application. And what we were most particular about in writing this book was not to end with the introduction of court precedents, but to transform them into "wisdom that can be used in practice starting tomorrow." By reading with the perspective of "why was that provision insufficient?" and "how would rewriting it have led to a different result?", you can acquire the "ability to think and create" employment regulations. Furthermore, to make it a book that can be repeatedly referred to in the busy practical field, we have also paid attention to "expressions that do not rely too much on difficult legal terms," "a structure that makes it easy to visualize the case," and "devices that make important parts immediately apparent." We aimed for a book that can be used even during busy work, such as "reading only this theme" or "checking only the checkpoints."

Employment regulations are not a one-time creation. They need to be constantly reviewed in response to changes in the corporate environment and court practices. We would be very happy if this book could serve as a "practical axis to return to when in doubt" for everyone involved in preparing and reviewing employment regulations.

・4 Key Points of the Book's Commitment

Commitment Point 1:

Explanation of what was good and bad based on actual provisions that became problematic in court precedents

In this book, we introduce how the court judged actual provisions that became problematic in court precedents. Then, we explain the problems pointed out by the court regarding the provisions and the points evaluated by the court. In other words, it is a collection of precedents focused on employment regulations, full of points that should be immediately utilized in the practical work of preparing provisions.

Commitment Point 2:

Specific "Improvement Examples" for employment regulation provisions are included

In conventional "precedent collections," even if court precedents were explained, readers had to further analyze and examine them to apply them in practice. In this book, to achieve the goal of being useful for preparing employment regulations, we have taken on the task of explaining how the employment regulations in the court precedent case should have been specifically improved, based on the lessons learned from the court precedents, and presenting them as "employment regulation improvement examples" and so on.

Commitment Point 3:

"Points to utilize in preparing employment regulations" and "Points for legal checking of employment regulations" summarizing lessons learned from court precedents are included

Not only when preparing employment regulation provisions, but also when considering whether there are any problems with existing employment regulations and improving them as necessary, it is necessary to consider the lessons learned from court precedents that judged employment regulation provisions. In this book, we have prepared sections titled "Points to utilize in preparing employment regulations" and "Points for legal checking of employment regulations," and specifically explain how to apply the lessons from court precedents to the preparation of employment regulations. It is also possible to use it by first reading through only the "Points to utilize in preparing employment regulations" and "Points for legal checking of employment regulations" sections to check for unexpected pitfalls in existing employment regulations.

Commitment Point 4:

Carefully selected court precedents that show important judgments that may become problematic in practice are introduced

Sakuya Konohana Law Office receives daily consultations and case requests regarding labor management from companies nationwide from the employer's perspective. In this book, the authors held numerous meetings and carefully selected important court precedents that should always be known when preparing employment regulations. By reading this book, you can comprehensively confirm the court's way of thinking regarding employment regulations and utilize it to prepare employment regulations that comply with court practice.

・Table of Contents Introduction

Chapters 1 to 12 cover a total of 45 important court precedents, explaining "case overview, issues, court's judgment, reasons for the court's judgment, points to utilize in preparing employment regulations, and points for legal checking of employment regulations," etc.

●Chapter 1 Risks Hidden in Personnel Regulations

●Chapter 2 The Boundary of Leave of Absence and Return to Work

●Chapter 3 Offense and Defense Regarding Dismissal and Retirement

●Chapter 4 Limits of Service Regulations

●Chapter 5 Troubles Regarding Working Hours

●Chapter 6 Design Mistakes in Scheduled Wages and Bonuses

●Chapter 7 Practical Response to Overtime Pay

●Chapter 8 Failures in Retirement Benefits and Welfare

●Chapter 9 Deficiencies in Disciplinary Provisions

●Chapter 10 Disparity and Troubles Caused by Fixed-Term Employment

●Chapter 11 Failures and Successes in Changing Employment Regulations

●Chapter 12 To what extent are Employment Regulations Valid?

▶Reference: Click here to check the full table of contents of this book.

4. Author Introduction

Nobuharu Nishikawa

Representative Lawyer, Sakuya Konohana Law Office

Born in Nara Prefecture in 1980.

Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law in 2002.

2003 - 2005: Judicial apprentice at the Supreme Court.

Registered with the Osaka Bar Association in 2005.

Established Sakuya Konohana Law Office in 2010.

Became a lawyer at the age of 25, and is currently the representative lawyer of Sakuya Konohana Law Office. Works with corporate HR personnel, social insurance labor consultants, and HR specialists to improve corporate labor management and resolve labor-management disputes. Provides consultations via Zoom, phone, etc., to corporate managers, HR personnel, and social insurance labor consultants nationwide, with 650 client companies.

In particular, as a corporate lawyer, he keenly felt the severity of dismissal disputes and the serious disruption that prolonged trials cause to corporate management, and sought solutions for dealing with problematic employees without dismissal. He has visited client companies struggling with problematic employees, directly discussed with employees with issues such as lack of ability or disciplinary violations, and practiced resolving them. Through these experiences, he has achieved non-judicial resolutions as a corporate representative in many labor-management disputes.

His books include "Practical Methods for Amicable Resolution of 3 Major Labor-Management Disputes to Avoid Litigation Risk - Harassment, Reinstatement Troubles, Overtime Pay Claims" (2025), "Handbook for Creating Employment Regulations and Related Forms for Amicable Resolution of Labor-Management Disputes" (2023), and "Practical Methods for Amicable Resolution of Problematic Employee Troubles - Litigation Development".

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