May 11, 2026
TOKYO – A number of people with disabilities working from home have effectively been ignored after being hired by companies through outsourcing businesses, which connect such people with workplaces, it has been learned.
The employees have only had simple exchanges with their outsourcing business and have essentially been neglected. This suggests that companies looking to meet the government-set quota for hiring people with disabilities, which is currently 2.5%, have been paying them wages but have completely left their management to outsourcing businesses.
Such outsourcing businesses have contracts with companies and receive fees from them.
According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, as of the end of November, there were 46 such outsourcing businesses with at least 1,800 companies using their services, and about 11,200 people with disabilities have been hired by those companies.
Labor bureau probe
It is thought that not giving employees with disabilities enough work is a deviation from the principle of the Law to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which calls for creating an environment in which those with disabilities can demonstrate their abilities.
The government recognizes “neglect” as a form of abuse against those with disabilities.
The labor bureau has received reports from such employees and is investigating some of the companies that have hired them.
Since 2019, Naha-based Thankslab Inc., which has welfare offices in about 50 locations, including Kyushu, Tokyo, and Okinawa and Hiroshima prefectures, has connected people with disabilities at its offices with its client companies.
The people either work at the welfare offices or from home, and Thankslab receives a support fee of about ¥200,000 per person per month from client companies.
Thankslab’s clients include major corporations.
One client, major Tokyo-based travel agency Nippon Travel Agency Co., has hired 18 people with disabilities through Thankslab since October 2024. The travel agency, however, has left the management of these employees entirely to Thankslab and has never contacted 14 of them who work from home.
Among the 14, a woman in her 30s with a physical disability regularly studied on her own how to use various software, including a spreadsheet software, as she was told it was part of her “training.” Besides her short online meetings with Thankslab, her interactions with the outsourcing business were limited to informing it via a messenger of when she began and ended work each day.
She ended up quitting as she was unhappy with her working conditions.
“I wasn’t given any work,” she told The Yomiuri Shimbun. “They trampled on my desire to work.”
A man in his 50s living in Kyushu who was hired by the Tokyo-based Japanese arm of the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton also regularly studied on his own at home.
He said he felt lonely and that his mental health deteriorated, leading him to quit before his contract ended.
The labor bureau is expected to instruct relevant companies, including Nippon Travel Agency and Louis Vuitton’s Japanese arm, to properly manage employees.
Nippon Travel Agency told The Yomiuri Shimbun, “There had been compliance issues.” The company intends to terminate its contract with Thankslab.
Louis Vuitton’s Japanese arm stated, “We are receiving advice from the labor bureau and are dealing with the situation.”
Thankslab told The Yomiuri Shimbun: “In some cases, our involvement with client companies and the division of roles were not clearly defined. We also had insufficient coordination with our clients. We will give these issues more consideration to resolve them.”
Certification revoked
Thankslab had its status as a certified business operator revoked by an industry group last December due to inappropriate practices, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The practices in question were confirmed by the Japan Business Association for Employment Accelerator of Persons with Disabilities.
This is the first time that such a certification has been revoked. The Tokyo-based association has reported the matter to the labor ministry.
Established in 2023, the association aims to raise the overall credibility of businesses that connect people with disabilities and workplaces. It has 27 member businesses, including Thankslab.
According to the association, applicants are evaluated based on their support for people with disabilities and management systems and must meet 107 requirements. Members who meet all of the requirements receive the certified operator status.
The association announced last August that it granted the first certifications to nine businesses, including Thankslab.
In November last year, upon receiving inquiries from The Yomiuri Shimbun regarding Thankslab, the association asked the business to submit a report on its operations and spoke with the president.
Consequently, the association revoked Thankslab’s certification on Dec. 11, citing inappropriate practices.
“We have a general idea of the nature and number of the cases in question, but we cannot disclose details due to the trade secrets of our member businesses,” the association said in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.
According to sources, Thankslab was found to have managed the working conditions of people with disabilities on behalf of its client companies, resulting in companies hiring such people without giving them actual work.
When asked about the revocation, Thankslab said, “We take this matter very seriously and will strive to implement improvements.”