The New Customer-Harassment Rules: What Hotel Workers Should Know

On 1 October 2026, a change to the Labour Policy Comprehensive Promotion Act made it a legal duty for employers in Japan to take measures against harassment by customers. In a hotel, where staff deal with guests all day, it is one of the most relevant workplace rules of the year.

This article explains what the rule says, what counts as customer harassment, what a hotel now has to put in place, and what you can do if it happens to you. It is general information based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's published guidance, not legal advice about any particular case.

Why it matters in hotels

The Ministry's most recent survey on workplace harassment, a 2023 survey published in March 2024, asked workers whether they had been on the receiving end in the past three years. Across all industries, 10.8% said they had experienced significant customer misconduct at least once. In accommodation and food service the figure was 16.0%, the third-highest of the industries listed, after living-related services and entertainment (16.6%) and wholesale and retail (16.0%).

The survey also asked companies. In accommodation and food service, 46.4% of companies said they had received a consultation about customer harassment in the past three years. Only medical care and welfare was higher, at 53.9%. Among companies that had judged a case to be customer harassment, the most common kind of case was continuing, persistent conduct (72.1%), more than nine in ten cases (91.6%) were customers, including patients and their families, directed at the company's own staff, and the most common damage was to ordinary work (63.4%).

And before the rule, more than half of all companies had no measures against it at all: 55.8% said they did nothing specific. It seems to matter. Among workers who said their employer was working on harassment prevention, 12.2% had experienced customer harassment, the lowest rate among the groups compared by how much their employer was doing.

Two cautions. The accommodation figures are for hotels and food service combined, so they are not hotel-only. And this is the latest survey, now two to three years old. It tells you why the rule exists, not how any one hotel behaves today.

What the rule now requires

Employers must now take measures to prevent harassment by customers. The Ministry's guideline for it (Ministry Notice No. 51 of 2026, issued on 26 February 2026) sets out what that means. The conduct covered comes from anyone connected with the business, including customers, business counterparts, facility users and people who may become customers. It covers phone calls and social media as well as face-to-face contact.

The measures an employer must take are:

1. Set out a clear policy of dealing firmly with this conduct and protecting workers, publicise it, and tell workers what counts and how it will be handled.
2. Set up a consultation desk, let workers know about it, and make sure the people who staff it can respond properly.
3. When a complaint arrives, quickly and accurately find out the facts, give the affected worker the support they need, and take steps to stop it happening again.
4. Decide in advance how to handle particularly serious cases, and be ready to act on that.
5. Protect the privacy of people who consult, and state clearly that consulting will not lead to unfavourable treatment.

If a hotel has none of those in place, it is not following the rule.

What counts as customer harassment

The Ministry's guideline describes it by three elements, all of which must be present.

1. The conduct comes from a customer or someone else connected with the business.
2. It goes beyond what society would accept as reasonable, given the nature of the work and the circumstances.
3. It harms the worker's working environment.

The second element is judged on two things: what is being demanded (its content) and how it is being demanded (the means and manner). Either can be enough on its own. The guideline lists factors to weigh together, including the purpose, the history, the industry, how often it happens, and the worker's position. The benchmark for whether the working environment is harmed is how an average worker would feel, although something that causes severe physical or mental pain can count even if it happens once. Examples given for the content of a demand include demands with no reason behind them, demands unrelated to the product or service, and demands far beyond what the contract provides.

The Ministry is clear that this is not a list, and individual cases are judged on their facts.

What the rule doesn't change

It doesn't mean a hotel can refuse to hear complaints. The guideline says plainly that not every complaint is harassment. A complaint that is reasonable in both content and manner is a legitimate request, and handling it well is still part of the job. A guest who is unhappy about a real problem, and says so firmly, is not harassing you.

That distinction matters for staff as much as for guests. A good policy protects workers from abuse, and it also tells them how to handle genuine complaints without being afraid of them.

What you should expect at a hotel

If a hotel is following the five measures above, you should be able to see these things. A written policy that staff have been told about. A named place or person to go to. A process that says what happens next. Some training in how to respond, though that is not on the list of required measures.

You can test this with one question: "If a guest were abusive to me, where would I go and what would happen next?" A clear, short answer is a good sign. A blank look is also information.

If it happens to you

These are our suggestions, in line with the Ministry's approach, not a legal procedure.

Keep yourself safe first. If you feel physically threatened, step away and get help. If necessary, call the police.

Tell a supervisor promptly. In the 2023 survey, among workers who had experienced it, the most common response at the time was to hand the guest over to a supervisor (37.4%), followed by continuing to apologise (32.1%). Afterwards, the most common step was to talk to a supervisor (38.2%).

Write down what happened while you remember it: the date, the time, what was said or done, and who saw it. A simple, factual note is useful whoever ends up handling it.

Use the consultation desk, if your hotel has one. You don't have to decide for yourself whether something "counts". That is what the desk is for.

If your hotel doesn't have a process, or you are not comfortable using it, there are outside places to turn. Each prefectural labour bureau, and some labour standards inspection offices, have a General Labour Consultation Corner that handles problems from dismissal to harassment, free of charge and without an appointment, by phone or in person. The Ministry's harassment website also lists consultation services. A free telephone service for working conditions runs in the evenings and at weekends. Check the labour bureau's pages for hours and numbers, because they change.

Tokyo has its own ordinance

Tokyo adopted its own Customer Harassment Prevention Ordinance in October 2024, and it took effect on 1 April 2025, reportedly the first of its kind among the prefectures. It is accompanied by a guideline. We haven't read the ordinance text, so we can't describe its definitions or any penalties. If you work in Tokyo, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's labour pages are the place to check.

One more rule from the same day

From the same date, 1 October 2026, employers also have a duty to take measures against sexual harassment of job seekers, often called 就活セクハラ. That applies while you are applying, including at interview. We mention it in The Hotel Interview.

Three questions to ask a hotel

1. "If a guest is abusive to staff, who do we tell and what happens next?"
2. "Is there a person or desk I can consult, and is what I tell them kept private?"
3. "How are new staff prepared for difficult guests?"

These are the same questions we suggest in How to Read a Hotel Job Listing and in The Hotel Interview. Before October they were a courtesy. Now an employer is expected to have answers.

A caveat on timing

The rule is new. Hotels are in different places in putting it into practice, and some will still be working on it. If a hotel's answer is "we're setting that up", that is honest, and it is worth asking when. If it is "that doesn't happen here", ask again.

Where to start

If you are job hunting, put the three questions in your interview notes. If you are working in a hotel now and want to find out what your employer has in place, ask your manager or HR what the policy is and where you would go. That is a normal question now.

Sources: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare web magazine on the new customer-harassment rules (August 2026) and Ministry Notice No. 51 of 2026; 2023 workplace-harassment survey (summary published May 2024); Ministry guidance on consultation services; Tokyo Metropolitan Government press release on its ordinance.