What is the receiving organization for specific skills? Standards and obligations to hire foreigners on specific skills visas

Status of residence of Specific Skill No. 2019 established in April 4.
Companies and organizations that employ this specific skill No. 1 foreigner are "Accepting institution (institution to which specific skill belongs)There are many standards and obligations that must be met by the host organization compared to other working statuses of residence.
The accepting organization needs to know various rules regarding specific skills, and if you proceed with the procedure without knowing, the application for status of residence may be rejected, or in the worst case, the accepting company may be subject to penalties. there is.
And that continues even after employment.

On this page, we will introduce points that companies and organizations should be aware of when hiring foreigners with a specific skill residence status.

What is the process of accepting specific skilled foreigners?

First,Flow of accepting foreigners with the status of residence of Specific Skill No. 1Let's hold down about.

Specific skills are statuses of residence that can be used in both cases of attracting foreigners from overseas and cases of hiring foreigners residing in Japan with other statuses of residence (study abroad, technical intern training, etc.).
In principle, there is no intermediary such as the technical intern training supervising organization (depending on the content of the bilateral agreement, the intervention of the local sending agency may be required depending on the nationality of the foreigner employed).
It is basic to conclude an employment contract directly between a foreigner and the company / organization that accepts it (excluding agriculture and fishing).
Companies / organizations that accept foreigners with specific skillsAccepting institution (institution to which specific skills belong)called.

Source:Leaflet related to "specific skills" (for accepting organizations)

In the trend of accepting foreigners with specific skills, institutions with two important roles will appear.
One is to employ the foreigners mentioned above.Host organizationis. The other was created for the purpose of providing some or all of the support that accepting organizations are required to provide to foreigners with specific skills on behalf of accepting organizations.Registration support organization(Entrustment to a registered support organization is not obligatory).
The flow of the status of residence of Specified Skill No. 2 is to cooperate with each other to smoothly accept foreigners with specific skills and maintain proper employment.

▼ Registration support organizations are partners that support accepting organizations.

The role of the registered support organization is to plan and implement support plans for specified skilled foreigners on behalf of the receiving organization..
The framework for specific skills stipulates that companies should implement the necessary support plans for foreigners with specific skills No. 1.
The contents of the legally mandated support plan are provided in the language most understandable by the specified skilled foreigner (usually his or her native language), from pre-entry guidance to transportation to and from the airport, and support necessary for daily life and work. We offer a wide range of services, from providing information about Japanese language education to responding to complaints and consultations, and providing job change support in the event you are fired.
Companies and organizations that do not have a record of employment of mid- to long-term foreign residents with a working status of residence often cannot afford to provide all the legally required support.
That's where theRegistration support organization.

A registration support organization that meets the necessary requirements, appoints a support manager and a support person, and is approved by the Ministry of Justice to apply for it is entrusted by the host company / organization to create and support a support plan. We will carry it out on your behalf.
The registration support organizations are assumed to be administrative scriveners, cooperatives, and oversight groups for skills internship programs with support from foreigners.
It is permitted based on the experience of employment of foreigners as a medium- to long-term resident with a working status of residence, or the track record of providing living support to foreigners as a business.

How to become an organization that accepts foreigners with specific skills? Standards that companies should meet

What should I do to become an organization that accepts foreigners with specific skills?
Not all companies and organizations accept foreigners of a particular skill.
The government prohibits the exploitation of foreigners by malicious companies and brokers, which are often a problem in technical intern training.
To prevent exploitation by foreigners, companies must meet many criteria in order to hire foreigners with a status of residence of Specific Skill No. 1.

• ・ Belongs to a field that accepts foreigners with specific skills (must clearly belong to that field)
• ・ The host organization has not violated various laws and regulations within the past 5 years.
• ・ A system is in place to properly support foreigners
• ・ We have not dismissed employees in the same business as foreigners with specific skills within the past year.

I will explain each in detail.

▼ Companies and organizations belong to 14 fields that can accept foreigners with specific skills.

There are 14 types of industries in which the status of residence of a specific skill can be used.
The accepting organization isThe industry must fall into one of the following fields:.
Even if you do substantially the same work, you will not be accepted and you will not be able to obtain a status of residence unless you fall under any of the following fields in the industry classification.

Source:Leaflet related to "specific skills" (for accepting organizations)

In addition, the work that foreigners with specific skills can engage in is also determined in detail for each field.
For example, in the "accommodation industry", the specific skill residence status can only be used for inns and hotels.
Business formats that fall under the Simple Accommodation Business and Customs Business Law, such as capsule hotels and love hotels, are not covered by specific skills and cannot be used.

In addition, it is possible to sell take-out menus such as bento boxes with specified skills in the ``restaurant industry,'' but for example, a retail business that only sells pre-prepared lunch boxes is not considered a restaurant business.
If a boxed lunch is made to order, it may fall under the category of restaurant business, but whether or not it falls under this category is also determined based on the sales ratio (pizza delivered to the customer and prepared after ordering does not fall under this category. (This means that bento shops that only sell prepared prepared foods may not fall under this category.)

Also, what tends to be judged as not falling under the field is"Materials industry" "Industrial machinery manufacturing industry" "Electrical/electronic information related industry"The fields that are said to be the three manufacturing fields ofAutomobile maintenance industryThere are 4 fields.
It is often judged that these fields do not fall under any of the 14 fields under the officially defined Japan Standard Industrial Classification.
In this case, even if the application for the status of residence of a specific skill is granted, it will not be possible to join each council that is obliged to join after that, and the period of stay cannot be renewed (before renewal). Although it would be a violation of the Immigration Control Act without joining the council).

Among the above, there were many cases in which it was discovered that the three manufacturing fields did not fall under the three fields after obtaining a status of residence, so the rules were changed to require applicants to join the council before obtaining a status of residence. However, it takes a considerable amount of time (3 to 3 months) to join the council for the three manufacturing fields, so it is better to first check whether your company's industry falls under one of the 3 fields of specified skills. A good guideline is whether or not the company shipped products in the previous year in the field of business.
For more information,Administrative agency with jurisdiction by fieldPlease also check the website of.

By the way, please note that there are fields in which only the accepting company can join the council, and fields in which both the accepting company and registration support organization are obligated to join.

▼ Has not violated any immigration control laws or labor laws in the past.

Another important criterion is that the accepting organization or organization complies with relevant laws and regulations.
In particular,No violations in the past five years of immigration-related laws, labor-related laws, social insurance-related laws, tax-related laws, etc.Is required.

[Examples of standards required of accepting organizations]

• ・ Comply with labor, social insurance and tax laws
• ・ The worker who was engaged in the same job has not been dismissed within one year from the date of concluding the specific skill employment contract.
• ・ No foreigners are missing within one year from the date of signing the employment contract for specific skills.
• ・ The training certification has not been revoked based on the Technical Intern Training Law within the past 5 years.
• ・ Within the past 5 years, you have not threatened, assaulted, or threatened to violate immigration laws or labor-related laws, picked up foreign passports, or made non-payment of salary.

If a foreigner who has been employed in the past has disappeared, or if an employment form that violates the labor law has been seized, it may not be accepted as a receiving organization.
In addition, permission cannot be obtained if an employee who has the same job as a foreigner with a specific skill has been dismissed within the past year, regardless of nationality.
This is because it goes against the purpose of the specific skill of solving the labor shortage.

As an example of what actually happened in the corona sickness, "Sales decreased due to the influence of the new coronavirus, and I was forced to dismiss the employee who was enrolled at that time, but after that sales returned to after corona. However, even if the situation is such that "we will start employment again to replenish personnel", it is not accepted, and companies with a history of dismissal are not permitted.
The accepting company that has fired the employee,Foreigners with specific skills cannot be employed for one year from the date of dismissal.So be careful.

▼ A system is in place to support specific skill level 1 foreigners.

Status of residence for specific skills is divided into 1 and 2.
The host organization is obliged to implement an appropriate support plan for foreigners who possess Specific Skill No. 1.
Specific Skill No. 2 There is no need to provide support to foreigners.
This is because it is judged that there is no need to provide support based on the experience of residence of Specified Skill No. 2 foreigners who have stayed in Specified Skill No. 1 for 5 years.

At this time, an appropriate support system is required, such as having experience in supporting foreigners and being able to communicate in the foreigner's native language.
If it is difficult for the host organization to establish an appropriate system, it is recognized that the necessary system is in place by entrusting the work to a registration support organization.

A common question when trying to hire an international student with Specific Skill No. 1 is that I can speak Japanese well, but do I need to communicate in my native language?There is something like that.
In conclusion, thatSupport in Japanese is possible depending on your Japanese ability.(This does not mean that the support itself becomes unnecessary.)
However, how to prove that you have enough Japanese is important.

When I checked with the Third Division of Employment Examination of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau, they answered that they would make a decision according to each case, but as a guide, if it is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 1, there is almost no problem with support in Japanese. It was possible, and it was up to the examination if it was Level 2 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Since the Japanese Language Proficiency Test is a literacy test, even foreigners who have passed Level 1 may not be very good at speaking. There are many).
Therefore, even if you are an international student who can speak Japanese, you can think that in most cases you need a support system in your native language.

However, this native language support does not necessarily have to be an employee of the host institution.
It is also possible to set up a support system by entrusting only an interpreter (it is necessary to respond for a certain amount of time (including working hours) so that we can respond to consultations, complaints, inquiries, etc. from foreigners with specific skills).

Two obligations that the host organization must comply with

Finally, I will explain the 2 obligations that the host organization must follow.
When hiring foreigners with a specific skill residence status, companies and organizations must be aware of the following:Establishing an appropriate employment contractWhen,Do not neglect necessary notificationsIt is that.
We will explain below what kind of points we have to keep.

▼ Standards for employment contracts concluded with specified skilled foreigners

When hiring foreigners of specific skills, companies individually conclude labor contracts.
At this time, the employment contract must meet the following points.
As a premise, it is not possible to hire a foreigner with a specific skill if it is worse than a Japanese who does the same job in all aspects of treatment.

working time

Only full-time work is permitted.
As a guide, weeks 5 days, 30 hours or more are guidelines. Please be aware that for part-time or part-time work contracts, you can not apply for a status of residence for specific skills.
Another problem is that other Japanese employees work 40 hours a week, while foreigners work 30 hours a week.

Salary level

With Japanese people who work in the same occupationequal or higher salarymust be
It is also important that the wage is not below the minimum wage.
If there are no Japanese people in the company who are engaged in the same occupation, the wages will be set based on the market price of the same occupation in the same industry in the area where the host organization is located.
The standard for comparison is that a foreigner with specific skills should be at the same level as a Japanese person with about two years of experience in the same job.
This means that foreigners with specific skill level 1 have completed technical training up to level 2 or have passed the specific skill evaluation test, so they have the same skills as Japanese people with about 2 years of experience in the field. This is because the Immigration Bureau will determine if there is. However, if the company determines the amount of salary based on age rather than experience or years of employment, there is no problem with the amount of salary depending on the age of the specified skilled foreign worker. Of course, you can't pay less than the minimum wage.

Insurance, worker's compensation insurance, and other welfare benefits

For foreigners who have acquired a specific skill residence status,Apply social insurance and workers' compensation insurance based on the same standards as Japanese peopleneed to do it.
We are not allowed to take any discriminatory measures on the grounds of being a foreigner, such as welfare programs provided by companies.
On the contrary, there is no problem in treating better than Japanese because of being a foreigner.
For example, when a foreigner returns home temporarily, leave is granted in addition to regular paid leave.

Acquisition of paid employment

When a specified skilled foreigner wishes to return to his/her home country temporarily, he/she must submit the necessary documents.Take paid vacationYou will need to make arrangements to do so.
Of course, if the specified skilled foreign worker has not been granted paid leave or has already used it and there is no paid leave left, there is no need to provide paid leave.
But in that caseNeed to give unpaid leave.
Unlike Japanese people, it is physically difficult for foreigners with specific skills to return to their hometowns in a day or two, and in most cases a certain period of time is required.
However, even in such cases, it is generally not possible to deny leave for reasons as simple as a lack of manpower.
The same applies to Japanese people regarding paid leave, but the Immigration Control and Refuge Law also stipulates this for foreigners with specific skills.
If there are circumstances where the work cannot be done without the specified skilled foreigner and a replacement is not possible, it is necessary to take measures such as proposing an alternative date.

The contents of such employment agreement will be checked when applying for status of residence.
Contracts that do not meet the criteria are likely to disapprove your status of residence.
Please check before applying to see if your employment contract meets the criteria.

▼ Notification issued by the accepting organization after accepting a specified skilled foreigner

With other employment statuses of residence, there are fewer procedures required after hiring a foreigner than with Japanese nationals, but in the case of foreigners with specific skills, there are many notifications that are mandatory.
There are roughly 2 types of notifications that the host organization should submit to the Immigration and Arrival Bureau after hiring a specific skilled foreigner.

Report at any time

Notifications to be submitted when the number of people accepted, when new employment occurs, when the content of the support plan changes, etc.

Regular notification

Notification submitted once a quarter

What is especially important isRegular notification.
There are three types of regular notifications as follows.

Notification of acceptance status

Describe the number of active days and work content for each foreigner employed.

Notification of support implementation status

Contents of support implementation status for foreigners with specific skills No. 1

Notification of activity status

Reporting of remuneration payment status, number of people who left the company, number of missing persons, social insurance enrollment status, etc.

Both can be brought or mailedSubmit to the Regional Immigration Bureau within 14 days from the first day of the following quarterplease.
However, companies / groups that have entrusted the implementation of support plans to a registration support organization are not required for “reports pertaining to support implementation status”.
The format of the notification form isMinistry of Justice websiteYou can download from.

The contents of the notification are not difficult at all, but since there are so many of them, it is easy to forget them.
However, if you do not submit these various notifications, you may not be able to hire specified skilled foreigners if you do something wrong.
If a company has established a business plan based on a recruitment plan that relies on a labor force of foreigners with specific skills, please be careful as you may be forced to make major changes to the business plan itself. .

Clear the standards and don't forget the obligations of the host organization

By now, you should have learned that not all companies and organizations in Japan can hire foreigners with a status of residence of a specific skill.
First of all, you need to make sure that you belong to 14 fields that your company can accept.
In addition, it is necessary to comply with relevant laws and regulations, meet the standards of employment contracts, and have an appropriate support system in place for foreigners with specified skills.
Companies / organizations that have not accepted foreigners in the past will be able to accept them smoothly by outsourcing to a registration support organization.
At our office, if you want to apply for status of residence from the acceptance consulting from the recruitment planning stage of specific skill foreigners, entrust support, entrust support as a registration support organization, and if you are a host organization that supports you in-house Will support appropriate support by supporting in-house production.
Please feel free to contact us for more information.

[Adviser contract] Administrative scrivener directly supports employment of foreigners

Our office is also a registration support organization!

Click here for consultations and inquiries