Amid moves to accept more foreign workers, the government will likely set certain conditions for companies to hire them, with the aim of dispelling concerns over public safety, sources said.
For example, companies that have had technical trainees they accepted go missing in the past will not be allowed to accept foreign workers, according to sources. The regulations will be incorporated into an ordinance to be issued by the Justice Ministry, which will stipulate the implementation of new residency statuses.
According to a draft outline for the regulations, the government will confirm that companies planning to accept foreign workers have never had technical interns they accepted go missing, and that there are no unscrupulous brokers involved. The government will also confirm that these companies comply with labor and social insurance laws.
About 7,000 technical trainees went missing in 2017 alone, and it is said these disappearances have led to illegal stays. The importance of dealing with this problem was pointed out during meetings of the Liberal Democratic Party's Judicial Affairs Division, which is deliberating a bill to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law. The government plans to submit the bill to the current extraordinary Diet session.
The government plans to allow companies to hire foreign workers through direct employment, in principle, to eliminate the involvement of unscrupulous brokers. Hiring through dispatch agencies will be allowed as an exception.
The government will also require companies to assign staff who have experience counseling foreign workers about their daily life, provide foreign workers with support for learning Japanese, and secure housing for them.
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