Introducing New Category for Foreign Workers

The House of Representatives passed a bill of revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, which introduced new category of residence permission called “workers in training.” While new system allows a foreign worker in training changing the employer in the same kind of job, the revised law will cancel permanent residence permission in case of failing in tax payment. There is a concern that the human rights of foreign workers are left behind.

The government of Japan introduced a job training system for foreign workers in 1993, as a measure for transferring technologies and job skills to the developing countries. Against the purpose of training the workers, there appeared examples in which employers forced excessively long working, delay of wage payment or other harassments.

 

The Immigration Services Agency established in 2019 two kinds of category of foreign worker: Specified Skilled Worker #1 and #2. Those workers are designated to sixteen kinds of job, including hotel, restaurant, agriculture, fishery and taking care of aged people. SSW1 can stay in Japan for five years at the longest with renewal of registration and there is no time limit for SSW2 as long as the worker renews the registration. SSW2 can bring the family from home country, while SSW1 cannot.

 

It is likely that the system for foreign workers in Japan has been designed for supplementing shortage of domestic workers. The government tried to increase foreign workers with introduction of SSW1 and 2, but labor shortage remained, because foreign workers tended to evade working in Japan considering deteriorated condition of working or decline of the value of Japanese yen.

 

The new system was proposed for the foreign workers to stay longer in Japan. While changing employer has been prohibited for three years since arriving in Japan, new system enables the change in one or two years. The system may increase foreign workers stay longer in Japan. It makes easier for them to have job training as the workers in training, and then transferred to SSW1 and SSW2.

 

Meanwhile, the government of Japan included in the bill a stricter rule for foreign residents in Japan. If a foreign worker with permanent resident permission failed in paying tax or social insurance fee, or committed crime such as trespass, the permission will be deprived. Some opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party and Japan Communist Party voted no to the bill in the plenary session of the House of Representatives.

 

It is argued that the government of Japan lacks an idea to build a society with foreigners. Some workers come Japan through broker business with large payment and it may cause a large amount of debt. While the foreign workers need more support from public offices, the government focuses on imposing various regulations. The government needs to reconsider its attitude of recognizing foreign workers only as labor, not as human as much as the Japanese are.

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