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How to hire a foreign worker in Japan

In the case you operate business in Japan, if you want to hire a foreign worker in your company or for your businenss, you need to know relating laws and regulations.

So, in this page, I will explain how to hire a foreign worker in Japan legally.

If you hire a foreign workers illegally, you will be punished, even if you believed that you can hire the person legally.

You cannot hire persons below.

In the case you hire a foreign nationals in Japan, you need to inspect the content of residence card ( zairyu card ).

If a foreign national does not have residence card, it means she does not have any status of residence in Japan and you can not hire her unless she obtain such status of residence.

When you look at the residence card, you can know whether there is a limitation or not in her type of work.

In the back of residence card, there is a description relating to permission to engage in activity that is not permitted in current status of residence.

For example, foreign student cannot work in Japan basically.
However, if she obtains permission from immigration bureau, she can work up to 28 hours per a week.
And during long term holidays ( Like summer holidays ), she can work up to 8 hour per a day.
And this item is inscribed in the back of residence card.

This permission is named ” shikakugai katsudou kyoka “.

And even if she obtains this permission, she still can not engage in adult entertainment business.
( She cannot work in bars etc. )

But, she can work as waitress at restaurant.
It means that once she obtains permit for working, she can become unskilled labor.
( in the case a person who has obtained shikakugai katsudou kyoka, she can engage in unskilled work)

So, if you hire a foreign student in Japan, you need to look at her permission.
( This is sample of this permit. )

On the other hand, in the case of persons below, they do not need to obtain permit to engage in activity that is not permitted in current status of residence.

If you have hired illegal foreign worker in Japan, you will be sentenced to imprisonment for up to three years or / and a fine of up to three million.

So, when you hire a foreign worker in Japan, you need to inspect the status of residence in Japan of the prospective employee.

In next page, I will explain how to hire a foreign national who does not have any status of residence in Japan.
In the case you are going to hire a person who lives in foreign country now.
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