外国人労働者法律相談：マイグラント研究会

Work and Status of Residence

(1) Status of Residence Based on Type of Work
This status of residence is based on the type of work foreign nationals can do in Japan, such as “specialist in humanities/international services,” “skilled labor,” or “technology.” If those with this status of residence change jobs, they must also change their residence status.

Working Hours and Holidays

As a general rule, companies must not make workers work longer than 8 hours a day, not including break time. Also, they must not have workers work more than 40 hours per week. The type of work which requires extra working hours is called overtime work.

Wages

Money that companies pay to workers includes wages, bonuses, and severance pay. The following rules apply to these payments.

Overtime Pay

If you work more than the legally stipulated working hours (see the section on working hours), you may receive overtime pay from the company for that time. Foreign workers who have overstayed their visas can also receive overtime pay.

Workplace Accidents

If you are injured in an accident at work, you can use workers' compensation insurance. You may receive the following services:
(1) Free medical treatment (medical treatment compensation benefits)

Death from Overwork

When people work for a long period of time, they may suffer from brain or heart diseases, collapse or die, or commit suicide due to mental illness. This is called karoshi (death from overwork) or karoshi suicide.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment (sekuhara) is harassment of a sexual nature in the workplace. It seem that in most cases, victims of sexual harassment are female workers. For example, when a supervisor touches a female subordinate, persistently asks her out to dinner, or demands sexual relations with her, it is considered sexual harassment.

Dismissal, Termination of Contracts, Resignation

Companies are not free to fire workers solely for the company's convenience. To fire a worker requires sufficient reasons. Firing workers is invalid if it does not fulfill certain conditions, such as punitive dismissal of workers who violate company rules, or ordinary dismissal that is allowed for other reasons.

Technical Intern Training

Workers are protected by labor laws.
Everyone who works for a company is protected by the law.This website contains simple explanations. If you feel like there is something strange or problematic with the way you are working, please continue reading.

Resolution Methods

When troubles arise at work, the first step is to negotiate with the company for a resolution. However, negotiating with the company is not free from the risk of being treated badly by the company. Especially in the case of foreign workers, this risk is even greater. The following are some of the main ways to resolve labor-related problems.

Examples of Resolved Cases

Members of the Migrant Worker Research Group have been consulted on and have successfully resolved many cases. See below for some examples.

Explanation of Laws