Training Program for Foreigners
The Training Program for Foreigners accepts young and middle-aged workers from foreign countries and assists them so that they can acquire skills, capability and knowledge relating to industry and occupation in Japan within a period of one year. The Resident status for the purpose of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law is Training.
1. Requirement for trainees
Trainees are required to meet both of the following (1) and (2):
(1)Common requirements for trainees applicable to any training category:
Persons who satisfy all of the following 1 to 3:
- Foreigners of 18 years of age or older;
- Persons who return to their home country after finishing training and plan to engage in work in which they can make good use of techniques or skills that they have acquired in Japan;
- Persons who need to attend training in Japan for the purpose of acquiring techniques or skills that they cannot acquire in their home country.
(2)Individual requirements for trainees by training category
- In the case of acceptance by single company type training (Acceptance of trainees conducted by companies individually); Persons who satisfy any one of the following items (i) through (iii):
| (i) | Full-time staff who belong to the government of a dispatching country, its local public bodies or similar agencies and who are dispatched by such organizations; |
| (ii) | Full-time staff members who belong to joint venture companies or local entities of accepting organizations and who are dispatched by such venture companies or local entities; |
| (iii) | Full-time staff who belong to organizations that have a record of transactions for more than one year continuously with the accepting organizations and achievement of transactions for one billion yen in the past year and who are dispatched by such organizations. |
- In case of acceptance by group-control type training (Acceptance of trainees conducted jointly by accepting organizations in cooperation with their member companies or others);
Persons who satisfy all of the following (i) and (ii):
| (i) | Persons who are recommended by the government of a country in question or its local public bodies; |
| (ii) | Persons who have experience of engaging in work of the same category as the training that they receive in Japan. |
2.Accepting organizations which are eligible for accepting trainees
Companies that satisfy either of the following (i) or (ii):
(1) In case of acceptance by single company type training
Japanese companies that accept full-time staff of local entities, joint venture companies or customer companies in foreign countries (for which a record of transactions for the specified period is required) as trainees;
(2) In case of acceptance by group control type training
Associations of small- and medium-sized companies, such as chambers of commerce and industry, commerce and industry associations, cooperative associations or public interest corporations, to which Japan’s public assistance or guidance is given, are responsible for acceptance, and their member companies and cooperative association member companies that belong to them accept trainees under their guidance and supervision.
3.Number of trainees that may be accepted
In principle, one trainee per 20 full-time staff of an accepting company may be accepted. However, in the case of group-control type training that is accepted by way of chambers of commerce and industry or cooperative associations, the limit on the number of trainees that may be accepted is flexible.
4.Subject businesses for training
Businesses that do not have techniques and skills, which trainees aim to acquire, that can be acquired solely by repetition of the same work (simple work).
5.Period of stay
One year, in principle
6.Period of training
In the case of training that involves on-the-job training, off-the-job training (which includes collective training in which trainees are gathered together (160 hours per month)) and on-the-job training must be conducted at a ratio of 1:2, in principle, in terms of the number of hours for the training period.
7.Responsibilities of accepting organizations
Accepting organizations are required to comply with the following items:
| (1) | Preparation and implementation of a training plan; |
| (2) | Payment of training allowance as actual living expense; |
| (3) | Allocation of training instructor(s) and life instructor(s) for respective accepting companies; |
| (4) | Provision of accommodation facilities for trainees; |
| (5) | Security of training facilities; |
| (6) | Maintenance of training facility for which necessary measures for safety and health set forth in the Industrial Safety and Health Law are taken; |
| (7) | Procurement of insurance for accident or other incidents during training; |
| (8) | Exclusion of unauthorized acts such as side jobs or overtime training and so on; |
| (9) | In the case of group-control type acceptance, control on accepting companies as the organization (guidance and supervision). |
8.Treatment of trainees
(1)Delivery of notice of treatment to trainees
Accepting organizations are required to notify trainees in writing of their treatment relating to the contents of training, training hours, training allowances and other conditions, for purposes of preventing trouble from occurring and for treating them properly. Furthermore, since trainees are not workers, they are not allowed to let trainees to engage in overtime training or training on holidays.
(2)Handling of training hours
Since it is suitable for accepting organizations to implement training during the normal working hours, forty (40) hours per week, in principle, is standard. Overtime training or training on holidays is not authorized.
(3)Proper payment of training allowances
Training allowances are paid as actual living expenses (meal expenses, clothing expenses, expenses for culture and entertainment, telephone charges and other miscellaneous expenses) that are necessary for trainees to make a living during their stay in Japan. Training allowances must be paid by accepting organizations directly to trainees themselves, in full, on a specified day of the month and a part of the training allowance must be paid as a living fund, for the time being, at the time of entry in Japan. In the case of payments into a bank account, the approval of trainees themselves is required. A passbook, a seal and a cash card are kept by trainees themselves.
Furthermore, traveling expense on a round trip basis, housing expenses, the cost of attending training, insurance premiums and the like are borne by accepting companies, in principle.
(4)Other treatment of trainees
Since trainees are not workers, they are not eligible for worker’s compensation, even if an accident or sickness occurs during their training.
For this reason, procurement of privately-run insurance or taking health and safety measures in anticipation of an accident or illness relating to training, are conditions for acceptance.
Furthermore, accepting companies must make sure that passports are held by trainees themselves.
