| What
should one be aware of when hiring foreigners? |
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| I manage a factory in Gunma
Prefecture. Five years ago, an Iranian gentleman asked
me if he could have a job. Since he seemed very serious
about it at the interview, I agreed that he could work
on a temporary basis for three months. As he did more
than most of the Japanese working here, and became friends
with the other employees, we formally took him on as
a full employee. Unfortunately though, we hired him
without fully looking over his passport, and itÕs recently
come to my attention that heÕs overstayed his visa and
thus no longer has any residential status. When hiring
a non-Japanese in the future, what kinds of things should
I be aware of? |
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For foreigners living in Japan, there are three possible
employment situations:
1)those who can engage in any type of work;
2)those who are only allowed to do certain jobs; and
3)those who are originally not allowed to work, but
later on obtain permission to work at jobs that require
no qualification.
By "job" here, I mean activities that produce income.
Those corresponding to the first case are those people
who have married a Japanese citizen, permanent and fixed
domicile residents and the like. Cooks, translators,
interpreters, technicians and similar jobs are examples
of the second case. In the third situation, you would
have something like foreign exchange students and those
only in Japan for a short period of time. Perhaps the
Iranian gentleman in question, after coming to Japan
on a short-term (tourist) visa ended up overstaying
his visa. Although the immigration procedures for obtaining
detaining a short-term visa in Japan are relatively
simple, originally, the person is not allowed to work.
It might be difficult to judge whether or not a person
can work by looking at their passport, but if you can
find the words Ōshort-term' in their passports, they
cannot work for you. Next, by looking at how long their
visa is valid, you can figure out whether or not they
will overstay their visa. Please make sure to note that
if you employ a non-Japanese who is not legally eligible
to work, you yourself may be punished.
In addition, you should know that there is the possibility
that the Iranian gentleman could receive assistance
by gaining special permission to remain in Japan. |
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