Dispatch Work (Haken) in Japan: How It Works and What Foreign Workers Should Check

How dispatch works: two companies, one job

In dispatch work, the staffing agency (派遣元) is your employer. It signs your employment contract, pays your salary, enrolls you in social insurance and is responsible for your working conditions. The company where you actually work is the client (派遣先). It gives you day-to-day instructions but is not your employer.

This means you have two contacts. For problems with tasks or the work environment, you talk to the client's supervisor. For pay, contract, insurance, paid leave or residence paperwork, you talk to the agency. By law the agency must appoint a responsible person (派遣元責任者) and the client must appoint one too (派遣先責任者); their names should be in your documents.

Dispatch is different from contract work where you are sent to a site but take instructions only from your own company (請負). If the client directly manages you while the paperwork says it is not dispatch, that can be disguised dispatch (偽装請負), which is illegal and leaves your rights unclear. Ask who gives you instructions before you start.

Check the agency's licence

Any company running a worker dispatch business needs a licence from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. The licence number starts with 派 followed by digits, and should appear on the agency's website, job ads and documents.

You can check the number in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's search database of staffing businesses (人材サービス総合サイト). Look up the company name or number and confirm that the licence is valid and the name and address match.

Be careful with anyone who introduces you to a job for a fee, holds on to your passport or residence card, or cannot show a licence. A licensed agency cannot charge you a fee to be dispatched, and no employer should keep your residence card.

What to check in your contract and documents

Before your first day, the agency must give you written working conditions and a notice of dispatch conditions (就業条件明示書). Read both. They should match what you were told in the interview and the job ad.

If something is only said verbally, ask for it in writing. Pay particular attention to the contract period and whether it is likely to be renewed, because many dispatch contracts are short and renewed in steps.

• The client company's name and the actual workplace address
• Job content, in enough detail to judge whether it fits your residence status
• Contract period and the conditions for renewal
• Working hours, breaks, days off, shifts and overtime
• Hourly or monthly wage, allowances, transport costs and payday
• Social insurance and employment insurance enrollment
• Who supervises you at the client, and who to contact for complaints
• The date on which the dispatch period limit at that workplace is reached (抵触日)

Which residence statuses fit dispatch work

Your residence status decides what work you may do, whether you are hired directly or through an agency. Residents whose status has no work restrictions, such as Permanent Resident, Spouse or Child of Japanese National, Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident, and Long-Term Resident, can generally take any legal dispatch job, including factory lines, warehouse picking and packing, and food processing.

Holders of the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services status may work through dispatch only if the actual duties at the client fit that status, such as IT development, translation or specialist office work. Simple manual work such as line assembly or warehouse picking generally does not fit, even if the agency itself is a proper employer. When you change agency, you are changing employer, so the notification to immigration about your organization of affiliation is required, and the job content will be checked at your next renewal.

Students and Dependent visa holders can take part-time dispatch jobs only with permission for activity outside their status, and within the weekly hour limit that applies to them. Businesses covered by the adult entertainment regulations remain off-limits. If you are unsure, ask the agency to confirm in writing which duties you will do, and check with the Immigration Services Agency of Japan.

Specified Skilled Worker and dispatch

Specified Skilled Worker (特定技能) is normally a direct-employment system: you work for the company that hires you. Employment through dispatch is allowed only in limited fields, such as agriculture and fishery, where seasonal work makes it practical. In other fields, an SSW worker should not be sent to a different company's site under dispatch.

Do not confuse dispatch with a registered support organization (登録支援機関). A support organization helps with daily life, orientation and paperwork, but it is not your employer and does not send you to work elsewhere.

If you hold SSW and are offered a dispatch job, check that the field allows it and that the arrangement is stated in your documents. The fields and rules are set by the government and can change, so confirm on the Immigration Services Agency website before you accept.

The period limit (the 3-year rule)

Japan's Worker Dispatching Act limits how long dispatch can continue. In general, the same dispatch worker cannot be placed in the same organizational unit (such as a section or team) of the same client for more than three years. There is also a limit on how long a client can keep using dispatch workers at the same workplace unless it follows set procedures, such as consulting its employee representatives.

There are exceptions, for example when you are employed by the agency on an indefinite-term contract, or when you are above a certain age. When the limit approaches, the agency must take employment stability measures, such as asking the client to hire you directly, offering you another placement, or hiring you on an indefinite-term contract.

The rules are detailed and have been revised over the years, so treat this as a summary. If you are close to the limit, ask your agency in writing what will happen, and check the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare guidance.

Your rights as a dispatch worker

Dispatch workers are protected by the Labour Standards Act like other employees. You are entitled to annual paid leave once you have worked continuously for a set period with sufficient attendance, and the agency, as your employer, grants it. Overtime, late-night and holiday work must be paid with premiums.

If you meet the conditions for hours and contract length, you must be enrolled in health insurance, the employees' pension and employment insurance, just like direct employees. Check your payslip to confirm that premiums are being paid.

Equal pay rules require that dispatch workers are not treated unreasonably compared with the client's regular employees, or are paid under a fair agreement set by the agency. Agencies must also provide career training and explain how your wage is decided if you ask. If you have a problem the agency does not solve, you can consult the prefectural labour bureau or a Hello Work office.