Employers of Specified Skilled Workers have a legal obligation to provide support, and most discharge it through a registered support organisation (登録支援機関) — a body registered with the Immigration Services Agency for that purpose.
Most SSW workers could not name theirs. That is a problem, because the support is a right and it is the mechanism through which most problems get solved.
Verify before you act on this. The Specified Skilled Worker system is revised frequently. The Immigration Services Agency of Japan and the ministry responsible for your field are the sources that bind. This page is orientation, not authority.
What the support covers
The obligation is defined, not vague. It generally includes:
- Pre-arrival guidance on your conditions of work and life in Japan
- Help on arrival — meeting you, transport, and getting you settled
- Housing support, including help securing accommodation
- Help with official procedures — residence registration, banking, telephone, social insurance
- Japanese language learning opportunities
- A consultation and complaint route, in a language you understand
- Support with social integration
- Help finding new employment if your employer ceases operations
- Regular check-ins, including periodic meetings
That list is the standard. Measured against it, a lot of placements fall short.
Why you should know who yours is
Because they are your first call when something goes wrong. Wages, hours, accommodation, a problem with a supervisor, a change of job — the support organisation is obliged to help, and using them is not a complaint against your employer.
Because they are a signal. A named, contactable, registered organisation that meets you regularly indicates a placement operating properly. An organisation nobody can name, or one you only hear from through your employer, indicates something less good.
Ask before you sign
- Who is the registered support organisation, by name?
- How do I contact them directly, without going through my employer?
- In what language will support be provided?
- How often will we meet?
- Are they registered with the Immigration Services Agency?
An employer or agency that answers plainly is behaving normally. One that is evasive is telling you something worth hearing.
What it is not
It is not a recruitment agency, though some organisations do both. The support function is a legal obligation attached to your employment; recruitment is a commercial service. Keep the two separate in your mind, particularly when fees are being discussed.
It is not your employer, even when the employer provides support in-house — which is permitted for employers meeting the requirements. If support is in-house, ask who specifically is responsible and how you reach them.
It does not cost you anything. The cost of support is the employer’s obligation. Fees charged to you for support are not normal, and that is worth treating as a red flag. See agency red flags.
If yours is not doing its job
You have other routes, and you should use them:
- Labour standards inspection offices, in every prefecture, for wages, hours and safety.
- The Immigration Services Agency’s information services for foreign residents, in multiple languages.
- Your local municipality, which often runs consultation services for foreign residents.
A support organisation that is absent is a failure of your employer’s legal obligation, not a fact of life you have to accept.
The practical point
Find out the name and the contact details before you arrive, and keep them somewhere you can reach without your phone. The moment you most need them is the moment it is hardest to look them up.
See also changing jobs on SSW and SSW pay and deductions.