Dispatch (haken) work in Japan: pay, rules and where to get help
As a dispatch worker your employer is the staffing agency, but you take instructions from the client company. This guide explains who handles pay, paid leave and insurance, the papers you get before starting, the 3-year and day-dispatch rules, residence-status points for foreign residents, and where to go for help.
Key takeaways
- In dispatch work, the staffing agency signs your employment contract and pays you; the client company gives you day-to-day instructions
- Before you start, the agency must give you your working conditions and assignment details (work, place, period, contacts) in writing
- Paid leave, social insurance and employment insurance come through the agency once you meet the conditions
- Day dispatch on contracts of 30 days or less is banned in principle, and you can usually stay in the same section for up to 3 years
- If something goes wrong, talk to the managers at the agency and the client first, then to a public labour office
Dispatch work (haken) means you are hired by a staffing agency and work at another company (the client) that has a contract with the agency. Your employer is the staffing agency, so the agency pays you and handles your paid leave and insurance. Your day-to-day instructions, though, come from the client. This guide explains how dispatch work works, how it differs from a normal part-time job, the papers and rules to check before you start, and where to go for help.
What is dispatch work? The three parties
Three parties are involved: you, the staffing agency and the client company. Knowing who does what tells you who to talk to when something goes wrong.
| Party | Main role |
|---|---|
| Staffing agency (haken-moto) | Signs your employment contract. Pays your wages, handles paid leave, social and employment insurance, and explains your working conditions |
| Client company (haken-saki) | The workplace where you actually work. Gives instructions, manages working hours and breaks, and keeps the workplace safe |
| You (the dispatch worker) | Employed by the agency and work under the client's instructions |
Running a dispatch business requires a licence from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. A licensed agency has a licence number such as 派13-123456, which you can check on the Ministry's staffing services site. The same site also shows each agency's margin rate and the average wage of its dispatch workers.
How is it different from a part-time job or direct hire?
| Item | Dispatch | Part-time job (direct hire) |
|---|---|---|
| Employer | Staffing agency | The shop or company where you work |
| Who pays you | Staffing agency | The shop or company where you work |
| Who gives instructions | Client company | The shop or company where you work |
| Applying and interviews | Register and meet the agency. In principle no screening interview by the client | The shop or company interviews you |
| How long you can stay | Up to 3 years in the same section, in principle (with exceptions) | Depends on your contract |
| Short jobs | Day dispatch on contracts of 30 days or less is banned in principle | One-day jobs exist |
The agency looks for work for you, and you can try different workplaces. Because your workplace (the client) and your employer (the agency) are different, remember that you have two places to turn to when there is a problem.
Who handles pay, commuting costs, paid leave and insurance?
Pay and treatment
The agency pays your wages. Since April 2020, dispatch workers' treatment must be set either so that it is not unreasonably different from the client's own employees, or by an agreement the agency makes with its workers' representative. The agency must explain your treatment when it hires you and when it dispatches you, and if you ask, it must explain how your treatment differs from the client's employees and why. Treating you worse because you asked is prohibited. Since October 2026, the agency must also tell you, together with your working conditions, that you can ask for this explanation.
Commuting costs
The agency also decides how commuting costs are paid, following the same rules on treatment. Check the job ad and your working-conditions document for whether they are paid and any limit.
Paid leave
Paid leave is granted by your employer, the agency. After 6 months of continuous work, if you came to work on at least 80% of your scheduled working days, you get paid leave just like in a part-time job. To take it, tell the agency.
Social and employment insurance
If you meet the conditions, the agency enrols you in health insurance, the employees' pension and employment insurance. Employment insurance covers people who work 20 hours or more a week and are expected to work for 31 days or more (from October 2028 this is planned to widen to 10 hours or more a week).
Papers you must receive before you start
Before you start, you receive the following in writing. Do not start working on a verbal promise alone.
- Notice of working conditions (rōdō jōken tsūchisho): contract period, pay, working hours, days off and so on. Every employer gives this, whatever the type of work
- Statement of assignment terms (shūgyō jōken meijisho): the client's name and location, the work, the assignment period, working hours, the managers at the client and the agency, where to raise complaints, and more. The agency gives this before each assignment
If anything differs from the job ad, ask the agency before you start.
The main rules of dispatch work
Up to 3 years in the same section, in principle
You can work as a dispatch worker in the same section (such as a department) of the same client for up to 3 years, in principle. If you are expected to reach 3 years and want to keep working, the agency must take steps such as asking the client to hire you directly, offering you another assignment, or employing you itself without a fixed term. People the agency employs without a fixed term, people aged 60 or over, people covering for someone on childcare or similar leave, and some others are not covered by this limit.
Day dispatch of 30 days or less is banned in principle
Day dispatch, where your employment contract with the agency is 30 days or less, is banned in principle. The only exceptions are certain kinds of work set by law, such as software development, interpreting and reception work, or people who are aged 60 or over, daytime students (not evening, part-time or correspondence courses), people earning ¥5 million or more a year from their main job and doing this as a side job, or people who are not the main earner in a household earning ¥5 million or more a year. That is why one-day jobs are usually offered as direct-hire part-time jobs rather than as dispatch.
No advance interview by the client, in principle
The law asks client companies not to interview dispatch workers or ask for CVs to choose who they get. You can still visit the workplace beforehand if you want to.
Temp-to-hire dispatch
Temp-to-hire dispatch (shōkai yotei haken) means that after working as a dispatch worker, you are hired directly by the client if both you and the client agree. The dispatch period is up to 6 months, and in this case the client may interview you.
Work that cannot be done through dispatch
The law bans dispatch for port cargo handling, construction, security guard work, medical work at hospitals and similar places (with some exceptions), and some licensed professions such as lawyers and tax accountants.
Points for foreign residents
Whether you can work as a dispatch worker depends on your residence status. If you are not sure, show your residence card to the agency and check before you apply.
| Residence status | Can you work through dispatch? |
|---|---|
| Permanent Resident, Spouse or Child of Japanese National, Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident, Long-Term Resident | Yes, with no limit on the kind of work |
| Student or Dependent (with permission for activity outside your status) | Yes, in principle up to 28 hours a week. Your other part-time jobs count towards the total |
| Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services and similar | Yes, if the work matches what your status allows |
| Specified Skilled Worker | Dispatch is allowed only in agriculture and fisheries |
| Technical Intern Training | No |
You can also check what each residence status allows on our page for foreign residents.
Where to get help
If your pay differs from your documents, you are told to do work you were not told about, or you face harassment, ask for help in this order. Both the agency and the client have managers responsible for handling dispatch workers' complaints.
| Where to go | When |
|---|---|
| Your agency contact or the agency's dispatch manager | Pay, paid leave, your contract, and any problem at the client |
| The client's dispatch manager | Instructions at work, working hours, safety, harassment |
| Prefectural Labour Bureau (the section for staffing businesses) | When the agency or the client is not following the dispatch rules |
| Labour Standards Inspection Office | Unpaid wages, excessive hours, injuries and other Labour Standards Act matters |
| General Labour Consultation Corner | When you do not know where to go. Some offices offer consultations in foreign languages |
The law prohibits dismissing you or treating you unfairly because you reported a breach of the dispatch rules to the Labour Bureau.
Finding dispatch jobs on Arubaito
- Dispatch jobs say "This is a dispatch job" and show the name and licence number of the staffing agency that employs you
- Only staffing agencies whose licence number we have checked can post dispatch jobs
- To see only jobs that are not dispatch, use the job list with "Exclude dispatch jobs" turned on
Read next: things to know about working more than one job, paid leave for part-time workers, and what warehouse and light work involves.
