Japan introduces tougher penalties for foreign intern disappearances english.kyodonews.net

KYODO NEWS - 2 hours ago - 13:05 | All, JapanThe government unveiled Tuesday tougher penalties on employers and supervisory bodies for the disappearances of foreign technical interns, with those with records of many missing trainees to be banned from accepting new interns.
The technical internship program has been criticized over the number of trainees who flee their workplaces, with many citing harsh working conditions and bad treatment.
Such trainees are basically not allowed to change jobs and are believed to become undocumented workers after quitting the program.
The agency will write to all the supervising bodies to ask for cooperation and conduct more interviews with technical interns to check whether there have been any issues over payment and human rights abuses.
In March, the Justice Ministry said around 15 percent of 5,218 foreign trainees who went missing from work had been unjustly treated by employers, including non-payment and overtime work.