The summary of the article from Sankei Shimbun (April 29, 2025) is as follows.
Foreign nationals are expected to play an active role in the field of home care, and from April 2024, in addition to the existing EPA and “caregiving” residence status, foreign nationals with “specified skilled worker” or “technical intern training” status will be able to work in this field under certain conditions. The government aims to resolve the serious labor shortage, but issues remain in terms of language and educational systems.
Ms. Elma, a care worker from Indonesia, also serves as the manager of a home care service provider, providing advanced care such as support for people with severe disabilities. It is hoped that the number of success stories like hers will increase, leading to an expansion in the acceptance of foreign workers.
However, there is a possibility that the shortage of educational personnel and the training costs will be a burden on small and medium-sized businesses, so there is a need to establish a collaborative system such as joint training. In addition, with the demand for nursing care personnel increasing in other countries, there is an urgent need to raise wages and improve the working environment in order to retain such personnel in Japan.
While an increase of approximately 600,000 care workers will be required in the future, the job vacancy rate for home care workers is over 14 times, and the labor shortage is particularly serious. The average salary of care workers is approximately 80,000 yen lower than in other industries, so it is essential to improve working conditions.
Finally, the ban on foreign workers being employed in home care services has been lifted. Here, we will talk about “Specified Skilled Worker”.
Revision of operational guidelines
When accepting foreign nationals with specified skilled worker, it is necessary to comply with the “Operational Guidelines for the Acceptance of Foreign Nationals with Specified Skilled Worker in Specific Fields” (hereinafter referred to as the “Operational Guidelines”) published for each specific industrial field.
However, the 16 fields designated as specific industrial fields do not necessarily mean that foreigners can work in any type of job. The types of work that foreigners can work in are specified in the operational guidelines for each specific industrial field.
The lifting of the ban on home care means that the duties that can be performed as described in the “Operation Guidelines” for “Care” have changed, with the most notable changes being as follows. (Immigration Bureau website)
| Revised part | Before revision | After revision |
| Work performed by specific skilled workers | This includes physical care (assistance with bathing, eating, and excretion according to the user’s physical and mental condition) and associated support services (recreational activities, assistance with functional training, etc.), | In addition to physical care (assistance with bathing, meals, defecation, etc., depending on the user’s physical and mental condition), the service also includes related support services (recreational activities, assistance with functional training, etc.). |
The notification came into effect on April 21st, so the ban has already been lifted.
Matters to be observed when engaging in this work
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has established the following requirements for foreign workers working in home care services.
- Provide training to foreign care workers on the basics of home care work, etc.
- When foreign care workers engage in home care work, etc., they will receive necessary training by having a supervisor accompany them for a certain period of time
- Develop a career development plan for foreign care workers by carefully explaining the content of home care work, etc. and confirming their intentions
- Take necessary measures, such as setting up a consultation desk, to prevent harassment
- Establish the necessary environment, including the use of information and communications technology, so that foreign care workers can respond appropriately in the event of an unforeseen incident at the site where they are engaged in home care and other work.
- From the perspective of ensuring the quality of the services provided, in principle, foreign care workers engaged in home care services must have at least one year of practical experience at a care facility, etc.
- Receiving businesses must provide thorough explanations to users and their families in advance.
Regarding #6 above, if you do not meet the requirement, there seems to be an alternative requirement of Japanese language proficiency level N2 or above.
Comment
Whether the above requirements are being complied with will be checked before and after by a rotating supervisory body, and penalties will be imposed on any host institution that finds problems.
In addition, as far as our office has been able to confirm, there does not appear to have been any additions or changes to the application items or forms of documents to be submitted as a result of this.