An excellent foreign employee hired by your company is exposed by the Immigration Bureau for past resume fraud or overworking during their student days (violation of activities outside the status of qualification) and faces the crisis of “deportation.” For Japanese companies employing global talent, this is by no means someone else’s problem.
The greatest fear facing corporate legal departments and management here, in addition to “losing an employee,” is the spillover risk that “the company itself might also be prosecuted for the ‘crime of promoting illegal employment’.” This article explains the “breakwater logic” of how a company can prove its innocence and block fatal investigations while an employee’s deportation process is underway.
1. Spillover to the Corporation: The Absolute Terror of Promoting Illegal Employment
The “crime of promoting illegal employment” under Japan’s Immigration Control Act is a very serious offense punishable by up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to 3 million JPY (or both). If convicted even once, the company’s social credibility will plummet, and it will be completely impossible to hire new foreigners for “5 years after receiving the punishment.” Furthermore, the company will face situations that shake the very foundation of its management, such as the suspension of financing from financial institutions.
The most terrifying aspect is that the excuse of “we didn’t know” is generally unacceptable (even negligence is punishable). If Immigration deems that “the company neglected the checks it should have naturally performed (there was negligence),” they will mercilessly bare their fangs at the corporation.
2. The 3-Tier Deportation System and the “Honest and Calm Stance” Companies Must Take
The deportation procedure for the foreigner themselves usually proceeds under the following “3-tier system.”
- Violation Examination: Interrogation by an immigration control officer.
- Oral Hearing: Filing a complaint to a special inquiry officer.
- Filing an Objection: Requesting a final decision from the Minister of Justice (hoping for special permission to stay).
During this process, the company must never act out of sympathy for the employee by “covering up the violation as a company” or “giving false testimony to Immigration.” The stance to be taken by corporate legal affairs is to commit to honest and calm corporate defense: “Draw a clear line from the personal violations of the employee, cooperate fully with the investigation, but maintain that the company’s compliance system was perfect.”
3. Fortifying Corporate Defense: Objective Proof of “Not Knowing”
The only breakwater for a company to avoid the crime of promoting illegal employment is to prove the truth that “the company did its best to comply with laws and regulations, and it was objectively impossible to detect the employee’s personal lies or clever violations (= the company was not negligent).” To achieve this, you must build a system during normal times that can present the following evidence to Immigration.
- Strict Original Residence Card Verification Process: Records showing that you always checked the original card, not a copy, at the time of hiring, and performed forgery checks on the IC chip using a “Residence Card Reading Application.”
- Background Checks at Hiring: Evidence that the company conducted corroborating investigations within a reasonable scope on the submitted degree certificates and work history certificates.
- Legal Management of Working Hours: Time cards and pay slips showing that while working for your company, duties were limited to those within the scope of the employment contract and visa, with absolutely no illegality in labor management.
4. Conclusion: Discard Sentiment and Raise Your Legal Shield
When faced with the deportation of a foreign employee, a manager acting out of the emotional desire to “somehow help them” can deal a fatal blow that sinks the corporation itself.
An employee’s past black box (resume fraud or violations at other companies) is beyond the company’s control. That is precisely why the ability to immediately present to Immigration the true legal logic and objective evidence that “only our company’s gates (hiring and labor management) were perfectly guarded” is the difference between life and death for the company. The moment a situation is discovered, do not keep it within the company; immediately request a specialist focused on corporate defense to build a post-processing scheme.