①It is prohibited for any person to carry out a worker dispatching service involving work falling under any of the following items:

②Before drafting a proposal to establish or amend Cabinet Order referred to in item (iii) of the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must obtain the opinion of the Labor Policy Council.

③A person using the worker dispatching services provided by an entity that engages in worker dispatching services must not have a dispatched worker who is receiving directions and orders and subject to the relevant worker dispatching arrangement engage in work falling under any of the items of paragraph (1) at the direction of the person using those services.

①A person seeking to engage in labor services must obtain a license from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②A person seeking to be granted the license referred to in the preceding paragraph must submit a written application stating the following information to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare:

③The written application referred to in the preceding paragraph must be accompanied by a business plan for the services that the applicant will provide at each place of business where it will engage in worker dispatching services, and by other documents specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

④In the business plan referred to in the preceding paragraph, the applicant must state the number of assigned workers involved in its services, the amount of the worker dispatching charge, and other particulars of its worker dispatching for each place of business where it will engage in worker dispatching services, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑤Before granting the license referred to in paragraph (1), the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must obtain the opinion of the Labor Policy Council.

A person that falls under any of the following items may not receive the license referred to in paragraph (1) of the preceding Article:

①Unless the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that the application for a license referred to in Article 5, paragraph (1) conforms to the criteria stated below, the Minister must not grant that license:

②If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare will not grant the license referred to in Article 5, paragraph (1), the Minister must notify the applicant of this without delay while indicating the reason for this.

①If the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare grants the license referred to in Article 5, paragraph (1), the Minister must issue license certificates to cover the number of places of business where the licensee will engage in worker dispatching services, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②A person that has been issued a license certificate must keep it at the place of business where the person engages in worker dispatching services and present it to a person concerned if asked.

③If an issued license certificate is lost or destroyed, the person that was issued that license certificate must promptly notify the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of this and have the license certificate reissued.

①The license stated in Article 5, paragraph (1) may be granted under certain conditions, which may be subsequently altered.

②The conditions provided for in the preceding paragraph are limited to what is minimally necessary, either in view of the purpose of the license or to ensure the secure implementation of the things under the license, and must not impose any undue obligation upon the person that is granted the license.

①The validity period of the license provided for in Article 5, paragraph (1) is three years counting from the date it is granted.

②A person seeking to continue to engage in worker dispatching services under a license prescribed in the preceding paragraph after the expiration of the license's validity period (or after the expiration of the validity period as renewed pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, if applicable) must have the validity period of the license renewed pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

③If an application for renewal of the validity period of a license as prescribed in the preceding paragraph has been submitted, but the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that the application is not in conformity with the criteria stated in each item of Article 7, paragraph (1), the Minister must not renew the license's validity period.

④The validity period of the license referred to in Article 5, paragraph (1) when renewed pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2) is five years counting from the day following the date of expiration of the validity period of the license before the renewal.

⑤The provisions of Article 5, paragraphs (2) through (4), Article 6 (excluding items (v) through (viii)), and Article 7, paragraph (2) apply mutatis mutandis to the renewal of the validity period of a license under paragraph (2).

①If there has been a change in the information stated in any of the items of Article 5, paragraph (2), a staffing provider must notify the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of this without delay. In that case, if the information subject to the change concerns the establishment of a new place of business where the provider will engage in worker dispatching services, the notification must be accompanied by a business plan for that place of business and other documents specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②The provisions of Article 5, paragraph (4) apply mutatis mutandis to the business plan referred to in the preceding paragraph.

③If, pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1), the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare receives a notification of changes concerning the establishment of a new place of business where the provider will engage in worker dispatching services, the Minister must issue license certificates to cover the number of new places of business that will be established, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

④When a staffing provider submits a notification under paragraph (1), and any particular related to that notification falls under any information stated in the license certificate, the provider must apply for updating of the license certificate pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①If a staffing provider discontinues its worker dispatching services, it must file a notification with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of this without delay pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②When a notification under the provisions of the preceding paragraph is filed, the license referred to in Article 5, paragraph (1) ceases to be effective.

①The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may revoke a license granted to a staffing provider pursuant to the provisions of Article 5, paragraph (1), if the staffing provider falls under any of the following items:

②If a staffing provider falls under item (ii) or (iii) of the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may order a partial or full suspension of its worker dispatching services for a designated period of time.

A staffing provider must not allow any other person to engage in worker dispatching services using the provider's name.

①A staffing provider, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, must prepare a business report and settlement of accounts for its worker dispatching services, for each place of business at which it engages in those services, and submit them to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②A business report referred to in the preceding paragraph must contain the number of dispatched workers, the number of persons that have used the worker dispatching services, the amount of the worker dispatching charge, and other particulars of the worker dispatching, for each place of business where the person has provided worker dispatching services, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

③A staffing provider must report the rate of assignment to the provider's close clients prescribed in the following Article to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

④Before a staffing provider provides worker dispatching for the purpose of having a dispatched worker work at a place of business or other such facility that is located outside the region where this Act is in force (referred to below as "overseas staffing"), the provider must file a notification indicating this with the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑤Pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and for each place of business where it engages in worker dispatching services, a staffing provider must provide information on the number of dispatched workers associated with those services, the number of persons that have used the worker dispatching services, the rate arrived at when the average wage of dispatched workers is subtracted from the average worker dispatching charge and the product is then divided by the average worker dispatching charge as calculated pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the particulars of educational training, and other particulars specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as those that it is appropriate to communicate to the relevant persons in advance in connection with the activities of its worker dispatching services.

When a staffing provider provides worker dispatching for a person that is able to substantially control the staffing provider's management or any other person specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as a person that has a specific relationship to the staffing provider (referred to below as a "close client" in this Article), the staffing provider must ensure that the rate of assignment to its close client (meaning the rate arrived at when the total working hours for assigned work (referring to the work done by workers subject to worker dispatching arrangements; the same applies below) that the dispatched workers whom the staffing provider employs perform for the close client in a business year is divided by the total working hours for all assigned work that the dispatched workers whom the staffing provider employs perform in the business year as calculated pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) is not more than 80 percent.

The provisions of Article 20 of the Employment Security Act apply mutatis mutandis to worker dispatching services. In that case, in paragraph (1) of that Article, the phrase "public employment security office" is deemed to be replaced with "staffing provider prescribed in Article 2, item (iv) of the Act on Ensuring the Proper Operation of Worker Dispatching Services and Protecting Dispatched Workers (simply referred to below as a "staffing provider")" and the phrase "must not refer a job seeker to a place of business" is deemed to be replaced with "must not engage in worker dispatching prescribed in item (i) of that Article with regard to the place of business (simply referred to below as "worker dispatching") (if worker dispatching is actually carried out for the place of business at the time of the strike or lock-out, excluding that worker dispatching and any equivalent arrangement)"; in paragraph (2) of that Article, the phrase "unrestricted referral of job seekers" is deemed to be replaced with "unlimited worker dispatching", the phrase "the public employment security office must not refer job seekers to that place of business" is deemed to be replaced with "the public employment security office must notify the staffing provider of this, and the staffing provider, having received the notification, must not provide worker dispatching for that place of business (if worker dispatching is being provided for that place of business at the time of the notification, excluding the relevant worker dispatching and any equivalent arrangement)", the phrase "workers normally employed" is deemed to be replaced with "workers (including workers having been engaged in work under a worker dispatching arrangement) normally employed", and the phrase "referring workers" is deemed to be replaced with "providing dispatched workers".

A person using worker dispatching services must not use worker dispatching services that are provided by an entity that engages in worker dispatching services but that is not a staffing provider.

①When a staffing provider collects, retains, or uses a worker's personal information in connection with worker dispatching, it must collect it only within the scope necessary for achieving the purpose of its operations (including employment placement, if it offers temp-to-perm placement; the same applies in the following Article), and must retain and use it only within the scope of the purpose for which it was collected; provided, however, that this does not apply if the provider has the person's consent to do otherwise or if there are other justifiable reasons.

②A staffing provider must take the necessary measures to properly manage workers' personal information.

It is prohibited for a staffing provider, its agent, employee, or other staff member to disclose to another person any secret learned with regard to information handled in the course of business, without legitimate grounds. The same applies even after a person has ceased to be a staffing provider or its agent, employee, or other staff member.

In applying the provisions of this Act that concern worker dispatching services, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must take into consideration employment practices that are considered to contribute to workers' effective demonstration of their abilities and their employment security throughout their working lives, as well as the principle that assigned work should be occasional and temporary, and, at the same time, must make considerations so that the coordination of labor supply and demand through worker dispatching services is in harmony with the coordination of labor supply and demand under the other systems specified in the Employment Security Act.