88 Vietnamese Workers Hired By Japanese Confectionery Left Idle Without Pay

More than 80 Vietnamese workers who signed contracts to work for Japanese confectionery maker Chateraise Co. were left on standby without pay for 2.5 months, the company said, as reported by Mainichi Japan.

Delays in the full operation of new Chateraise factories in other locations have forced the workers under the program to remain on standby. I Photo: Yasu (talk) Wikimedia Commons

The company plans to offer compensation for loss of earnings from around early July to the 88 Vietnamese workers, many of whom hold a "Specified Skilled Worker" visa, a status of residence established in 2019 to attract more foreign workers to Japan amid an acute labor shortage.

According to the company based in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, the Vietnamese workers were scheduled to work at a factory in the prefecture from late February.

However, delays in the full operation of new factories in other locations have forced them to remain on standby.

The Vietnamese workers included those who had quit their previous jobs to work at the Chateraise factory, as the "Specified Skilled Worker" program allows job changes within the same field.

Some of them have already begun working, and all are expected to start working later this month.