A Japanese government panel has proposed replacing the country’s controversial trainee program for foreigners with a new system with more flexibility and oversight to prevent human rights infringements, reports Kyodo News, citing a draft report. The panel called for enabling trainees who attain a certain level of skills and Japanese language ability after working for a year at one place to transfer to another within the same business sector, which is not allowed in principle under the present system.

Supervising organisations, which act as brokers and also supervise companies accepting foreign trainees, will be restricted from holding executive posts at the companies concerned as the practice has been criticised for leading to their failure to prevent abuses against trainees, such as harassment and unpaid wages.

The draft will be finalised in November following further discussions, and the government will seek to submit related bills to the ordinary parliamentary session next year. The new system would clearly state that it is intended to secure and develop human resources. It calls for bolstering the trainees' skills and facilitating their shift to the specified skilled worker system that allows for long-term employment and residency.