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To spot a potentially problematic SES arrangement in Japan, look past labels such as 業務委託, 準委任, and 請負 and ask who will actually direct your work, control your hours, evaluate you, and decide your placement. A client-site assignment or time-based fee is not automatically unlawful. The key issue is whether the real working arrangement matches the contract and the legal distinction between labor dispatch and contracting.
What “body-shop” means—and what it does not
“Body-shop” is a colloquial, often pejorative term for a business that supplies workers to client projects. It is not, by itself, a legal classification. In Japan, the relevant distinction is whether an arrangement is labor dispatch (労働者派遣) or contracting (請負など), assessed against the actual working relationship rather than the name printed on an agreement.
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The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) states: “Whether an arrangement is labor dispatch or contracting is determined according to the actual circumstances under the standard for distinguishing labor dispatch from contracting, not by the contract form.” That means an SES label, a 業務委託 agreement, or a monthly service fee cannot settle the question alone.
A legitimate contractor may work at a client’s site and communicate with client staff. The practical concern is whether the client is managing you as if you were its own employee while the paperwork describes a contract service. No single fact necessarily decides the classification; the circumstances must be considered under the applicable standard.
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What to check in the day-to-day arrangement
The 37号告示 standard looks at whether the contractor independently manages its own workers and operates a real business, rather than simply supplying labor. In particular, it addresses control of work methods, work performance, working hours and overtime, workplace discipline, and decisions about worker placement. It also considers whether the contractor assumes responsibility for the work and uses its own resources, planning, expertise, or experience.
Tokyo Labor Bureau identifies direct, detailed client instructions and client control of attendance or working time as warning signs. It also flags a nominal supervisor who merely passes on the client’s directions, an unclear employer within a vendor chain, and an individual labeled a contractor who in practice follows the client’s directions. These are prompts to investigate, not standalone legal verdicts.
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Questions to ask before signing
- Who gives my daily technical instructions and sets priorities? Ask whether direction comes from your employer’s responsible manager or directly from the client’s manager. Clarify how requests, approvals, and changes are communicated.
- Who controls hours, overtime, holidays, and attendance? Ask who approves overtime or weekend work and who can change your schedule. The standard distinguishes managing work time from merely recording it.
- Who evaluates my work and decides my placement? Ask who handles performance management, discipline, assignment decisions, and any change of placement.
- What service or result is my employer responsible for? Ask what work the vendor has undertaken, who accepts it, and who bears responsibility and costs. A contracting business should independently manage and take responsibility for its contracted work.
- Who is my legal employer, and what entities are in the chain? Request the employer’s name and an explanation of any intermediaries and the client or assignment entity, where applicable. Make sure you know whom to contact if the actual arrangement differs from what was promised.
- Which documents govern my employment and assignment? Compare your employment contract, labor-condition notice, assignment-condition document, and any outsourcing or contracting agreement that applies to you. A label in a document does not override the actual arrangement.
Pause and seek clarification if answers are evasive, the vendor chain is unexplained, or you are told that you will be an independent contractor but must follow the client manager’s directions and schedule. A client interview presented as a condition of dispatch is also worth checking against the official worker guidance; it is not, by itself, a complete legal determination.
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If the offer is for labor dispatch
If you will be hired as a dispatch employee, verify the dispatch provider and the written employment and assignment information. MHLW’s worker checklist asks workers to check the provider’s required permission or notification and relevant number; whether dispatch status was explained and agreed to where applicable; whether written labor terms and assignment conditions were supplied; whether actual work matches those conditions; and whether employment, health, and pension insurance enrollment is confirmed or a concrete reason for non-enrollment is given.
MHLW says the information made available to dispatch workers includes expected pay, social-insurance matters, other treatment, expected schedule and location, assignment period, training and welfare, and relevant treatment and complaint-handling information. Which details apply depends on the employment and assignment circumstances. Consult the current MHLW checklist for people working as dispatch workers and the MHLW explanation of employment conditions at hiring rather than relying on an informal template.
The checklist also tells workers to pay attention to client-side pre-assignment interviews and résumé submissions. Treat those as points to verify in context, not automatic proof that a particular offer is unlawful. The checklist helps you identify what to ask and compare; it does not replace a fact-specific assessment.
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Compare the paperwork with the reality you were promised
For each offer, write down what the documents say and what the recruiter or hiring manager described. Differences are a reason to ask for written clarification before signing.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors- Employment: Who is named as your employer, and what is your employment status?
- Direction and evaluation: Who sets daily priorities, directs your work, assesses performance, and decides placement?
- Time and attendance: Who controls working hours, overtime, holidays, and schedule changes?
- Business responsibility: What service or result does the vendor undertake, and who bears responsibility and costs?
- Written conditions: Do pay, benefits, assignment period, and termination or renewal terms match what you were told?
- Vendor chain and escalation: Are the entities involved clear, and do you know whom to contact if the assignment differs from the documents?
If the arrangement is presented as dispatch, also check the provider’s authorization or notification, dispatch-related written terms, assignment conditions, treatment information, and insurance details. For the official Japanese guidance, search for 「偽装請負とは」 and 「派遣労働者」として働くためのチェックリスト. Tokyo Labor Bureau’s page, 偽装請負について, frames the central worker question as 「あなたの使用者はだれですか?」—“Who is your employer?”
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When to seek an outside review
If the documents and expected working practices conflict, or you cannot identify who controls your work, contact the relevant prefectural labor bureau or a qualified professional with the documents and a written account of the expected day-to-day arrangement. MHLW’s 37号告示-related Q&A provides additional guidance, but an individual case turns on its facts.
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