An organization supporting foreign workers in Japan has launched a service with eight companies that aims to resolve labor issues by providing financial relief and counseling to non-Japanese employed by those firms and their business partners.
The move comes amid growing pressure on companies worldwide to perform due diligence to ensure human rights aren't being violated as part of their business, with firms and their contractors investigating or being investigated for forced labor and other labor law violations.
The new service allows the eight companies to pool the cost of setting up necessary services for foreign workers, such as multilingual interpretation and legal advice. The firms include Toyota, Seven & I Holdings, Ajinomoto, real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan and Ryohin Keikaku Co., which operates outlets under its Muji brand.