Ms. Nguyễn Thị Mừng

1997: Born in Vietnam
2016: Left university (Vietnam)
2017: Started technical intern training (Nagano Prefecture)
2019: Joined a new company (Osaka Prefecture)

Working at a pet shop despite being a technical intern trainee at a factory

I began my technical training at a factory in Nagano Prefecture, and in addition to the factory, I was forced to work at a pet store owned by this company. I worked at the factory in the morning, and from 15:00 to 19:00, three of us went to the pet shop to feed animals and clean the pet house. I worked at the pet shop all day on Saturdays, too.

Extra work of babysitting the president’s daughter and preparing their meals

A few of us were moved to an accommodation facility near the pet shop from the dormitory in November 2017. Two months later, the president also moved there with his one-year-old daughter. Since then, we were forced to prepare meals for the president, do laundry, and take care of his baby. The baby was mainly my responsibility. I put the baby to bed at 23:00 and she sometimes stayed awake until 1:00. I also changed her diapers. I worked at the pet shop or took care of the baby even on weekends. However, no overtime wage or holiday allowance was paid.

Running away out of despair

In addition to the unpaid work, the president yelled at me violently whenever he did not like something. When I got severely yelled at on a night in October 2018, I lost hope, and I ran away from the facility.

The place I went to was a dormitory of three technical intern trainees in Aichi Prefecture. They let me live in one of their bedrooms for 11 months. As I ran out of my savings of about 300,000 yen during the period, I borrowed money from them to live.

During that time, I asked a friend to look for a job, but it was not easy to find one. I was always worried about what to do if the police would find me and send me back to Vietnam before I paid off my debt by working in Japan.

To the OTIT (Organization for Technical Intern Training) with the support group

One day, I found a page of a support group on social media. I contacted the organization via social media in March 2019 to consult about my junior colleagues who were still working at the company.

When I met the representative of the support group and told him about the situation, he went to the Organization for Technical Intern Training (OTIT) and the Labor Standards Inspection Office together with me and explained the situation. Then, in the following month, the OTIT and the Labor Standards Inspection Office conducted an on-site investigation at the company and helped my junior colleagues change their jobs. On referral from a friend of the representative of the support group, I have started working at a steel manufacturing company in Osaka Prefecture from September. The president and supervisors of the present company are all kind, and they value foreign workers.

In November, the Labor Standards Inspection Office cracked down on the company in Nagano Prefecture for violating the Labor Standards Act. The Immigration Services Agency has banned the company from accepting technical intern trainees.

*Here are more details on this case
Helped by a support group after running away｜KOKORO

If you have a problem, do not run away and work illegally. Contact the OTIT or support groups.

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In case you have problems during your technical intern training, such as not getting paid for overtime hours, not getting paid leave, wanting to run away and finding another job, being fired, or wanting to change jobs, here are some tips and places to consult to solve such problems.

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