In ordinary dispatch, the client takes whoever the agency sends and is not supposed to pick workers by interview. Temp-to-perm dispatch is the exception. Defined in the Worker Dispatch Act, it combines dispatch with a placement service: the agency dispatches a worker on the understanding that, if both sides agree at the end, the client will hire them directly. The agency must hold both a dispatch licence and a placement licence.
Because selection is the point, the client may review CVs and interview candidates before the dispatch starts. The dispatch period is capped at six months. If the client decides not to hire, or the worker declines, the client must give the agency its reasons on request, and the agency passes them on to the worker. If the worker is hired, the ministry's guidelines treat the dispatch period as having served as the trial, so the employer should not set a new probation period. The agency usually charges a placement fee on hire, in addition to the hourly dispatch rate.
What it means for a foreign employer
- It is a trial with rules. Six months of working together, then a decision. It suits administrative, assistant and junior specialist roles where fit is uncertain.
- Not a route to senior hires. Experienced managers rarely accept a dispatch arrangement as the way into a company. For them it reads as a lack of commitment.
- Price both fees. The hourly rate plus the placement fee on hire can approach the cost of a direct placement. Compare the total.
- Decide in time and give reasons. A worker strung along past the end of the period, or rejected without explanation, will tell others.
Sources
- Worker Dispatch Act, Article 2 (definition of temp-to-perm dispatch).
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, guidelines for host employers and dispatch agencies, and the administrative manual for worker dispatch (six-month limit, pre-selection, reasons for non-hire, probation).