Hiring a foreign worker under Specified Skilled Worker "Motor Vehicle Transport" — licence requirements, labour management, and social insurance

In short: Specified Skilled Worker "Motor Vehicle Transport" is a field added to Specified Skilled Worker (i) by the Cabinet decision of March 29, 2024 (Reiwa 6), with three work categories — truck, taxi, and bus. The driving licence required is a Class 1 licence for trucks and a Class 2 licence for taxis and buses, and the Japanese requirement is the Japan Foundation Test for Basic Japanese (JFT-Basic) or JLPT N4 and above for trucks, and JLPT N3 and above for taxis and buses. After hiring, because they are drivers, both the Improvement Standards Notice (applied from April 1, 2024) and the 960-hour annual overtime cap apply, and social, employment, and accident insurance apply regardless of nationality, just as for Japanese workers. This page sets out, from a shakai hoken roumushi's labour-management viewpoint, the scope and timing of the system, the licence and language requirements, how to manage working hours, enrolment in social insurance, and who handles the status of residence, tests, licences, and labour matters.

This page is for owners and labour staff at truck, bus, and taxi operators who are considering hiring foreign drivers. Applications for the "Specified Skilled Worker" status of residence, the field-specific tests, and registered support organisations are the work of a gyoseishoshi; driving licences fall under the Public Safety Commission; and what 四葉 (as a shakai hoken roumushi) handles is the post-hiring framework of the Improvement Standards Notice, working hours, and social insurance. We set this out on the premise that each is an independent business entity contracted separately.

When, and which categories, came under Specified Skilled Worker "Motor Vehicle Transport"?

Motor vehicle transport was added to the fields eligible for Specified Skilled Worker (i) by the Cabinet decision of March 29, 2024 (Reiwa 6) (rail, forestry, and the wood industry were added at the same time, bringing the total to 16 fields). The sector-specific operational policy on which the system runs was later revised, and the current one is the policy decided by Cabinet on January 23, 2026 (Reiwa 8) (the March 29, 2024 policy was repealed on the same day). The intake projection for the five years from fiscal 2024 was up to 24,500 people for the field as a whole under the original March 29, 2024 policy, but it was reset to up to 22,100 people under the current January 23, 2026 policy.

There are three work categories, each being "driving an operating-use vehicle and the driving-related work overall."

Category	Work content	Driving licence required	Japanese requirement
Truck	Driving an operating-use vehicle (truck) and related work	Class 1 licence	JFT-Basic, or JLPT N4 and above
Taxi	Driving an operating-use vehicle (taxi) and related work	Class 2 licence	JLPT N3 and above
Bus	Driving an operating-use vehicle (bus) and related work	Class 2 licence	JLPT N3 and above

Skills are confirmed by the "Specified Skilled Worker (i) Evaluation Test for the Motor Vehicle Transport Field (Truck / Taxi / Bus)," run by the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK). In addition, the receiving side (the specified-skilled-worker host organisation) must become a member of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Motor Vehicle Transport Field Specified Skilled Worker Council and must operate a motor vehicle transport business under the Road Transport Act. Because confirming the council membership notification is expected to take about a month, it is safer to plan recruitment well ahead.

What driving licence and Japanese level does a foreign driver need?

The driving licence is, as in the table above, a Class 1 licence for trucks and a Class 2 licence for taxis and buses. A Class 2 licence, in principle, requires being 21 or older and having held an ordinary licence or similar for three years or more. Completing the licence-eligibility special training that came into force on May 13, 2022 (Reiwa 4) relaxes this to age 19 and one year of experience, but then the young-driver-period restrictions apply.

A person who holds a foreign driving licence starts by converting it to a Japanese licence (the so-called gaimen-kirikae) at the Public Safety Commission. Granting, converting, and obtaining a Class 2 licence fall under the Public Safety Commission and are not the work of a shakai hoken roumushi or a gyoseishoshi. Because the operation of the knowledge and skill checks for conversion keeps being reviewed, confirm the specific procedure and the latest requirements directly with the prefectural police (driver's licence centre) with jurisdiction over your location (this article reserves the details).

For Japanese, trucks require the JFT-Basic or JLPT N4 and above, while taxis and buses require N3 and above. Because taxis and buses carry passengers and need customer service and emergency response, a higher level is required than for trucks.

How are working hours managed under the Improvement Standards Notice?

A foreign driver you hire is still a driver. So working hours are managed under the Labor Standards Act plus the Improvement Standards Notice (Standards for Improving the Working Hours, etc., of Motor Vehicle Drivers; amended December 23, 2022, applied from April 1, 2024). From the same April 1, 2024, the overtime cap (up to 960 hours a year even under a special clause; Labor Standards Act, Supplementary Provisions, Article 140, paragraph 1) also applies to motor-vehicle driving. The "overtime cap" and the "Improvement Standards Notice" are different yardsticks, and you must satisfy both at the same time. This is the so-called "2024 problem."

The figures of the Improvement Standards Notice are set separately for trucks, buses, and taxis. The key points on on-duty hours, rest periods, and continuous driving are covered by category in the following articles.

Category	Detailed article
Truck	The "2024 problem" in trucking and the Improvement Standards Notice
Taxi	Taxi drivers' 2024 Improvement Standards Notice and alternating-day work
Bus	Bus drivers' 2024 Improvement Standards Notice

Even for a foreign worker, the working conditions must be equal to or better than those for a Japanese worker (the standard in the Specified Skilled Worker operational guidelines). The working conditions must be made clear in a way the worker can understand. For the clarification of foreign workers' conditions, see Clarifying foreign workers' working conditions (the 2024 amendment and the native language), and for proving remuneration at an equal level or better, see Proving equal pay for foreign workers and the notice of working conditions.

What about enrolment in social insurance and employment insurance?

Specified Skilled Worker is a field received through direct employment (not worker dispatch). Because a foreign driver is employed as a worker, social and labour insurance apply on the same basis as for Japanese workers, regardless of nationality. The main treatment is as follows.

Insurance	Treatment	Basis / guideline
Health insurance / Employees' Pension	At a covered workplace, an insured person regardless of nationality (compulsory coverage)	A person employed on a regular basis; premiums split between employer and worker by remuneration
Employment insurance	Insured where scheduled weekly hours are 20 or more and employment is expected for 31 days or more	Foreign workers are covered; the status of residence etc. is reported at acquisition
Workers' accident insurance	All workers are covered (the employer handles the procedure)	Regardless of nationality or status of residence

Enrolment in social insurance also matters for the renewal and management of the status of residence. For a person who returns home without receiving the pension they paid into, there is a scheme in which part is returned as a lump-sum withdrawal payment if the requirements are met. For the treatment of the pension on return home, see also Pension when returning home (the lump-sum withdrawal payment).

Note that Specified Skilled Worker (i) comes with an obligation for the receiving side to provide living and employment support (a support plan), which may be outsourced to a registered support organisation. Putting this support framework in place and the status-of-residence procedures are a separate framework from labour management (covered in In-house support framework for Specified Skilled Worker and labour management).

Who handles the status of residence, tests, licences, and labour matters?

Hiring a foreign driver is not completed by labour matters alone. The party in charge differs by task.

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What to do	Whose work it is
Drafting the work rules, wage rules and 36 Agreement; putting working-hour and on-duty management in line with the Improvement Standards Notice; social and employment insurance procedures; calculating premium wages	A Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant) (this office)
Filing applications for the "Specified Skilled Worker" status of residence, advice on the field tests and council membership, support as a registered support organisation	A Gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist)
Driving licences (obtaining a Class 2 licence, converting a foreign licence)	The Public Safety Commission (prefectural police)
Transport-administration procedures such as the licence for a general freight / general passenger motor vehicle transport business and operation management	The District Transport Bureau (Un'yu Shikyoku)
Labour disputes, claims for unpaid wages, litigation	An attorney
Tax decisions such as withholding and year-end adjustment	A tax accountant

This office is limited to providing information and handling procedures for labour management. For applications for the status of residence and the work of a registered support organisation, we can connect you to 四葉行政書士事務所; on the premise that shakai hoken roumushi work and gyoseishoshi work are each carried out by an independent business entity and are contracted separately. We do not take these on together under a single contract.

What can 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 do for you?

四葉社会保険労務士事務所 in Kohinata, Bunkyo Ward, handles, for transport operators hiring foreign drivers, aligning the work rules and wage rules with the Improvement Standards Notice, designing a one-month variable working-hour system, designing and filing the 36 Agreement (special clause), social and employment insurance acquisition procedures, calculating premium wages, and putting on-duty and driving-hour management in place. The initial consultation is free. We quote according to the content and the number of employees; for how fees are thought about, see the fee schedule, and the questions we are asked most often are collected on the FAQ page.

Where you need an application for the status of residence or support as a registered support organisation, we will connect you to 四葉行政書士事務所; for driving licences, to the Public Safety Commission; and where a dispute has already arisen, to an attorney. This office does not accept referral fees.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What driving licence is needed under Specified Skilled Worker "Motor Vehicle Transport"?
A. It differs by work category. Trucks need a Class 1 licence, and taxis and buses need a Class 2 licence. A Class 2 licence requires, in principle, being 21 or older with three years of experience; completing the licence-eligibility special training relaxes this to age 19 and one year. Obtaining a licence and converting a foreign licence fall under the Public Safety Commission (prefectural police) and are not the work of a shakai hoken roumushi or a gyoseishoshi.

Q. Do foreign drivers enrol in social insurance the same way as Japanese workers?
A. Yes. Specified Skilled Worker is direct employment, and because a foreign worker is employed as a worker, they become an insured person for health insurance and the Employees' Pension at a covered workplace regardless of nationality, and an insured person for employment insurance where scheduled weekly hours are 20 or more and employment is expected for 31 days or more. All workers are covered by workers' accident insurance. Remuneration, too, must be equal to or better than for a Japanese worker.

Q. Does the Japanese requirement differ by category?
A. Yes. Trucks require the JFT-Basic or JLPT N4 and above, and taxis and buses require N3 and above. Because taxis and buses carry passengers and need customer service and emergency response, a higher level is required than for trucks.

Q. Can you handle everything from the status-of-residence application to labour matters?
A. Putting working hours, social insurance, and work rules in place is the work of a shakai hoken roumushi, while applications for the "Specified Skilled Worker" status of residence and support as a registered support organisation are the work of a gyoseishoshi. On the premise that each is an independent business entity contracted separately, we can connect you to 四葉行政書士事務所. Driving licences fall under the Public Safety Commission. We do not take these on together under a single contract.

Sources for this article

• "Policy on the operation of the Specified Skilled Worker status of residence system in the motor vehicle transport field" (the sector-specific operational policy; Cabinet decision of March 29, 2024, revised by the Cabinet decision of January 23, 2026). The March 29, 2024 Cabinet decision adding four fields including motor vehicle transport to Specified Skilled Worker (i), and the five-year intake projection from fiscal 2024 (up to 24,500 people for the field as a whole under the original March 29, 2024 policy, reset to up to 22,100 people under the current January 23, 2026 policy), were checked against the sector-specific operational policy and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism page "The Specified Skilled Worker system in motor vehicle transport" (referenced October 2026; the sector-specific guidance pages of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Immigration Services Agency may still show the pre-revision figure of 24,500 people)
• The work categories (truck, taxi, bus), the licences required (truck = Class 1; taxi, bus = Class 2), the Japanese-test requirements (truck = JFT-Basic or N4 and above; taxi, bus = N3 and above), and the "Specified Skilled Worker (i) Evaluation Test for the Motor Vehicle Transport Field" (run by the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai) were checked against the Immigration Services Agency page "Specified Skilled Worker 'Motor Vehicle Transport'" (as of July 15, 2025) (referenced October 2026)
• The eligibility to sit for a Class 2 licence under the Road Traffic Act (Act No. 105 of 1960) — in principle age 21 and three years of experience, and age 19 with one year of experience where the licence-eligibility special training that came into force on May 13, 2022 is completed — was checked against the Metropolitan Police Department / prefectural police driving-licence guidance (referenced October 2026). The specific procedures and latest requirements for converting a foreign licence keep being reviewed, and this article reserves the details (unverified)
• "Standards for Improving the Working Hours, etc., of Motor Vehicle Drivers" (the Improvement Standards Notice; Labour Ministry Notice No. 7 of 1989, amended by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Notice No. 367 of December 23, 2022, applied from April 1, 2024). Labor Standards Act (Act No. 49 of 1947), Article 32-2 (one-month variable working-hour system), Article 36 (agreement on overtime and holiday work), Article 37 (premium wages), Article 89 (drawing up and filing work rules), and Supplementary Provisions Article 140, paragraph 1 (application of the overtime cap to motor-vehicle driving: up to 960 hours a year even under a special clause)
• That social, employment, and accident insurance apply regardless of nationality, and that a specified skilled worker's remuneration must be equal to or better than a Japanese worker's, is based on the Health Insurance Act, the Employees' Pension Insurance Act, the Employment Insurance Act, and the standards in the Specified Skilled Worker operational guidelines. Premium rates and specific coverage requirements should be checked against the guidance of the Japan Pension Service and Hello Work immediately before writing and then applied (referenced October 2026)

This article does not go so far as to decide whom you should consult. Drafting the work rules, wage rules and 36 Agreement, putting the Improvement-Standards-Notice-compliant working-hour framework in place, handling social and employment insurance, and calculating premium wages are the work of a shakai hoken roumushi. Applications for the "Specified Skilled Worker" status of residence and the work of a registered support organisation are the work of a gyoseishoshi; obtaining a licence and converting a foreign licence fall under the Public Safety Commission; licences for a transport business and operation management are the work of the District Transport Bureau; claims for unpaid wages and disputes are the work of an attorney; and tax decisions on withholding and the year-end adjustment are the work of a tax accountant. Shakai hoken roumushi work and gyoseishoshi work are each carried out by an independent business entity and contracted separately. This office does not accept referral fees. The cost of consulting 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 is set out in the fee schedule, and the questions we are asked most often are collected on the FAQ page.

This article is general information. Judgments that fit your particular circumstances are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Shakai Hoken Roumushi (Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant), Gyoseishoshi (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist), Registered Real Estate Transaction Specialist).