Can security companies hire international students? Planning hours, Japanese requirements, and training

Updated October 29, 2026

International students can be candidates for part-time jobs directly employed by security companies when they meet work-permission and security-guard requirements. Recruitment requires specific working hours and safety responsibilities to be compared with students' timetables and abilities.

Night shifts offer an attractive daily rate, but long working hours and classes after a night shift can undermine retention. Explaining hours, training, and assigned duties from the recruitment stage helps prevent misunderstandings after hiring.

Security recruitment is difficult, but shift planning comes first

Tokyo's active job-opening-to-applicant ratio for part-time protective services was 28.51 in August 2026. The large number of openings per jobseeker helps illustrate recruitment difficulties, but the figure is not limited to international students or night work. Tokyo job-opening and jobseeker balance sheet, page 2

Expanding recruitment to international students does not necessarily increase weekday daytime coverage. Divide your needs into weekday day shifts, weekend day shifts, and night shifts, then identify which students can cover.

For the initial recruitment, consider whether staffing can be planned around students working 1–2 times weekly. Trying to fill a full-time staffing gap directly with students creates conflicts with timetables and work-hour limits.

Check work permission and security-guard eligibility separately

When hiring someone with “Student” residence status, check their residence card and permission to engage in activities outside their residence status. The usual comprehensive permission generally limits work to 28 hours per week, including hours at other employers. During school-designated long vacations, a limit of 8 hours per day applies. Immigration Services Agency and Tokyo Labour Bureau foreign-worker employment Q&A

Security guards must be at least 18 and must not fall under disqualifying conditions in the Security Services Act. Inexperienced recruits generally need at least 20 hours of initial training. You cannot plan to send them straight to a security site on the day they are hired. Tokyo Security Service Association and Metropolitan Police Department training-hour guidance

When using an agency, distinguish employment placement leading to direct hiring from worker dispatch. Security work is not among occupations prohibited from fee-charging employment placement, but the agency's license and permitted service scope must be checked. Dispatching workers to security duties is prohibited. Employment Security Act and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare dispatch restrictions

Item	Information to organize at hiring
Residence and work conditions	Residence status, expiry date, and terms of work permission
School and schedule	Enrollment, classes, exams and practical training, expected graduation
Other jobs	Days and actual working hours elsewhere, and how changes are reported
Guard eligibility	Age, disqualifying conditions, required documents, training history
Assignment	Duties, location, communication arrangements, required Japanese

After receiving the student's information, decide who checks permission details and who incorporates them into shifts. If only the interviewer knows the circumstances and the deployment coordinator does not, the information cannot support scheduling.

Day work, night work, and facility security suit different students

Shift / duties	Student circumstances that fit	What to check before hiring
Daytime traffic guidance	A full free day, such as weekends	Meeting time, travel to site, suitability for outdoor work
Night traffic guidance	Next-day classes are unaffected and adequate sleep is possible	Plans after the shift, transport home, understanding instructions
Facility security	Able to learn patrols, reception, reporting, and related tasks	Telephone handling, emergency communication, breakdown of work, breaks, and naps

Even indoor facility security can involve responding to nighttime incidents. Avoid generalizations such as “Facilities are easy” or “Nights are safe because fewer people are around.” Explain assigned duties and how backup can be called.

For inexperienced recruits, teach site-specific procedures separately, including patrol routes, keys and entry passes, and reporting contacts. Traffic guidance and facility security require different actions, so other security experience does not automatically establish readiness for a new site.

Present night-shift pay together with actual working hours

One listing offers JPY 13,300 per night shift. Assuming 8 actual working hours, 2 shifts weekly over 4 weeks yield JPY 106,400; 3 shifts yield JPY 159,600. These are estimates before deductions, and amounts vary by training or probationary period and site. Example advertised night-shift rate

Even with 3 weekly shifts, 10 actual hours each totals 30 hours, exceeding the usual 28-hour weekly limit for international students. Advertisements should state actual hours excluding breaks as well as start and finish times. Manage overtime and hours at other jobs together.

Work from 22:00 to 5:00 the next day generally requires a night-work premium of at least 25%. When included in a daily rate, explain the base component and treatment of the premium clearly. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare explanation of night-work premiums

Time during which employees are not released from work, such as naps requiring immediate response to alarms or calls, may count as working time. Check the site's actual arrangements rather than automatically subtracting all nap time. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare guidance on security guards' nap time

Training weeks leave less room for site shifts

Training counts toward weekly working hoursExample under the usual 28-hour weekly permission

Initial training 20 hours

Site work 4 hours

= 24 hours

Initial training 20 hours

Site work 8 hours

= 28 hoursThe weekly limit is reached in this example

Another job + 4 hours

28 + 4 = 32 hoursExceeds the usual 28-hour weekly limit

Add all jobs, mandatory training and overtime in the same week.

View the original Japanese illustration

20 hours of initial training plus 4 site hours totals 24 hours; 8 site hours totals 28, and another 4-hour job brings the total to 32

This example assumes 20 hours of initial training in the same week. Training for 20 hours and site work for 8 hours totals 28; adding 4 hours at another employer totals 32. Confirm the person's permission conditions and actual hours.

Statutory security training counts as working time. Training required for work also constitutes working time and cannot be placed outside the limit by separating it from ordinary site duties. Tokyo Security Service Association recruitment guide and Osaka Labour Bureau working-time guidelines

The following calculations assume 20 training hours in the same week and no work elsewhere. Confirm training distribution and actual working hours with each company.

Initial training	Site work	Total	Scheduling decision
20 hours	None	20 hours	Include any other employment hours when checking
20 hours	4 hours	24 hours	Also manage extra training and overtime
20 hours	8 hours	28 hours	The usual limit is reached; no further work can be added
20 hours	16 hours	36 hours	Exceeds the usual 28-hour weekly permission condition

Explain site daily pay and training rates separately. Do not promise the same number of shifts as a normal week before training dates are determined.

Checks covering other jobs must continue after onboarding

Working 8 hours in security twice weekly and 4 hours at a restaurant 3 times weekly totals 28 hours. If either job runs longer, the permission conditions may be exceeded. Establish a way to check actual hours and schedule changes, not just planned shifts.

Checking only that 4 weeks total no more than 112 hours does not verify each week's limit. Avoid averaging a 30-hour week and a 26-hour week. Explain that students should notify you in advance when hours at another employer increase.

Assess Japanese through interactions used on site

Include brief, realistic workplace exchanges in interviews. Use the examples below to identify what candidates understand and where further training is needed.

Record what candidates understand and what needs teaching rather than deciding solely by nationality or Japanese test level. Rechecking after training also provides evidence for choosing assignments.

Ability	Interview or training example	Behavior to observe
Listening	Say, “A vehicle is coming, so wait there,” and ask the candidate to repeat the meaning	Distinguishes place, subject, and required action
Asking for clarification	Ask a question with some information missing	Clarifies uncertainty instead of acting on assumptions
Reporting	Use a site diagram and ask for the location and circumstances of an incident	Communicates when, where, and what happened
Reading	Ask the candidate to read a short work message	Correctly reads meeting times and contact details
Coordination	Describe a situation they cannot decide alone	Can consult the designated person

These examples help create selection criteria. They do not replace an official Japanese test or statutory training. Use the same assessment method for candidates for the same role, and consider whether training can address missed items.

Decide training and support contacts before scheduling the first shift

Ask the student to provide class and other-job schedules, then coordinate initial training first. Show training pay and hours and check whether site work can fit that week.

For the first assignment, identify the trainer and emergency contact. After work, review instructions the student could not understand and situations in which they were unsure, and use this for the next training session. Also assign responsibility for foreign-worker employment notifications on hiring and departure. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare notification Q&A

The first month might follow the sequence below. Adjust timing to training hours and proficiency.

Stage	Employer actions	What to confirm with the student
Before hiring decision	Check eligibility, shifts, and employment conditions	Timetable, other jobs, commute, preferred working pattern
Joining and initial training	Training, understanding checks, pay explanation	Unfamiliar terms and duties after training
First site shift	Explain site procedures and assign a trainer	Meeting point, breaks, reporting contact
After the first few shifts	Review instruction and placement	Unclear instructions, sleep, travel burden
End of the first month	Check actual hours, pay, and next month's shifts	School schedule changes and desire to continue

Before increasing shifts, check not only the student's wishes but also understanding of required duties and whether classes or sleep are affected.

Place actual hours and training conditions next to daily pay in advertisements

Plan beyond the end of a night shiftExample: 21:00–06:00, with a 1-hour break free from work

9 hours on site − 1-hour break = 8 working hours

21:00
Start work
Next day 06:00
Finish work
07:00
Home after a 1-hour commute
09:00
Classes leave little time for sleep

Choose a shift followed by enough time to sleep. Actual shift and break arrangements vary.

View the original Japanese illustration

A schedule with a 21:00–6:00 night shift, arrival home at 7:00, and classes at 9:00 leaves little time for sleep

Alongside the company roster, check the student's next-day classes and arrival-home time. The diagram assumes a 1-hour duty-free break and a 1-hour commute; it does not show an actual advertised shift.

Advertisements should state night-shift start and finish times, breaks, actual hours, working days, training pay, night premium, travel allowances, probation, and the area within which locations may change. “High daily pay” and “Beginners welcome” alone do not let students assess suitability.

For example, follow “International students welcome; from 2 shifts weekly” with actual hours per shift and the days being recruited for. Even if the company counts the day after a night shift as a day off, classes must be checked against the student's own schedule.

If differences from earlier explanations emerge after hiring, do not begin work with unclear pay or assignment conditions. Explain changes and obtain renewed agreement. Supplement difficult terms with simple Japanese or a language the employee understands. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare employment management guidelines for foreign workers

Judge success by more than the number of starters

Track applicants, interviews, hiring decisions, and starters, plus people completing their first shift and remaining after 1 month. Record when contact was lost and reasons for withdrawal or resignation to identify whether recruitment conditions or training need revision.

For example, if someone joined wanting night work but returns home late because the site is far away, raising daily pay alone will not resolve the issue. Commuting limits or explanations of placements need changing. This is an illustrative improvement scenario, not a company's actual results.

Frequently asked questions about hiring students for security

Can we hire students whose Japanese is not strong?

Required Japanese varies by duties and site. Individually assess safety instructions and reporting, then decide what training and placement can accommodate. Neither “Foreigners will struggle” nor “They passed a test, so they will be fine” is sufficient.

Can students exceed 28 hours in a week when school is closed for a day?

A day without classes is not equivalent to a school-designated long vacation. Confirm the vacation dates and individual permission conditions; do not use class-free days to justify extra work in a normal week.

Can we continue employing them on the same terms after graduation?

If the graduate is no longer enrolled at any educational institution, they cannot work part-time under the comprehensive permission for international students. A remaining residence period is insufficient; check their new residence status and permission conditions before continuing employment. Immigration Services Agency residence examination Q&A

Can we assign a student to a site alone?

International-student status alone does not determine this. In addition to legal and contractual staffing requirements, check proficiency in the duties and emergency support arrangements. For a first site assignment, consider a deployment with clearly designated support and training contacts.

Before advertising, decide the three essentials: shifts students can cover, initial duties, and who will train them. This also makes it easier to explain the required candidate profile to an agency.