Hitachi Ltd. and its group firms could be forced to withdraw its foreign trainee programs after inspections revealed that interns had been paid less than minimum wage and required to work outside the remit of their programs, local media reported Tuesday.

Between April and September last year, the Organization for Technical Intern Training (OTIT) carried out probes at 12 of Hitachi's plants and found that oversees trainees were engaged in work beyond the scope of their training programs.

The OTIT adjudged that Hitachi had violated the government-backed training program's rules and improvement orders were issued by the government, local media reported.

Hitachi could find the training programs revoked if the OTIT finds that the situation is not remedied and the justice and labor ministries concur.

Hitachi has acknowledged receiving an advisory improvement order, but has denied allegations it paid trainees less than the legal minimum wage.

Hitachi is already under fire from authorities, including the justice ministry, following an investigation conducted in July last year resulting in allegations of interns working outside the remit of their technical training program at a factory in western Japan.

The technical intern training program, supervised by the justice ministry, was introduced here in 1993 to purportedly help developing countries increase their base of skilled workers.

However, the program has been called into question for its easy exploitation by firms who merely use the foreign trainees as cheap labor following numerous cases of trainees working outside their specific remits and being paid illegally low wages. 

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