Amendments to Childcare and Family-Care Leave Act
Widened scope of fixed-term employees eligible for childcare and family-care leave
Childcare-friendly working environments and intention to take leave
Paternity leave to be introduced
Increased flexibility in taking childcare leave
Childcare leave disclosure
Amendment to women's careers act
Act on prevention of power harassment
Widened scope of part-time employees eligible for social insurance
Comment
This article provides an overview of recent amendments that have been made to Japan's employment laws.
Amendments to Childcare and Family-Care Leave Act
In June 2021, the Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members (No. 76 of 15 May 1991) (the Childcare and Family-Care Leave Act) was amended in order to:
- encourage male employees to take paternity leave;
- allow employees to take childcare leave in a more flexible manner; and
- relax the requirements for fixed-term employees to take childcare and family-care leave.
Some of these amendments will come into force on 1 April 2022 and the remaining amendments will come into force on 1 October 2022 or 1 April 2023.
Widened scope of fixed-term employees eligible for childcare and family-care leave
The eligibility requirements for childcare and family-care leave with respect to fixed-term employees will be relaxed. Currently, only fixed-term employees who have been continuously employed for one year or more are eligible to take childcare and family-care leave. Under the amendments, the requirements regarding the length of service will be lifted on or after 1 April 2022:
- fixed-term employees, except for those whose employment will be terminated before their child reaches 18 months old, will be eligible for childcare leave; and
- fixed-term employees, except for those whose employment will be terminated within six months, after 93 days from the start date of family-care leave, will be eligible for family-care leave.
Childcare-friendly working environments and intention to take leave
From 1 April 2022, employers will also be required to establish a workplace environment where employees can easily take childcare leave by implementing any of the following measures:
- conducting training on childcare and paternity leave;
- appointing a department or individual that employees may consult about childcare and paternity leave matters;
- keeping records of cases where employees have taken childcare and/or paternity leave and sharing these with employees; or
- notifying employees of the system regarding childcare and paternity leave and of the company's policy in relation to encouraging employees to take childcare leave.
In addition, when an employee informs their employer that they are pregnant or have given birth, or their spouse is pregnant or has given birth, the employer is required to explain in the form of an individual meeting or written document the following matters to the employee and to confirm whether the employee desires to take childcare leave:
- the system that is in place for childcare and paternity leave;
- to whom childcare and/or paternity leave is required to be notified;
- information regarding childcare leave benefits; and
- handling social insurance premiums that are relevant to the employee during childcare and/or paternity leave.
Matters in relation to paternity leave will become effective on 1 October 2022.
Paternity leave to be introduced
From 1 October 2022, male employees will be allowed to take paternity leave for up to four weeks within eight weeks after the birth of his child. Paternity leave can be taken by dividing the leave into two separate periods. If a labour-management agreement is concluded, male employees who wish to continue to work during their paternity leave may continue to work under working conditions agreed by the employer and the employee.
Increased flexibility in taking childcare leave
An employee will be allowed to take childcare leave by dividing the leave into two separate periods. In addition, if an employee extends their childcare leave after the employee's child reaches 12 months, they will have more flexibility when choosing the start date (currently, the start date of an extended period must be the date when the child reaches 12 months or 18 months old).
This amendment will also become effective from 1 October 2022.
As of 1 April 2023, employers that regularly employ more than 1,000 employees will be required to publicly disclose the percentage of employees who have taken childcare leave within a given year. The information to be publicly disclosed is either:
- the percentage of male employees taking childcare leave; or
- the percentage of male employees taking childcare leave or days off granted for the purpose of childcare.
The disclosure can be made on an employer's own website or the website prepared by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Amendment to women's careers act
Under the amended Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace (No. 64 of 4 September 2015), effective 1 April 2022, an employer that regularly employs more than 100 employees will be required to create and publicly disclose an action plan for promoting female participation and career advancement in the workplace. Currently, this obligation applies only to employers that regularly employ more than 300 employees and, therefore, the amendment will expand the scope of employers to which this obligation applies.
Act on prevention of power harassment
In accordance with the amended Act on Comprehensive Promotion of Labour Measures and Stabilisation of Employment of Employees and Enrichment of their Working Lives, Etc (No. 132 of 21 July 1966), an employer is required to take measures necessary for preventing power harassment. The amendment came into effect on 1 June 2020, and, while there has been a grace period for small and medium enterprises, the amendment will apply to all employers, including such enterprises, from 1 April 2022.
Under the amended act, employers are required to:
- clearly articulate their policy regarding harassment, notify the employees of the policy and ensure that they understand it;
- develop a system to receive and respond appropriately to employee' requests for consultation and complaints;
- promptly and appropriately respond to reports of harassment (eg, in order to investigate the relevant facts, and if the allegations are verified, to give due consideration to the victim and take necessary measures against the perpetrator); and
- take other necessary actions in conjunction with the above measures (eg, give due consideration to the privacy of an employee and not to disadvantage an employee who has reported harassment or cooperated with an investigation).
Widened scope of part-time employees eligible for social insurance
Part-time employees who satisfy all the following requirements will become eligible for social insurance (ie, health insurance and welfare pension insurance) if:
- they work for an employer that regularly employs more than 100 insured employees (excluding part-time employees);
- their standard weekly working hours are 20 hours or more;
- their monthly salary is 88,000 yen or more;
- they are expected to be continuously employed for over two months; and
- they are not a student.
In Japan, eligibility for social insurance has gradually been expanded to part-time employees. Currently, a part-time employee who works for an employer that regularly employs more than 500 insured employees and who is expected to be continuously employed for one year or more is eligible for social insurance. This requirement will be further relaxed from 1 October 2024, when the eligibility will be expanded to part-time employees who work for an employer that regularly employs more than 50 insured employees.
Employment regulations have been changed to increase the flexibility and diversity of working styles and the amendments explained above were made in connection with this trend. In order to comply with amendments to the Childcare and Family-Care Leave Act, employers should take note of the above and reflect them in their employment rules and regulations.
For further information on this topic please contact Hironobu Tsukamoto or Eriko Ogata at Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu by telephone (+81 3 6889 7000) or email ([email protected] or [email protected]). The Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu website can be accessed at www.noandt.com.