Establishment of the “Childcare Leave at Birth” entitlement for fathers (effective as of 1 October 2022)

To encourage male employees to take childcare leave, the amendments to the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act introduced an additional childcare leave entitlement, called “Childcare Leave at Birth”. Childcare Leave at Birth is available to male employees immediately following the birth of their child. The difference between this new entitlement and the existing childcare leave entitlement is as follows:

New obligation on employers to facilitate employees taking leave (effective as of 1 April 2022)

Effective 1 April 2022, employers are required to create a work environment that encourages their employees to use their childcare leave entitlement. In addition, employers must provide information on childcare leave entitlements to an employee who informs the employer that either they or their spouse is pregnant, or has given birth to a child. The employer must then inquire whether the employee intends to take childcare leave.

Creating a work environment that facilitates the use of childcare leave

Employers must take at least one of the following measures:

• provide training on childcare leave and Childcare Leave at Birth;

• establish a consultation system (i.e., setting up a consulting service) regarding childcare leave and Childcare Leave at Birth;

• collect and provide employees with information on cases of childcare leave and Childcare Leave at Birth taken by other employees of the employer; or

• inform employees about the childcare leave and Childcare Leave at Birth system and the employer’s policy for promoting the use of childcare leave.

Individual measures to inform relevant employees and to confirm their intention to take childcare leave

Employers are required to inform employees who have given notice of their or their spouse’s pregnancy or childbirth of the following items:

• the employer’s procedures related to childcare leave and Childcare Leave at Birth;
• where to apply for childcare leave and Childcare Leave at Birth;
• matters related to childcare leave benefits; and
• the handling of social insurance premiums to be paid by employees for the period of childcare leave and Childcare Leave at Birth.

Employers must inform each relevant employee of these matters on an individual basis and they must confirm the employee’s intention with respect to taking childcare leave.

Enabling the taking of childcare leave in installments (effective as of 1 October 2022)

Employees are able to separate their full childcare leave entitlement into two installments, effectively allowing them to split the period in which they use their leave entitlement.

Relaxation of requirements to take childcare leave and Family Care leave for fixed-term employees (effective as of 1 April 2022)

Prior to the amendment to the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act, fixed-term employees were required to satisfy the requirement of having been continuously employed by their current employer for one year or more to be eligible to take childcare leave and family care leave. This requirement was abolished by the amendments to the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act.

Now, fixed-term employees are eligible for childcare leave provided that the employee’s employment contract is not set to expire before the child reaches one year and six months old. Also, fixed-term employees are eligible for family care leave provided that the employee’s employment contract is not set to expire within six months from the day on which 93 days have elapsed after the scheduled commencement day of family care leave.

Mandatory disclosure of the status of employees taking childcare leave (effective as of 1 April 2023)

Employers with more than 1,000 full-time employees are required to publicly disclose the "percentage of male employees who have taken childcare leave" or the "percentage of employees who have taken childcare leave and leave for childcare purposes on an annual basis".

Authored by Wataru Kamoto, Jacky Scanlan-Dyas, Yasuyuki Shirabe, and Jordan Bird.