Cross-Border Catch-Up: Japan’s Expanded Childcare and Caregiver Leave

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Carlos Colón-Machargo: Welcome to the Cross-Border Catch-Up, the podcast for global employers who want to stay in the know about cutting-edge employment issues worldwide. I’m Carlos Colón-Machargo, and I’m here today with my colleague, Goli Rahimi. We are cross-border attorneys at Ogletree Deakins, and today we’re going to discuss the upcoming amendments to Japan’s childcare and caregiver leave laws. This change is aimed to improve the quality of life for both parents and caregivers, making it easier to balance work and family. Goli, tell us a little bit more about what to expect.

Goli Rahimi: Awesome. Thank you, Carlos. Hello, everyone. Yeah, so these changes are just a few of the many that we’re seeing implemented around the world. Japan’s not the first, nor will it be the last country to implement laws like this. A few weeks ago, in fact, I covered similar amendments with our colleague, Skye, to South Korea’s childcare leave laws. And in just a few months, what we’re seeing is Japan’s workforce will feel the effects of the amendments themselves.
With the very first changes going into effect in April of this year, these new laws are designed to create a more flexible, inclusive, and supportive environment for workers who are balancing career and family responsibilities like many of us.

Carlos Colón-Machargo: Perfect. Let’s start with childcare leave and flexible work options. The right to take leave to care for newborns is already in place, but it seems like the upcoming changes will make it easier for parents to take time off when it is needed the most.

Goli Rahimi: Exactly. So, these changes will increase the amount of paid leave that’s available for both fathers and mothers. What’s interesting is that the new rules actually focus on encouraging fathers and male employees to take a more active role in childcare by providing a more supportive leave structure.
For example, Japanese employers with over 100 employees will need to assess their male employees’ childcare leave usage when implementing action plans and procedures to comply with new laws. So, there is an affirmative obligation on employers to actually sit down with their male employees and see what they can do to support them in their journey of balancing work and family.
Simply put, what we are seeing is the government incentivizing companies to create more flexible work arrangements, ensuring that taking leave doesn’t harm a parent’s career progression. For instance, the current version of the law includes a list of measures that employers are encouraged to implement to allow workers to balance work and childcare until the child is three years old. But starting April 1st, the law specifically adds telework to this list of reasonable accommodations, along with the previously existing measures, such as shortened working hours and flexible start and stop times.

Carlos Colón-Machargo: Goli, you said that this change is for childcare until the child turns three years old. Are there any protections after the child turns this age?

Goli Rahimi: Interestingly, that there aren’t any right now. But the legislators recognize the obstacles brought on by this gap in the existing law. So, effective April 1st, companies now must, so this is an obligation, must implement at least two measures for employees with children ages three up to elementary school. So those measures will include at least 10 days a month of telework, shortened working hours, the installation and operation of childcare facilities, childcare leave, and flexible start and stop times.
Additionally, the new laws will provide greater flexibility for working parents to take time off for various reasons until the child completes the third grade of elementary school. The current law allowed for time off only to care for sick children or to take your child to obtain a vaccination. And the leave entitlement actually stopped once the child started elementary school.
So again, what we’re seeing here is an expansion, of not only eligible time periods, but eligible reasons and protections for these leaves.

Carlos Colón-Machargo: You mentioned caregiver leave laws. What changes should employers be aware of regarding caregiver leave?

Goli Rahimi: Right. So many of the changes that we actually just discussed earlier with respect to childcare law are going to be mirrored in the amendments that impact caregiver leave. For example, employers are, just like with childcare, encouraged to offer telework and other flexible work options to employees who are caring for family members. These offerings are meant to be an alternative to employees to having to actually take time off work. So, a lot of individuals don’t want to take time off work. They have limited paid leave options. So instead, what the amendments are doing is offering them flexible options to continue working, but also to continue caring for your family members.

Carlos Colón-Machargo: It sounds like Japanese employers have a number of new affirmative obligations beyond merely offering time off to parents and employees with caregiver responsibilities. Specifically, employers will need to take additional and more proactive steps to inquire into and consider their employees intentions and the needs when it comes to balancing work and life in general.

Goli Rahimi: That’s right. And I know it’s important for both of us to have that balance. And it’s really important to note that these changes are, for the most part, expansions of already existing employee entitlements. So, many of these obligations have already been imposed on companies in some form. So, starting in April, all the employers need to do is understand that these obligations are expanding. They’re not new, and they will apply more broadly than before.

Carlos Colón-Machargo: Well, Goli, thank you so much for providing us with this insight, and thank you for joining us for today’s Cross-Border Catch-Up. Follow us to stay in the know about cutting-edge unemployment issues worldwide.

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