The aim is to encourage husbands to participate in housework and childcare, which tends to be dominated by wives, and to raise the percentage of men taking childcare leave from 7.48% in fiscal 2019 to 30% by 2025.

From April 2022, it will be mandatory for companies to inform their employees about the maternity leave system.

In addition, it will be possible for married couples to take up to two instalments of the standard childcare leave, which in principle can only be taken once before the child turns one year old.

Large companies with more than 1,000 employees will also be required to disclose the status of employees taking childcare leave starting in April 2023.

Specific details will be determined later by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, that alreadyexplained that encouraging husbands to take maternity leave would reduce the burden on wives and help them continue their careers and counter the declining birth-rate.

Employers have to consider and implement specific measures to improve the employment environment, encourage employees to take childcare leave and inform employees who have notified the employers that the employee or the employee's spouse is pregnant or has given birth to a child of the system and confirm the employee's intention to take childcare leave.

It is also necessary to review administrative procedures for personnel and labour matters relating to childcare leave to ensure that they are fully compliant with the 2021 Amendment.

The main changes can be summarised as follows:

1. Establishment of a framework for flexible childcare leave immediately following the birth of a child. The so-called "Child Care Leave at Birth” allows employees to take childcare leave of up to four weeks in total within the eight weeks following childbirth, in addition to the existing childcare leave system. It was newly introduced as a flexible system by which employees are allowed to take childcare leave up to two separate times and work during the leave period in accordance with their wishes.
2. Enabling the taking of childcare leave in instalments and flexible commencement of childcare leave after the child is one year old;
3. Imposing an obligation on employers to take measures to improve the employment environment so as to encourage employees to take childcare leave and to inform employees who have notified the employers that the employee or the employee's spouse is pregnant, or has given birth to a child, of said system and confirm the employee's intention to take childcare leave;
4. Mandatory disclosure of the status of employees taking childcare leave;
5. Relaxation of requirements to take childcare leave and Family Care leave for fixed-term employees;
6. Establishing new provisions in the Employment Insurance Act to include the new system in the eligibility of childcare leave benefits.

Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) supports this revision because workers can take childcare leave and nursing care leave easily.

For male workers, however, methods to take childcare leave seems complicated.

Therefore, Keidanren is going to ask the government to disseminate the revision adequately. They also declared they will conduct public relation activities for the revision, like holding seminars for member companies and introducing the companies which already prepare for the revision in advance.

It is also interesting to underline that Colombia, recently introduced new provisions on maternity and paternity privileges, including the prohibition of dismissal of a worker whose wife, partner or permanent partner is pregnant or within eighteen (18) weeks after childbirth and is not formally employed, and the maternity leave extended to the parents in the same proportion during the 18 weeks following childbirth. You can read the related story here.