Amendments to the Childcare and Caregiver Act have been implemented in phases since last year, requiring companies with more than 1,000 regular employees to disclose the ratio of male employees who took childcare leave from April 2023. There are other data that must be disclosed depending on company sizes. This article explains details about the information that must be made public.
[1] Information regarding women
Act on the Promotion of Women’s Active Engagement in Professional Life (hereinafter, “Act on the Promotion of Women”) obligates companies to disclose various data regarding female employees. Required data are different between companies with the number of regular employees between 101 and 300 and those who have more than 300 regular employees.
Companies with the number of regular employees between 101 and 300 have to choose at least one out of sixteen items, regarding [A] Achievements in providing their women workers with opportunities for professional life, and [B] Achievements in establishing a work environment that contributes to improving their work-life balance, and disclose the information.
[A] Items regarding achievements in providing their women workers with opportunities for professional life
1. Percentage of women among new employees
2. Competition ratios of male and female job applicants
3. Ratio of women to the number of employees
4. Ratio of women to the number of section chiefs (“kakaricho”)
5. Ratio of women to the number of managers
6. Ratio of women to the number of directors
7. Respective data for men and women regarding job types or records of changes in employment types
8. Respective data for men and women about records of rehiring or mid-career hiring
9. Wage differences between men and women
[B] Items regarding achievements in establishing a work environment that contributes to improving work-life balance
1. Difference in average length of continuous service between men and women
2. Percentages of men and women who were hired about ten fiscal years ago and have been continuously employed
3. Percentages of men and women who have taken childcare leave
4. Average monthly overtime of workers
5. Average monthly overtime of workers by employment categories
6. Usage rates of paid leave
7. Usage rates of paid leave by employment categories
Companies with more than 300 employees have to choose at least two items from [A], including “9. Wage differences between men and women,” and one item from [B] and disclose the information.
Amendments to the Act on the Promotion of Women, enforced on July 8, 2022, require employers to disclose information about wage differences between male and female employees. The data for the first fiscal year ending after the law enforcement must be released within the first three months of the next fiscal year. If a fiscal year ended in March 2023, the data must be publicized by the end of June 2023, and have to be updated at least once a year thereafter.
[2] Information regarding mid-career hiring of regular employees
Companies with more than 300 regularly hired employees are also required to disclose the ratio of mid-career hires according to the Act on Comprehensive Promotion of Labor Measures. The required information is the percentage of mid-career hires among regularly-employed workers over the past three fiscal years. “The past three fiscal years” means the last three years for which the annual round of regular employee recruitment has ended and the data on mid-career hires have become available. “Mid-career hires” means newly hired employees who are not fresh graduates.
Companies have been required to provide the data about once a year by clarifying the date of disclosure since April 2021.
[3] Information regarding male employees’ usage of childcare leave
Starting from April 1, 2023, companies with more than 1,000 regularly employed workers need to disclose the rate of male employees taking childcare leave each year. Necessary information is the "percentage of male employees who have taken childcare leave " or the "percentage of male employees who have taken childcare leave or parental leave for childcare purposes" for the preceding fiscal year (the fiscal year before the disclosure). The specific calculation method is as follows.
1. Percentage of male employees who have taken childcare leave
[Number of male employees who have taken childcare leave] / [number of male employees whose spouses gave birth]
2. Percentage of male employees who have taken childcare leave or parental leave for childcare purposes
[Number of male employees who have taken childcare leave + number of male employees who have taken leave to care for preschool children] / [number of male employees whose spouses gave birth]
* The data must be the figures for the fiscal year of disclosure, rounded down to the first decimal place.
The data should be released in about three months following the end of the fiscal year.
The information must be provided on the internet. [1] and [3] may be disclosed via the Labour Ministry’s website, “Ryoritsu Shien no Hiroba,” and [2], via “Shokuba Rabo.” Since companies have to renew the information continuously, please set a reminder or use other measures to provide the latest data.
Reference
Labour Ministry’s special website on the laws for the promotion of working women
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000091025.html
Labour Ministry “Disclosure of the ratio of mid-career hires”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/koyou_roudou/koyou/tp120903-1_00001.html
Labour Ministry “Disclosure of data on male employees’ usage of childcare leave by companies with more than 1,000 employees from April 2023”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/11909000/001029776.pdf
“Ryoritsu Shien no Hiroba”
“Shokuba Rabo (workplace lab)”
*The information is valid as of the creation date of this article.
