A new benefit program for workers taking leave to receive educational training has been introduced under the Employees’ Insurance system. This article examines details of the program.
[1] Education and Training Leave Benefit
This scheme is aimed to support workers to concentrate on educational training while staying with a company. Workers who voluntarily take leave for such purposes can receive benefits worth a certain percent of their salaries as a support for their living during the period.
To receive the benefit, the leave must satisfy all of the three conditions below;
1. The leave is based on a system described in the company’s “Rules of Employment” or other rules.
2. The leave is at least 30 days in length, taken by an employee voluntarily to receive educational training and approved by the company
3. The purpose of the leave is to receive educational training described below;
-Educational training provided by a university, graduate school, junior college, specialized training college, or other schools prescribed in the School Education Act.
-Educational training of an organization providing the Education Training Benefits System’s designated courses.
-Educational training designated by the Director-General of the Employment Security Bureau (overseas language study programs, etc.)
[2] Applicable workers
The Leave Benefit system applies to workers who have been enrolled in the Employees’ Insurance system for at least twelve months during the two-year period up to the leave, and the total period enrolled in the system before the leave must be five years or more. If a worker has received the basic allowance of the Employees’ Insurance program in the past, there may be a period to be excluded.
[3] Amounts and number of days of benefits
The leave benefit is considered an equivalent of basic allowance. As a basic rule, the daily amount of benefit is determined based on wages for the six-month period up to the leave. The total amount of benefit is calculated by multiplying the daily figure by the number of days of the leave. There are upper limits according to the insured period as below.
|
Total insured period |
5 years or more and less than 10 years |
10 years or more and less than 20 years |
20 years or more |
|
Maximum number of benefit days |
90 |
120 |
150 |
[4] Use examples
The Labor Ministry’s leaflets show examples of how the system can be used as below.
-A worker used the benefit system to focus on foreign language study for a possible transfer to a department where language skills are required.
-A worker at an IT company used the system to take leave and acquire a higher-level qualification.
Workers cannot receive benefits if their companies do not have a system regarding educational training leave. In case employees request to use the benefit system, please examine details and set up a leave system as needed.
[Reference]
The Labor Ministry, “Education and Training Leave Benefit System”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/koyou_roudou/koyou/koyouhoken/kyukakyufukin.html
*The information is valid as of the date of the original article.
