On May 31 of this year, the Act on the Welfare of Workers Who Take Care of Children or Other Family Members Including Child Care and Family Care Leave (hereinafter referred to as the “Child Care and Family Care Leave Act”) The revision is based on the flexible working hours for childcare and family care leave. This amendment requires employers to take measures to realize flexible work styles in accordance with the age of the child, etc. Since the amendment will come into effect on April 1 next year (with some exceptions), this report introduces the contents of the amendment and the necessary measures to be taken.

1 Measures to realize flexible working hours with respect to workers raising children aged 3 years or older but before elementary school entry　　　
　(1) Under the current law (before the amendment), employers are obliged to take measures to enable the use of
　　shorter working hours only for workers raising children under 3 years of age. (1) The current law (before
　　the revision) obliges employers to take measures to make shorter working hours available only to workers raising
　　children under 3 years of age. However, the revision obliges employers to take measures to realize flexible working
　　hours for workers raising children over 3 years of age and before elementary school age, based on their
　　understanding of workplace needs, and to allow workers to choose to use such measures (Article 23-3,
　　Paragraph 1 of the revised law).
　　　Employers are required to select two or more of the following specific measures to be taken by the employer
　　　 ①Change of starting time, etc.
　　　 ② Telework (10 days/month)
　　　 ③ Shorter working hours
　　　 ④ Granting of new leave (10 days/year)
　　　 ⑤ Other measures to facilitate the raising of children while working (establishment and operation of childcare
　　　　　facilities, etc.)
　　　Of the above measures ①through ⑤, the use of shorter working hours ③ has been obligatory for workers raising
　　children under 3 years of age, as mentioned above, and can be addressed as one of the measures based on
　　this amendment by expanding the number of employees eligible to use it from 3 years of age to elementary school
　　age.
　　　Among the other measures, (i) changes in starting time, etc., include (i) flextime systems, (ii) systems for moving
　　up or down the starting or ending time of work (staggered working hours), and (iii) the establishment and
　　operation of childcare facilities for children in the care of workers and the provision of other equivalent benefits.
　　　The “provision of other equivalent benefits” includes, for example, arranging a babysitter upon the worker's
　　request and covering the cost of the babysitter.
　　　Of the measures under the amendment, those other than the short-time working measures ③ ①, ②, ④, and ⑤ are
　　mandatory for workers raising children aged 3 years or older but before elementary school age.
　　Therefore, it is optional whether or not workers who take care of children between the ages of 0 and 3 years old are
　　also covered. However, it is considered to be one way to cover workers who take care of children between
　　the ages of 0 and preschool age after taking ② Telework as a measure based on this amendment, in addition to the
　　effort obligation described in ③ below.　　　　
　(2) In addition, it will be obligatory to inform and confirm the intention of the workers individually with regard to the
　　measures taken in accordance with (1) above (paragraph 5 of the same article).
　(3) With regard to the obligation to take such measures, the effective date is set as a date to be specified by a Cabinet
　　Order by November 30, 2025. Although the enforcement date has not been determined at this time,
　　it is necessary to proceed with the development by the enforcement date.

2 Expansion of the scope of restrictions on overtime work　　　
　Under the current law (prior to the amendment), workers raising children under 3 years of age are eligible for exemption from overtime work. However, this amendment will expand the scope to include workers who are raising children who have not yet entered elementary school (Article 16-8 of the amended law).
　Therefore, after the effective date (April 1, 2025), it will no longer be possible to order workers to work overtime to care for a child before elementary school age.

3 Introduction of Telework for Childcare Becomes Mandatory Effort
　In cases where a worker raising a child under 3 years of age has not taken childcare leave, the worker will be obliged to make efforts to take measures such as teleworking (Article 24, Paragraph 2 of the revised law).

4 Review of child nursing care leave (Article 16-2 and 16-3 of the Revised Law)
　(1) Nursing leave is leave to care for a child who is injured or becomes ill. Under the current law (before the revision),
　　a worker who cares for an eligible child is allowed to take nursing leave up to 5 days per year (10 days if the number
　　of eligible children is 2 or more).
　(2) This amendment will allow employees to take leave to care for children who are closed for school or who
　　　participate in events, etc., and will extend the period of leave to the end of the third grade of elementary school.
　　 The eligible children will also be able to take leave for class closures and child events, etc., and the number of
　　　eligible children will be extended to the end of the third grade of elementary school.
　　The details of when this leave can be taken will be established by ministerial ordinance in the future.
　(3）In addition, under the amendment, “workers who have been with the company less than six months” will
　　no longer be eligible to take nursing care leave, which previously could be excluded based on a labor-management
　　agreement. As a result, only workers who “work two or fewer prescribed working days per week” will be exempt from
　　taking nursing leave under the labor-management agreement.
　(4) In addition, the name of nursing leave will be changed to “leave to care for children, etc.” in accordance with
　　　the expansion of the reasons for taking leave.　

5 Employers are now obligated to listen to and consider the individual wishes of employees with regard to balancing work and childcare.
　Under the amendment, when a worker informs the employer of pregnancy, childbirth, etc., the employer is obliged to
hear the worker's individual intentions regarding balancing work and childcare, and to give consideration to
those intentions (Article 21, Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the amended law).
　As with the mandate in 1 above, the effective date for this measure is set by government ordinance until November 30, 2025.
　　　

　Under the current law (before the amendment), companies with more than 1,000 full-time employees were obliged to publicize the status of childcare leave taken. However, under the revised law, companies with more than 300 employees will be obliged to make an announcement once a year (Article 22-2 of the revised law).
　The contents to be published are the following (1) or (2) for the fiscal year prior to the publication, as in the past.

(1) Percentage of employees taking childcare leave, etc.	(2) Percentage of employees taking childcare leave, etc. and leave for childcare purposes
Number of male workers who took childcare leave, etc. Number of male workers whose spouses gave birth	Number of male workers who took childcare leave, etc. ＋ Number of male workers who used leave systems for the purpose of raising children before elementary school age. Number of male workers whose spouses gave birth

Reference: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, “Guide to the Points of Amendment to the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act and the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children,” p. 3.

　Public announcements must be made on the company's website or by other means accessible to the general public. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) recommends publicizing the information on its website, “Josan-support no hiroba” (mhlw.go.jp).
　For more information on the publication, please refer to the following website.

1 Support System for Workers to Balance Care and Family Care　　　
　Under the revised law, when a worker announces that he/she is facing the challenge of caring for a family member, the employer is obliged to inform the worker individually and confirm his/her intention with regard to the system of family care leave and the support system for balancing work and family care (Article 21, Paragraph 4 of the revised law).
　In addition, workers who have reached the age of 40 are required to provide information on the nursing care leave system and the support system for balancing work and family care at an early stage (Article 21, Paragraph 5 of the revised law).
　In addition, workers will be obliged to take one of the following other measures with regard to the offer of family care leave: training for workers, establishment of a consultation system, or other measures to improve the employment environment for the employment environment pertaining to the system for supporting a good balance between care and family care as stipulated by Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (Article 22, Paragraph 4 of the Revised Law).

2 Expansion of the scope of nursing care leave　　
　Under the current law (before the amendment), a worker whose family member requires nursing care is allowed to take nursing care leave for up to 5 days per fiscal year (10 days if the number of eligible family members is 2 or more).
　Under the amendment, “workers who have been employed for less than 6 months” who were previously exempted from taking nursing care leave based on a labor-management agreement will no longer be able to take such leave (Article 16-6 of the amended law).
　Therefore, it should be noted that regardless of the length of service, it will be possible for employees to request to take nursing care leave immediately after the start of employment.

3 Addition of telework to the obligation to make an effort
　Under the amendment, employers will be newly obliged to make efforts to take measures such as teleworking when a worker caring for a family member in need of nursing care does not take nursing care leave (Article 24, Paragraph 4 of the amended law).

　The details of these amendments are described above, but it is necessary for employers to correctly understand, respond to, and maintain each of them by the effective date.
　The details of the measures to be taken by employers are expected to be clarified on the website of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in the future, so it is advisable to proceed with your consideration while checking the updated information as necessary. If you have any questions regarding individual measures, please contact our office.