Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Japan (Ratification: 1995)

The Committee notes the observations of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC–RENGO) which were annexed to the Government’s report received on 28 October 2016. It further notes the observations of the Japanese Federation of Co-op Labour Unions (SEIKYO–ROREN) received on 24 May 2016.

Article 3 of the Convention. National policy. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of a new Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace (Act No. 64 of 2015) which came into force on 1 April 2016 and which aims to promote the advancement of women by providing an environment that makes it possible for men and women to balance their work and family life, and that calls for respect of women’s choice with regard to work and family life balance. The Act calls on national and local government agencies and private sector employers with over 300 employees: to collect and analyse data on the ratio of women and men within the enterprise in relation to various matters including taking childcare leave and family leave; and, to formulate and announce enterprise level action plans containing quantitative targets and actions to achieve the targets within specified timeframes. The Committee notes that the Act is implemented through voluntary compliance, without requirements for labour–management dialogue, and that the setting of goals and targets is left to the discretion of each company. In this regard, the Committee notes from the summary of the White Paper on Gender Equality 2017 issued by the Cabinet Office of the Government in June 2017, that pursuant to this Law, a number of action plans in both the public and private sectors contain targets for male employees taking childcare leave.

The Committee also notes the legislative amendments made to the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act to provide clarification and extend entitlements to give further effect to the Convention in a number of areas, including the extension to cover custodial and foster parents and encouraging men to take childcare leave. The Committee also notes the implementation of the Charter for Work–Life Balance, the Action Policy for Promotion of Work Life Balance, the revised Japan Revitalization Strategy of 2015, the Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens plans of 2015 and 2016 and the Guidelines for initiatives to promote active participation of female national public officers and work–life balance of 2014. While welcoming the enhanced policy emphasis on promoting work and family balance for workers, the Committee notes the observations of SEIKYO–ROREN underlining that in practice the application of the policy is frustrated by the reality of the long working hours of workers, in particular of men. It also notes the comments of the JTUC–RENGO and SEIKYO–ROREN on the restricted access of non-regular workers to the childcare and family leave provisions and support measures. The Committee refers to these points in more detail below. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the implementation of the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act and on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace, as well as the legislation concerning childcare and family care leave for national and local public employees. The Committee also asks the Government to continue to provide information on the contents of the various policy measures taken and the manner in which they are promoted, implemented and reviewed in relation to their objectives.

Articles 1 and 2. Application to all branches of economic activity and all categories of workers. The Committee refers to its previous comments concerning the restricted application of the Convention to non-regular workers. It recalls that sections 5 and 11 of the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act enable fixed-term workers to take childcare leave and family care leave only if they meet certain requirements, and that the guidelines concerning measures to be taken by employers to facilitate the balance between work and family life of workers who care for children or other family members (Guidelines No. 509 of 2009) provide guidance as to who could fulfil these requirements. The Committee notes that following revision of the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act limiting requirements remain. It further notes that under the laws concerning childcare and family leave for national and local public service employment, childcare and other support measures are available to part-time workers, but limited to younger children when compared to entitlements of full-time employees. The Committee notes the observations of JTUC–RENGO that the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act continues to place conditions on fixed-term workers that essentially limit their ability to take such leave, citing a recent study which showed that the percentage of part-time and dispatched workers who take childcare leave and continue their employment is 4 per cent, as compared to 43.1 per cent for regular workers. It also notes the views of SEIKYO–ROREN concerning the lack of equal and balanced treatment of part-time workers as compared to regular employees and the negative impact this has particularly on women, who bear the largest burden of family responsibilities. The Government indicates in its report that guidance on leave of fixed-term employees was required to be provided in two cases in which corrections were made. It also indicates that information on the childcare system has been promoted particularly among fixed-term workers to facilitate their understanding and use of it. The Committee considers that fixed-term workers continue to be placed in a vulnerable position in claiming entitlements that facilitate the reconciliation between work and family responsibilities. The Committee asks the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure the effective application of the Convention to non-regular employees including those in fixed-term and part-time positions in both the private and public sectors. It also asks the Government to continue to provide information on any reviews undertaken on the use by fixed-term and part-time employees of childcare and family care leave, any obstacles encountered and any follow-up measures taken to facilitate an improved application of the Childcare and Family Care Leave Law. The Government is also asked to provide statistical information disaggregated by sex on the number of fixed-term workers requesting and receiving childcare and family care leave in the private and public sectors.

Article 4. Organization of work and leave entitlements. The Committee notes the praise by JTUC–RENGO of the 2016 revision of the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act for providing for segmented-family care leave, new exemptions from extra working hours, the relaxing of conditions for fixed-term contract workers taking childcare and other types of leave, and the implementation of regulations preventing workers from creating a toxic working environment when others take maternity, childbirth, child raising and other types of leave. The Committee notes from the 2014 Basic Survey of Gender Equality in Employment Management that the percentage of employees who took childcare leave was 2.3 per cent of male employees and 86.6 per cent of female employees, and that the percentage of employees who took time off for sick or injured children was 5.2 per cent of male employees and 25.3 per cent of female employees. Further, according to the 2012 Basic Survey of Employment Structure the number of employees who used the family care leave system was 3.5 per cent of men and 2.9 per cent of women. While noting the revision of the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act the Committee notes the low use of leave of care for sick and injured children by men. Noting the low usage of the family leave by both men and women and the low use of childcare leave by men, the Committee asks the Government to take measures to ensure that both men and women are able in practice to take the leave provided in the legislation, and are encouraged to better balance the leave take-up between men and women. The Committee also asks the Government to continue to provide statistics on the types of leave taken, disaggregated by sex.

Long working hours. The Committee has previously noted the importance of the overall reduction of working hours in order to enable men and women with family responsibilities to enter and remain in the labour market, and recalls that Paragraph 18 of the Workers with Family Responsibilities Recommendation, 1981 (No. 165), emphasizes the importance of the progressive reduction of daily hours of work and the reduction of overtime. In their observation, SEIKYO–ROREN indicates the difficulty of reconciling work and family given the reality of long working hours, pointing out that men only have on average 67 minutes to perform family responsibilities including 39 minutes for childcare. In their view the law should be revised to shorten the hours of work, and there should be an increase in premium pay for overtime work. The Committee notes the observations by the National Confederation of Trade Unions (ZENROREN) submitted under the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), advocating for a reduction in hours of work, because in reality the long hours of regular employment make it hard for women to take up such employment and take care of family responsibilities.

The Committee notes that pursuant to Rule 10-11 of the National Personnel Authority several measures have been taken and are under development for national public employees in regular service to exempt or limit overwork of employees who are taking care of a child or other family members. It further notes that several ordinances have been drafted to permit requests for exemptions from certain hours of work for caregivers. The Committee notes from the statistics provided by the Government that while overall average hours of work have been reducing since 2008, that is mostly accounted for by a decrease in the hours of part-time workers, and that as of 2015 the hours of regular workers remained around 2,000 hours, the same amount as indicated in the Government’s previous report. The Committee also notes the high number of violations related to working time (27,581) under section 32 of the Labour Standards Act.

The Committee asks the Government to step up its efforts to reduce annual working hours and to provide information on any measures under discussion to reduce hours of work or limit overtime in the private sector. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the practical implementation of the Labour Standards Act with respect to working hours and the Act on Special Measures for Improving Working Time Arrangements and Guidelines No. 108 of 2008 with respect to reconciling work and family responsibilities. The Government is also asked to continue to provide statistics on inspections and violations, and trends in the average number of hours worked by men and women disaggregated by contractual status and full- and part-time employment.

Article 8. Termination of employment. The Committee recalls its previous comments and the conclusions of the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards concerning the adequacy of the measures to prevent and protect against discrimination on the ground of family responsibilities. The Committee notes that based on a Supreme Court judgment made in 2014, there was a notice of partial revision of the enforcement of the revised Equal Employment Opportunity Act and the Child Care and Family Care Act issued in 2015 (Notice No. 1 of 23 January 2015) to clarify that it is up to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to determine cases and provide guidance if disadvantageous treatment is found to occur within one year of the relevant event (childbirth, among other things). The Government indicates that it has informed workers and employers about the contents of this Notice. The Committee notes that in 2014 the number of consultations from workers regarding disadvantageous treatment by reason of pregnancy, childbirth, childcare leave, and so forth, submitted to the Prefectural Labour Bureau was 3,591, and that this number has been increasing year by year. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the practical application of the relevant sections of the Childcare and Family Care Leave Act prohibiting dismissal or otherwise disadvantageous treatment, including information on administrative consultations and judicial decisions relating to these provisions and their outcome. The Committee also asks the Government to indicate any other measures taken to ensure that Article 8 of the Convention is fully applied in law and in practice.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.