Treatment of leave and working hours for vaccination against new coronas

 

Vaccination itself is not a job, but the time spent on vaccination and the handling of working hours and leave in case of adverse reactions are of concern. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's position is as follows

From the viewpoint of infection prevention measures in the workplace, it is desirable to establish a leave system that can be utilized in the event that a worker becomes ill after receiving the vaccine or the vaccination, so that the worker can receive the new coronary vaccine with peace of mind.

In addition to that,

1) Establish a new leave system that can be used for vaccinations and medical treatment in the event of adverse reactions after vaccinations, and review the existing sick leave and expired annual leave accumulation systems (a system that allows employees to accumulate expired annual paid leave and use it for medical treatment) so that they can be used for these situations as well.

2) Allowing workers to be excused from work (e.g., allowing workers to be excused from work during vaccination time and moving down the end of the workday) or to be deemed to have attended work (allowing workers to be excused from work during vaccination time and treating that time as if they had worked as usual) without any specific penalty.

As long as they are available to workers on a voluntary basis, they are generally considered reasonable and not disadvantageous to workers, and therefore, even if they are accompanied by a change in work rules, they are considered to be effective as long as the revised work rules are made known to workers. 

In taking such measures, it is important to consider the wishes and intentions of workers so that the system can be easily utilized by workers who wish to receive the new coronary vaccine.

In the case of workplaces that employ 10 or more workers at any given time, procedures for changing work rules are also required.

The revised Child Care and Family Care Leave Law was passed

 

On June 3, 2021, the House of Representatives plenary session passed and enacted the revised Child Care and Family Care Leave Law, which establishes a new "male version of maternity leave" to make it easier for fathers to take time off immediately after the birth of their children.

Companies will be required to encourage each employee who has a child to take maternity leave. 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.

The male version of maternity leave is a special measure of maternity leave that allows a man to take a total of four weeks off within eight weeks of the birth of his child. Only husbands can use this system, and they can take up to two separate leaves. The deadline for applying for childcare leave is one month in advance, but the deadline has been shortened to two weeks to make it easier to take time off. With childcare leave benefits and exemption from social insurance premiums, up to 80% of the actual wages will be covered, just like the regular system. The new system is expected to take effect in October 2022.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, many husbands want to take time off immediately after their wives give birth, when postpartum depression is more likely to occur, and couples whose husbands are involved in housework and childcare tend to have two or more children. During deliberations in the Diet, it was pointed out that this was a "preferential treatment" for men, but the ministry explained that encouraging husbands to take maternity leave would reduce the burden on wives and help them continue their careers and counter the declining birthrate.

The revised law also strengthens the responsibility of companies. From April 2022, it will be mandatory for companies to inform their employees about the maternity leave system and confirm their intentions, which is currently only an effort. The aim is to create an environment where it is easy to take time off, along with in-house training and consultation services.

In addition, it will be possible for married couples to take up to two installments 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.

The report on the "Survey on Harassment in the Workplace" has been released

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has compiled a report on the "Survey on Harassment in the Workplace. Please use this report as a reference for preventing and resolving harassment in the workplace.

Incidence of harassment and workplace characteristics related to harassment
Regarding the changes in the number of consultations on harassment over the past three years, the percentage of "no change" was the highest for "power harassment," "significant annoyance from customers," "harassment in pregnancy, childbirth, childcare leave," "harassment in nursing care leave," and "sexual harassment in job hunting," while the percentage of "decrease" was the highest for "sexual harassment.
As for the characteristics of the workplace, the difference between those who experienced harassment and those who did not experienced harassment was particularly large for both power harassment and sexual harassment with regard to "little or no communication between superiors and subordinates," "no anti-harassment regulations enacted," "no room for failure or low tolerance for failure," and "lots of overtime work or difficulty in taking leave".

Status of efforts to prevent and resolve harassment
As employment management measures regarding harassment such as power harassment, sexual harassment, pregnancy, childbirth, childcare leave, and nursing care leave, about 80% of the companies have implemented "clarification and awareness-raising of the content of harassment and policies prohibiting harassment" and "establishment and awareness-raising of a consultation counter". However, the ratio of "measures to enable the person in charge to respond appropriately according to the contents and circumstances of the consultation" was around 40%.
For all types of harassment, the percentage of respondents who experienced harassment was the lowest among those who answered that their workplace was "actively working on it," and the percentage of those who answered that their workplace was "not working on it much" was the highest.

Experience of harassment
When asked whether they had experienced power harassment, sexual harassment, or significant annoyance from customers or others at their place of work in the past three years and how often, the percentage of those who had experienced each type of harassment at least once was 31.4% for power harassment, 15.0% for significant annoyance from customers or others, and 10.2% for sexual harassment.

What to do after being subjected to harassment, and what to do at work after learning of harassment
In the case of power harassment and sexual harassment, the highest percentage of respondents chose "did nothing" as their action after being subjected to harassment. On the other hand, in the case of significant annoyance from customers, etc., the percentage of "Consulted with my supervisor in the company" was the highest, followed by "Consulted with my colleagues in the company.
As for the response of the workplace after learning of harassment, "nothing in particular was done" (47.1%) for power harassment, "they listened to your requests or consulted with you to solve the problem" (34.6%) for sexual harassment, and "they listened to your requests or consulted with you to solve the problem" (48.6%) for significant annoyance from customers, etc. that had the highest percentage.