What is Mommy Track?

Mommy Track refers to a situation in which a woman returns to work after childbirth, but is assigned to supportive duties or is otherwise removed from the career path. This is not only a source of concern for women who are eager to continue working after childbirth, but also a major disadvantage for companies, as it creates lost opportunities due to the inability to assign excellent human resources to the right places at the right time.

Problems with Mommy Tracks

What are some of the problems caused by Mommy Tracks? Understanding more specifically the problems associated with Mommy Track will facilitate understanding of its causes and how to control it. Let's use this as a hint to understand the problems that actually occur and how to take countermeasures.

Out of the fast track to success

Mommy Track occurs when you cannot work the same way you used to due to childcare or other reasons. This is a case where a person wants to work the same way as before, but is forced off the career track due to restrictions such as not being able to work overtime or business trip. This is a problem where a person's career path changes regardless of his or her own will.

Lower evaluations and salaries

Japan still has a culture of strong time evaluation, despite environmental changes. In some cases, it is determined that important projects cannot be entrusted to those who have shorter or more limited hours than other employees. In these cases, it may be difficult to obtain opportunities for promotion or advancement by being assigned simple tasks. In addition, If the salary is based on the number of hours worked, then working fewer hours could result in a lower salary.

Decrease in motivation occurs

Lack of opportunities for promotion and advancement and lower salaries are major causes of low motivation. In addition, shortened working hours can cause a combination of guilt and other factors that can be a major stressor, further reducing motivation. If employees cannot produce better results than their colleagues or communicate effectively within the company, it can contribute to a decline in motivation and hinder productivity in the workplace.

Increased turnover

Lack of opportunities for promotions and advancement, lower salaries, and reduced motivation are factors that ultimately increase turnover. It is a significant loss for any company to lose a talented person who can work as hard as he or she used to in a few years' time. To prevent this from happening, it is the company's responsibility to take good care of its employees before they leave.

Causes of Mommy Tracks

What are some of the causes of Mommy Track? Knowing the causes is always necessary in order to take countermeasures. Let's understand the causes and make use of them to develop countermeasures.

Shorter working hours

The most common cause is shorter work hours due to child drop-offs and pick-ups, sudden illnesses, etc. Shorter working hours can make it harder to finish tasks and decrease productivity. This can lead to a lower evaluation when compared to other employees, or a lower salary, causing a Mommy Track.

Lack of understanding in the workplace

Lack of understanding in the workplace can also cause Mommy Tracks. Women suffering from Mommy Tracks want to "balance childcare, work, and career advancement. However, this may be due to assumptions or statements that childcare should be a priority, actions that encourage employees to leave early, assigning them to jobs that do not bother them to take care of children suddenly, or other corporate or departmental responses. A company has a responsibility to adopt a system that does not inconvenience its customers, so it cannot give priority only to the wishes of its employees. However, it is also necessary to build a rewarding work environment for female staff members, who are excellent human resources.

Inadequate environment

When taking care of children, there will be times when sudden illness or injury forces a change in schedule. In such cases, repeated absences from work or early departures from work can affect personnel evaluations. If an environment that allows diverse work styles, such as remote work, is not in place, it can cause Mommy Tracks. Balancing work and childcare can be challenging, especially when there is a lack of family support and facilities for sick children. It is important to avoid falling into 'Mommy Track.' Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve the environment.

Lack of day care centers

The issue of children on waiting lists for day care centers is one that we see in the daily news. Lack of day care centers is a major problem when raising children. When care of sick children and extended daycare are not available, workers are forced to work shorter hours. The resulting shorter working hours and reduced throughput lead to lower evaluations of female staff.

Excerpts from the Seventeen-Article Constitution, which was promulgated by Prince Shotoku over 1400 years ago.

Avoid holding grudges or getting angry with others.

Don't be surprised if someone disagrees with you, as everyone has their own unique perspective and values.

You may disagree with others on what is considered right, and they may disagree with you as well.

We are all ordinary people, and you are not a saint, nor are others fools.

Determining right from wrong can be a challenge.

Being wise or foolish with each other is like an endless circle. 

When others are angry with you, reflect on whether or not you were at fault.

It's important to reflect on our actions and consider the perspectives of others.
Respecting differing opinions, even when we disagree, is key to healthy relationships.

Wage Revision Rates Reach Record Highs - From the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Fact-Finding Survey

◆Companies that raised wages increased both the amount and the rate of increase compared to last year.

According to the results of the 2023 "Survey on Wage Increases, etc." conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 89.1% of companies raised or increased average wages per worker (up 3.4 points from the previous year), and the average wage increase per worker was 9,437 yen (up 3,903 yen). The average wage increase was 3.2% (up 1.3 points), the highest figure since 1999.

The survey covered 3,620 privately owned companies with corporate organizations employing at least 100 permanent workers, and valid responses were received from 1,901 companies.

By industry, the percentage of companies that have raised or will raise average wages is highest in the "construction" sector at 100.0%, followed by the "manufacturing" sector at 97.7% and the "electricity, gas, heat supply, and water supply" sector at 92.9%.

The "Mining, quarrying, and gravel extraction" industry had the highest average wage increase at 18,507 yen (5.2% increase), followed by the "Information and communications" industry at 15,402 yen (4.5% increase) and the construction industry at 12,752 yen (3.8% increase).

◆Not all companies are raising wages due to strong performance.

In terms of the percentage of factors that were most important in determining wage revisions, "company performance" was the most important factor at 36.0%, followed by "securing and retaining labor" at 16.1% and "maintaining employment" at 11.6%.

As indicated by the results of this survey, an increasing number of companies have implemented wage increases in recent years. Reasons for this include responding to rising prices, improving employee motivation, and securing and retaining human resources. However, not all companies that have implemented wage increases have done so because of strong business performance, and many companies have implemented wage increases to protect the livelihood of their employees and prevent the outflow of human resources, even though their business performance has not improved. When implementing a wage increase, it will be necessary to carefully consider the various support measures and other policies set by the government to raise wages.

The current status of caregiver turnover - the use of support systems and the need for countermeasures

◆Results of Questionnaire on Caregiver Turnover

According to the results of a survey on nursing care turnover conducted by Tokyo Shoko Research, 10.1% of companies experienced nursing caregiver turnover in the year to August 2023. 65.3% of the employees who left their jobs were permanent employees.

In general, the need to take on the responsibility of caring for a parent tends to increase from the age of 50. The likelihood of mid-career and older employees leaving their jobs to care for their parents increases.

◆Status of System Utilization

On the other hand, the survey also shows results on the use of nursing care leave or the short-term family care leave. It found that more than half (54.5%) of the employees who left their jobs to care for family members did not use nursing care leave or the short-term family care leave. Since 50.2% of the companies had clearly stated in their manuals or other documents that they provide support for balancing work and nursing care, this suggests that there is a lack of awareness of the system among employees and encouragement to use the system by the company, and that employees are reluctant to take leave because they are not comfortable with their surroundings.

◆Scheduled amendments to the Child Care and Family Care Leave Law

The Child Care and Family Care Leave Law is scheduled to be revised in the ordinary Diet session of 2024.

In addition to requiring employees to provide information on nursing care and confirming their intention to choose a system is being considered, there may be discussion about requiring training and consultation services to encourage the use of the leave system.

In this day and age, it seems that a company cannot be a good employer if it has the attitude that "nursing care is an employee's personal problem," or if it is difficult to take leave in the first place, not only for nursing care but for other reasons as well. We must consider measures to prevent losses caused by caregiver turnover while also monitoring future legal reforms.

Labor Union Membership Rate at 16.3%, Record Low, MHLW Estimates

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) announced on December 20 that the labor union membership rate was estimated at 16.3% as of the end of June this year. This represents a 0.2 percentage point decrease from the previous year and is the lowest rate since 1953, when the current method of counting labor union membership was introduced. The total number of union members decreased by 55,000 from the previous year to 9.938 million.

RENGO and ZENROREN, two major organizations, decreased by 19,000 to 681,700 and 13,000 to 464,000, respectively. The number of members increased in lodging, restaurants, and services industries, while it decreased in the manufacturing industry. The number of part-time union members increased by 6,000 to a record 1.41 million, and the number of female members increased by 2,000 to 3.473 million.

The organization rate, which was 36.3% in 1953, has continued to decline in recent years.

The "50-people barrier" and the increase in mental health problems

◆50 people Barrier

The "50-employee barrier" refers to the management issues that arise when the number of employees exceeds 50. This is the time when multiple managers are needed in addition to the president to conduct management, and the personnel system becomes more complex, so the level of management also increases. In addition, the quality of communication within the organization is said to decline as the number of employees increases, making information sharing and communication more difficult.

Consistent with this 50-people barrier, the percentage of people with mental health problems seems to increase.

◆Companies with mental health problems increased significantly for companies with more than 50 employees.

In the "Survey of Corporate Attitudes Toward Health Management Initiatives" conducted by Teikoku Databank, the following results were obtained when companies were asked whether they had "workers with excessive working hours" or "workers with mental health problems" over the past year. The number of companies that responded validly to this survey was 11,039, which can be considered a general trend in Japan.

<Number of employees and percentage with mental health problems (%)>

Fewer than 5 ............... 5.0%

6 to 20 people ............10.8%

21-50 people ..............19.5%

51 - 100 people...........31.6%

101-300 people ..........45.5%

301 to 1,000 people ... 59.0%

Over 1,000 people.......62.0%

(21.0% [1 in 5 companies] answered "Yes" in the overall total)

As can be seen, the percentage increases with the size of the company and exceeds the overall figure when the number of employees exceeds 50.

The larger the company grows, the more important personnel and labor management becomes. To prevent mental health problems, it is important to ensure regular health checkups, take measures against smoking and harassment in the workplace, and optimize work density by managing working hours and reviewing work procedures.

Details of the package for immediate response to the "annual income barrier" and strengthening of support

 

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has announced details of a package of enhanced support as an immediate measure to address the so-called "annual income barrier" problem, in which workers adjust their employment to avoid a decrease in their take-home pay due to the burden of social insurance premiums. The package will be implemented gradually starting in October.

◆Correspondence to the 1.06 million yen barrier

1) Establishment of a new course of Career Upgrade Subsidy

Employers who make efforts to increase the income of workers when they newly insure short-time workers are eligible to receive subsidies (up to 500,000 yen per worker) for a certain period of time.

The subsidized efforts include not only wage increases and extension of scheduled working hours, but also the provision of an allowance equivalent to the reduction in take-home pay due to the burden of insurance premiums (allowance to promote social insurance coverage).

2) Exclusion from calculation of standard remuneration for social insurance coverage promotion allowance

Employers are entitled to pay the "allowance for promotion of social insurance application" to such workers separately from their salaries and bonuses. In order to reduce the burden of insurance premiums on both employees and employer, the allowance for promotion of social insurance application is excluded from the calculation of standard monthly remuneration and standard bonus for up to two years, up to the amount equivalent to the worker's portion of the insurance premiums.

◆Correspondence to the 1.3 million yen barrier

Facilitate certification of dependents through certification by employers

If the most recent annual income is expected to exceed 1.3 million yen, the certification as a dependent will not be immediately revoked, but will be made promptly based on a comprehensive assessment of the expected future income.

In addition to previous tax documents, pay stubs, and job agreements, a person can be confirmed as a dependent by providing evidence from the employer that the salary change is only a temporary result of longer working hours caused by labor shortage.

◆Correspondence to spousal benefits

Facilitate a review of corporate spousal benefits

The existence of a spouse allowance with income requirements, along with the social security system, has become a factor in employment adjustment. In order to review this system, it is necessary to pay attention to the Labor Contract Act and judicial precedents, and it is also necessary for companies to deepen their understanding of the necessity, merits, and procedures of the review. In order to promote the review of spousal benefits even among small and medium-sized enterprises, easy-to-understand materials such as a flowchart showing the review procedure should be prepared and made public.