Considering Fertility: Important Rules About Paid Leave and Parental Leave to Know When Contemplating a Job Change Before or After Marriage

2024.05.16 published

Things You Should Know

Hello, this is Haruno Tsuzaki, editor-in-chief of Marry.

Going out, getting engaged, getting married... and then having and raising children... there are significant changes in life during these times.

Many people also change jobs or move houses.

In this article, I will explain about the "childcare leave" and "annual paid leave" systems that are beneficial for brides-to-be to consider as they think about their future work life.

These are things you should know when planning your life's schedule, so please take a look ♡

1. Childcare leave can only be taken if you have been employed at the same company for more than one year

There are no rules regarding how many months you must have worked to take maternity leave or receive childbirth allowance.

However, in order to take childcare leave and receive childcare leave benefits, you must have been employed at the same business for over one year.

This means that "if you have worked for less than one year, you can take maternity leave, but you cannot take childcare leave. You also cannot receive childcare leave benefits from the government."

However, since it usually takes around 10 months from pregnancy to childbirth, the issue of "not being able to normally take childcare leave" occurs only if you become pregnant within two months of joining the company.

In such cases, you can take childcare leave and apply for childcare leave benefits once you return to work after your maternity leave (officially called maternity leave), and one year has passed since your employment started.

(Employment is a requirement, so freelancers and self-employed individuals are excluded. Workers with a legally designated working days of two days or less are also excluded from receiving childcare leave benefits.)

2. Paid leave can be used starting from the sixth month of employment

According to the Labor Standards Act, workers who have continuously worked for six months after joining the company and have attended more than 80% of all working days must be granted 10 days of paid leave each year.

This is a directive to businesses stating, "At a minimum, you should do this."

Some companies with better treatment may allow their employees to use annual paid leave from the first month of joining, and they might also provide more days.

However, for the majority of companies that follow the Labor Standards Act, from a worker's perspective, paid leave can only be granted and taken after the six-month mark.

This means that if you take time off when you do not have paid leave, it will count as absence, and your salary will be reduced.

(While I think most new graduates know that they can receive paid leave after six months of employment, fewer people may imagine that "taking a day off will result in a salary reduction due to absence.")

If you want to prepare for your wedding slowly without reducing your take-home pay, or if you want to take a day off to visit a beauty salon or nail salon the day before your wedding, then you need to schedule your wedding for after six months of employment.

It's Important to Understand the Rules of the System!

I think it's quite rare and a sign of great luck for someone to be able to move through life's timing and schedule exactly as they want...

However, it's definitely better to be aware of the systems than not to know them at all. They can be materials for making decisions.

I personally learned for the first time that only those who have been employed for more than one year have the right to take childcare leave...!

I didn't realize there was a difference in the conditions for taking maternity leave and childcare leave either.

If there are others who were similarly unaware... I hope this contributes to your knowledge.