The word mixes two legal problems. The first is what the employer does. Article 9 of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act bans dismissal or any other unfavourable treatment because a woman is pregnant, has given birth, has asked for maternity leave or lighter duties, or has taken leave. That includes demotion, a pay or bonus cut beyond the time not worked, non-renewal of a fixed-term contract, or pressure to become part-time. The Childcare and Family Care Leave Act sets the same rule for childcare and caregiver leave, for men and women alike. A dismissal during pregnancy or within one year after birth is void unless the employer proves it was for a different reason.
The Supreme Court made the test concrete in the Hiroshima Central Health Cooperative case in 2014. A physiotherapist who asked to move to lighter work during pregnancy lost her deputy chief position. The court held that unfavourable treatment triggered by pregnancy or a request for lighter duties is in principle unlawful, unless the employee freely consented with a proper understanding of the consequences, or there was a business necessity specific enough to outweigh the disadvantage. Timing matters: under ministry guidance, unfavourable treatment that follows closely on the event, generally within a year, is treated as caused by it.
The second problem is harassment by superiors and colleagues: remarks that a pregnant employee is a burden, pressure not to take leave, or hostility over reduced hours. Since 1 January 2017 employers have had to take preventive measures, as for sexual harassment, including measures to remove the causes, such as uneven workloads when someone goes on leave. The rule covers men taking childcare leave too, a problem often called pata-hara.
What it means for a foreign employer
- Do not let leave affect the rating. Not paying for time on leave is lawful. Rating someone below what their work in the rest of the year justifies, or removing a title, because they took leave is not.
- Get consent properly, or not at all. If an employee asks to step down from a role during pregnancy, document her own request and the explanation given of what she loses.
- Plan cover before the leave starts. Much of the colleague harassment arises from unfilled gaps. Budget for a temporary hire or interim cover.
- Fathers matter now. In the labour ministry's fiscal 2025 survey, 50.9% of men whose partners gave birth took childcare leave. Managers who question men's leave are creating the same liability.
Sources
- Act on Securing Equal Opportunity and Treatment between Men and Women in Employment, Articles 9 and 11-3.
- Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave and Other Measures, Articles 10 and 25 (measures in force 1 January 2017).
- Supreme Court, Hiroshima Central Health Cooperative case, 23 October 2014.
- Labour Standards Act, Article 65.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Equal Employment, fiscal 2025.