What changes
The 2024 amendment to the Childcare and Caregiver Leave Act (Act No. 42 of 2024, promulgated 31 May 2024) added three duties that took effect on 1 October 2025.
First, for employees with children from age three until they start primary school, employers must choose at least two of these five measures: flexible start and finish times, through flextime or staggered hours, without cutting total hours; telework for at least ten days a month, usable by the hour; a workplace nursery or help with babysitting costs; at least ten days a year of childcare leave, usable by the hour; and a shorter working day that includes a six-hour option. The employer must hear the views of the majority union or employee representative before choosing. The employee then picks one.
Second, the employer must tell each employee individually about the chosen measures, and ask whether they intend to use them, in the year before the child's third birthday (ending one month before it).
Third, when an employee reports a pregnancy or birth, and again before the child turns three, the employer must ask about their wishes on working hours, place of work, use of the systems and workload, and take them into account.
Who it applies to
Every employer, of any size, with employees who have or are expecting children.
Action for employers
- Confirm your two measures are in the work rules. If you have not chosen and consulted, you have been out of compliance since October 2025.
- Pick measures you can deliver. Telework and flextime usually suit office roles better than a nursery subsidy.
- Diarise the notices. HR needs a trigger for each employee in the year before their child turns three.
- Record the hearings. Note what the employee asked for and what you did about it.
Sources
- Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave and Other Measures, as amended by Act No. 42 of 2024, promulgated 31 May 2024 (provisions in force 1 October 2025).
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, model work rules for the 2024 amendments (versions for April and October 2025).
- Tokyo Labour Bureau, briefing materials on the amended Childcare and Caregiver Leave Act, January 2025.