What changes
Nothing yet. This is a proposal, and the list of points is a starting position for debate.
The 2021 amendment to the Childcare and Caregiver Leave Act (Act No. 58 of 2021), which created paternity leave at birth and the duty to tell expectant parents about leave individually, requires the government to review the law around five years after it took effect in 2022. The Labour Policy Council's equal employment subcommittee began the discussion on 1 September 2026 and on 2 October 2026 was given a draft list of points for review:
- Men's leave. Raising the men's take-up rate required for Kurumin certification, adding a minimum length of leave, and reviewing the exception for small and medium-sized companies.
- Disclosure. Requiring employers with more than 1,000 employees to publish the length of men's childcare leave, not only the take-up rate.
- The 2021 measures. A review of how paternity leave at birth, the duty to create a leave-friendly workplace, individual notice to expectant parents and split leave are working.
- Mid-day leave. Hourly sick-child leave and caregiver leave can currently be taken only from the start or up to the end of the working day. The council will consider allowing it in the middle of the day as a rule.
- Night work. An employee with a child under school age can ask to be excused from work between 10pm and 5am, unless a family member living with them aged 16 or over can look after the child. The proposal would raise that age to 18.
- Other points. Support for parents of disabled children, children needing medical care and children not attending school, and adding leave for foster parents to the guidance on employer action plans.
The ministry's figures show 50.9% of eligible men took childcare leave in fiscal 2025, against a government target of 85% by 2030. About six in ten men who take leave take between two weeks and three months.
Who it applies to
All employers, if enacted. The disclosure proposal applies to employers with more than 1,000 employees; the Kurumin changes matter to any company that holds or wants the certification.
Action for employers
- Start recording leave length by gender. Large employers may have to publish it; everyone else will want it for Kurumin.
- Look at how you handle hourly leave. If staff could take sick-child or caregiver leave mid-day, shift patterns and timekeeping would need to allow it.
- Check Kurumin status. Certified companies should expect higher bars on men's leave when the criteria are next revised.
- Revisit after the council reports. Nothing changes until a bill passes; the list may narrow or grow.
Sources
- Act amending the Childcare and Caregiver Leave Act and the Employment Insurance Act (Act No. 58 of 2021), Supplementary Provisions, Article 2.
- Labour Policy Council, equal employment subcommittee, 91st meeting, 1 September 2026, and 92nd meeting, 2 October 2026: materials on work and childcare support and draft list of review points.
- Childcare and Caregiver Leave Act, Articles 16-2 and 19; Enforcement Regulations, Article 60.
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Equal Employment, fiscal 2025.