The revised Child-rearing and Nursing Care Leave Law obliges firms to allow employees with children under 3 to make use of the system like shorter working hours. Working fewer hours helps employees who want to continue their careers, but have children or care-giving obligations.
Here’s excerpts from Rules for Childcare Care Leave
Article 15 (Work for Shortened Hours for Childcare)
1.An employee, who is taking care of his/her child aged less than three years, may assume that the normal working hours set forth in the Office Regulations shall be six hours from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (with the rest time of 60 minutes from Noon to 1:00 p.m.). (In addition, a female employee, who is taking care of her child aged less than one year, may request the Company separately to grant the childcare time twice a day for 30 minutes each.)
2.Notwithstanding the provision of the preceding paragraph, the Company may refuse the application for work for shortened hours for childcare from any employee coming under any of the following subparagraphs:
