"Get 1 Million Won for Colleagues When Taking Parental Leave" Japanese Company’s 'Bold' Move

Japanese Insurance Company Encourages Employees to Use Parental Leave by Providing 'Support Allowance' to All Team Members

To prevent employees from hesitating to take parental leave for fear of burdening their colleagues, a Japanese company has introduced a groundbreaking measure that provides an 'encouragement allowance' to the colleagues of employees on parental leave.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 12th, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, a major Japanese insurance company, will implement a 'Parental Leave Workplace Encouragement Allowance' system starting next month, which pays up to 100,000 yen (approximately 980,000 KRW) as a one-time payment to team members of employees taking parental leave.

The amount of this allowance is determined based on the workplace, department size, and the gender of the employee on leave, and all employees, including those at sales branches, are eligible. If a female employee takes parental leave in a team or sales branch with 13 or fewer members, each colleague receives 100,000 yen. Since male employees generally take shorter parental leave than females, colleagues receive 30,000 yen (approximately 290,000 KRW) each when a male employee takes leave. For teams and branches with 41 or more members, colleagues receive 10,000 yen when a female employee takes leave and 3,000 yen when a male employee does. This tiered payment system reflects the increased workload burden on colleagues in smaller teams and branches when someone takes leave.

A father is lifting a baby in Tokyo, Japan. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article.
Photo by EPA Yonhap News

The company has about 17,000 employees in total, with more than half working in teams and sales branches of 13 or fewer members.

The company stated, "We established this system to create an environment where all members can positively accept parental leave and contribute to measures against the declining birthrate." Additionally, the company encourages male employees to take long-term parental leave of one month or more.

Meanwhile, according to a recent announcement by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of births in Japan last year was 799,728, marking the lowest annual figure since statistics began in 1899. In response, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described the rapid decline in births as a crisis and is actively addressing the issue by launching the 'Children's Agency' next month, which will be responsible for policies related to low birthrates and children.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.