Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace / Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children

Based on the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children (hereinafter referred to as the Next Generation Act), we have formulated and hereby announce the General Employer Action Plan (an integrated type based on both the Next Generation Act and the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace).
Since April 1, 2019, we have formulated this plan as an integrated type combining the General Employer Action Plan based on the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and the General Employer Action Plan based on the Next Generation Act. For details of the Action Plan, please see the Nikkiso Action Plan.

About the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace

The Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace was enacted in 2015 for the purpose of enabling women to chart their own future and realize their full potential over the course of their career. It's a temporary legislation that's effective until March 31, 2026.

The act specifies the responsibilities that national and local governments as well as businesses must fulfill in order to steadily move forward with women's empowerment in the workplace. It requires employers to implement measures designed to empower current and prospective female employees in the workplace.

About the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children

The Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children was enacted in 2003 for the purpose of creating healthy environments for raising the next generation of children. It's a temporary legislation that's effective until March 31, 2025 (originally March 31, 2015, but extended ten years under the revised law).

The act specifies the responsibilities that national and local governments, businesses, and the public must fulfill in order to achieve its goal and requires each actor to intensively implement measures that support the growth of the next generation in a well-planned manner.

About the General Employer Action Plan

Under the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace, companies that constantly employ more than 301 employees, and under the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children, companies that constantly employ more than 101 employees, are required to develop a General Employer Action Plan, notify the relevant authority of the plan, make it available to the public, and inform all employees about the plan.
The General Employer Action Plan based on the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children defines the planning period, targets, measures to achieve targets, and the implementation period, depending on the actual conditions of the company, in striving to promote women's empowerment in the workplace, create an employment environment that enables balance between work and child-raising, and develop diverse working conditions for workers, including those who are not raising children.

Nikkiso Action Plan

We remain committed to striving to provide a better working environment where employees can fully demonstrate their skills and competence while balancing childcare and family nursing care responsibilities and work commitments. We believe that diversity in perspectives and values that reflect different experiences, skills, and attributes across our corporate group will benefit us in achieving sustainable growth. Moving ahead in light of this belief, we will actively work to create a better working environment that will enable employees from diverse backgrounds, including women, to realize their full potential along their desired career path.

  1. Planning period
    April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2024
  2. Our challenges
    • We have only a small number of women in managerial positions, and the number of female career-track employees who are the candidates of managerial positions is also small.
    • Although childcare and family nursing care systems are adequate, they are not being used effectively.
  3. Targets, details of measures, and implementation period
    Target 1: Increase the percentage of women among among new hires for career track employees to 20% or more. (The Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace)
    Period Details of measures
    April 2021 - March 2024 1. Increase the percentage of female career-track employees among new graduates employed to at least 30% annually.
    2. Include information on “Our Childcare and Family Nursing Care Systems and Female-Friendly Working Environment“ in job postings, and prepare and utilize recruitment tool materials.
    3. Promote shift from clerical positions to career-track positions.
    Target 2: Introduce flextime and telecommuting throughout the company, and achieve the result that 100% of employees who can telecommute due to their working environment or nature of work actually use these schemes. (The Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and the Next Generation Act)
    Period Details of measures
    From June 2021 1. Introduce flextime and telecommuting throughout the company to enable employees to work flexibly.
    2. In consideration of employees who cannot work under the flextime system or telecommute due to the nature of their work, introduce annual paid leave by the hour throughout the company.
    Target 3: Strengthen career support mainly for female career-track employees. (The Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace)
    Period Details of measures
    From August 2021 1. Hold meetings to exchange opinions between the President and female career-track employees.
    2. Provide training to help employees learn the skills and abilities to develop their own career plans.
    3. Provide training for managers to promote career support for their subordinates.
    Target 4: Enable effective use of childcare and family nursing care systems. (The Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and the Next Generation Act)
    Period Details of measures
    From June 2021 1. Introduce a program to have employees effectively use childcare and family nursing care systems as part of in-house training for managers, and implement this program at least once a year.
    2. Inform employees about the details of and eligibility for childcare leave and family nursing care leave for male employees in order to promote use of such systems.

Information about Women’s Empowerment

As of December 31, 2021

1. Percentage of male and female employees among all workers employed

Course Male Female
Career-track 91.1% 8.9%
Non-career-track 35.7% 64.3%

(During the one-year period between January and December 2021)

2. Percentage of male and female employees, and temporary workers among all the employees

Course Male Female
Career-track 90.5% 9.5%
Non-career-track 44.5% 55.5%
Temporary workers 47.9% 52.1%

3. Percentage of male and female employees in managerial positions

Male Female
95.6% 4.4%

4. Average length of service

Male Female
12.32 years 10.64 years