Paternity Leave in Japan - Hardships, Perspective Changes, Career Growth

While Japan’s society is slowly changing to be more welcoming towards men taking paternity leave, the percentage of male employees taking it still sits at 13%.

So, it’s hard to say that it's a common thing.

Despite this low figure in Japan, 44% of male employees at SHIFT have taken paternity leave in 2022. Currently, the average number of leave taken is 79 days, with some employees taking more than 15 months of leave.

In this article, we talk to Munehiro and Hayakawa, two male managers who have taken paternity leave. They give us their honest thoughts about the leave, reactions from their departments, and how their perspective has changed since then.

Reactions to Taking Paternity Leave

Both Munehiro and Hayakawa were in managerial positions when taking their paternity leave, and they found that taking leave was seen in a positive light.

Munehiro manages a department that develops quality services for the company and oversees several hundred engineers.

Hayakawa, on the other hand, is in charge of line management in the human resources department. Together, they are the backbone of SHIFT.

How did people around you react to two people in such important positions taking paternity leave?

Munehiro told us that he received a lot of positive comments. Some mentioned that having those in managerial positions lead by example encourages and allows others to take paternity leave without worry. Seeing those in higher positions both taking care of their families while maintaining a career also allowed others to imagine their future at SHIFT.

Hayakawa told us that he informed the company of his wife's pregnancy after her first trimester. When he informed his supervisor, he was asked, "When will you take paternity leave?” The fact that there were no questions on whether he would take paternity leave, but more so when/how long, was great. His supervisor also told him “Take care of your family, and I will take care of the rest.” Coincidentally, many people with partners were also having children, so he was told to “set an example” and take care of his family.

Hardships of Adjusting Personal Life

One of the main concerns people have when taking paternity leave is the handover of work.

It’s both a worry for those left to take over and those taking the leave.

Hayakawa told us that he handed over the work to his supervisor and the members under him. His paternity leave coincided with members setting their half-year goals; he also provided his supervisor with insights on how the client companies were doing and particular experiences and roles different members should gain to further their skills.

In addition, he believed that the fact that multiple teams worked together daily and had built a relationship of mutual support among the team leaders relieved some of the anxiety about a manager being away.

Munehiro was required to make many decisions daily. This made it difficult for him to organize handovers and delegate those aspects. However, the managers are all dependable and would take the initiative to ask him, “How should we handle this?” “What do you want to do with this?” This enabled him to leave his authority in their hands comfortably.

A common interest between the two was that coordinating their personal lives was more difficult than their work.

After taking paternity leave, Hayakawa realized how important scheduling becomes. He was very busy because he had not fully decided when to start his paternity leave. Soon after their child's birth, he had to work and care for his two-and-a-half-year-old child and his newborn simultaneously. While his mother-in-law came to help them, it was still very difficult.

While most people discuss the start date of paternity with their family, in the end there is no correct answer. You could have discussed every possibility, but unexpected things still arise. Ultimately, while you might be nervous, you just have to go with it and do what you can!

Growth of their Team Members

While having your manager leave can often be negative, both managers found that their absence helped their members grow and changed their perspective on work-life balance.

Munehiro mentioned that, while his work style did not change much, he did start blocking off his schedule to help with his child's bath time in the evening. While many meetings tend to fall in the evening, those around him were very understanding and helped him make adjustments as fit.

Similarly, Hayakawa also blocks time in his schedule to help with his children’s bath time. However, compared to Munehiro the way he works has changed considerably. The biggest change was to delegate work to his members. As a result he is now able to set himself an even higher target.

Taking paternity leave allowed him to reorganize his work and properly focus on what he needed to work on as a manager.

Hayakawa mentioned that his team members may get angry at him for saying this, but by delegating his work to them, he has forced them to upskill and has given them a new perspective. When he returned to work, he was really happy with their achievements. At the same time, it made him a bit sad because it made him feel he was no longer needed.

Munehiro also experienced a similar feeling but it simultaneously motivated him to genuinely just do better.

Advice for Those Taking Paternity Leave

ー Take a look at your financial situation early

Hayakawa explains that while on leave, you don’t receive a salary but benefits from unemployment insurance. The amount you can receive is generally 67% of your average monthly earnings, and after the 181st day, it lowers to 50% of your monthly average salary. However, there is an upper limit of 300,000 yen / month. On top of this, there are cases where it takes time for the money to be received, with some people having to wait around 2 months till their first payment! So be careful, for the first couple of months, it is safest to have some cash on hand. (As of February 2, 2023)

Munehiro shared with us that he regretted not planning better and wished he had looked into everything more deeply. Learning from this, whenever he hears anyone around him planning to have a baby, he always recommends that they take paternity leave AND sort out their finances so they do not need to add more stress when the baby arrives.

These issues and gaps of the system are things we are able to find out, as our members take paternity leave. We hope to take these problems that our members find and take them on board to provide a better work environment for everyone.

Once Munehiro left for paternity leave, it made him realize how much he loved his job and realized how hard housework and childcare are. He thinks working is so much easier. Instead of trying and not being able to handle housework and childcare, he takes care of the children from late at night to early in the morning and takes care of the children and housework on the weekends.

ー Creating a Comfortable Work Environment for Everyone!

Hayakawa and Munehiro gave their honest thoughts regarding paternity leave, but we’re also sure you wonder whether female employees are able to balance their work and family life.

At SHIFT, all employees with children or family members who require care can choose a work style that suits their lifestyle. This includes choosing working hours - starting earlier or later and/or working shorter hours.

We also have a “father-mother community” within the company and hold frequent events for employees and their families. In addition,SHIFT Founder and CEO Tange has even stated that “the children of our employees are like his own grandchildren.”

To show that we can “walk the walk,” Hayakawa talks of how many of his female employees with children are working shortened work hours. Some have found it hard to work full-time and care for their children. In such cases, they have offered people work on a contract basis, which people have taken up, so they can work on their terms, fitting there schedule.

We take into account what each person wants to do, come up with a solution that fits the individual's needs, and achieve “working while raising children” in a way that suits each individual.

In regards to measures that SHIFT takes, we provide opportunities to increase awareness about the law and the system. You cannot take advantage of the system if you don’t know about it. We believe that the increase in paternity leave being taken is due to this measure.

The Employment Success Group has set up a "Childcare Help Desk" that provides all of the necessary information on childcare leave. Hayakawa said, "Just look here, and you'll be fine.” it's great to have all the information centralized.

At SHIFT, regardless of gender or position, we want to ensure that we provide all of our employees with an environment where they can focus on both their work and their families. With employees from a diverse range of backgrounds, we will continue to work and change as necessary to create a comfortable environment for every one of our employees.

If you are interested in hearing more about SHIFT’s culture or about what SHIFT does, make sure to read our articles here on LinkedIn!

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