Balancing Work and Private Life
Child-Rearing Assistance Programs
From 2005, DISCO has been implementing various Child-Rearing Assistance Programs to enable employees to work with peace of mind while balancing both job and child-rearing commitments. Providing support for child-rearing (bringing up the children who will lead the next generation) is a natural role for a company, which is a member of society. For DISCO, a company that has many female employees, creating an environment conducive to balancing both job and child-rearing commitments increases the exchange of value with employees, and is absolutely vital for the growth of the organization.
Having employees with a variety of experience not only in work, but also in society and family life, is a strength to an organization that is diversifying. For that reason, DISCO has a variety of support measures that have been created such that it is easy for both female and male employees to adopt.
Maternity health care leave
Leave that can be taken for morning sickness or health checkups. This leave was introduced so that employees can work safely without quitting the company during their pregnancy, a time when their state of health is unstable.
Childbirth preparation leave
Leave that can be taken before maternity leave before/after childbirth. This leave can be utilized in many different ways, such as by employees who require bed rest before childbirth or by non-Japanese employees who would like to go back to their home country and give birth there.
Child-rearing assistance leave
Leave that can be taken by both men and women. This leave has been divided into three to make it easier for male employees to take off from work as well. The number of male employees taking leave for child-rearing has increased after this system was introduced.
Besides the above, an allowance to support the costs of child-rearing was also introduced in 2006.
In addition, DISCO provides financial assistance for the costs associated with child-rearing, and has various support systems and policies in place to support employees balance their work and private lives.
Work-life balance support allowance
DISCO provides a monthly allowance per child for employees who have children under the age of 9.
Fostering the next-generation allowance
DISCO provides a monthly allowance per child for employees who are raising children between the ages of 9 and 18.
Returning to work portal, child-rearing portal
DISCO has internal portals that explain all the systems available for employees to use during the pregnancy, delivery, and child-rearing periods in an easy-to-understand format.
Work-life balance support Investment Box (IB)
In order to carry out seminars and other initiatives to support balancing work and child-rearing, DISCO has a policy where employees invest their personal Will accounting money into an IB, and these funds are used for various activities.
Support for Fertility Treatment
DISCO has expanded its definition of childcare support to extend the scope of child-rearing assistance measures, which had been limited to employees with children, to employees who want children but are having difficulty conceiving. This new program was instituted in fiscal year 2007 and helps offset the cost of treatment in accordance with the criteria of the government’s special subsidy program for fertility treatment. Assistance in the form of 100,000 yen (max.) is provided up to twice a year for up to a five-year period.
Number of Employees Who Have Taken Child-Rearing Leave
As a result of introducing various child-rearing assistance programs and actively encouraging utilization, a total of 73 employees, both male and female, took child-rearing leave in fiscal year 2021.
Please refer here for the trend in the number of employees taking child-rearing leave.
Comments from a Male Employee Who Has Taken Child-Rearing Leave
Female employee (raising three children)
Early in my pregnancy with my first child, I spent a lot of time worrying about what would happen if my health were to take a sudden bad turn. But when I looked up the systems provided by the company, I was relieved to see that there was leave that can be used to prepare for childbirth, leave directly before and after childbirth, and health-related leave for expectant and nursing mothers that can be taken in one-day increments. I was also pleasantly surprised that my boss was aware of these different types of leave.
In addition, since the company has an in-house daycare center, we didn’t have to search for a nursery school ourselves, which was a huge weight off our minds.
During my childcare leave, it was easy to get in touch with the Human Resources Dept. and with other working mothers within the company. Thanks to their advice about using the systems provided by the company, making the most out of my childcare leave, and returning to work, I was able to return to the office without much difficulty.
At DISCO, many mothers and fathers take on active roles at work even after returning. This is because DISCO focuses on providing a pleasant work environment for all employees, not only in relation to parenting but also through other unique systems and schemes.
After Returning to Work
After taking maternity and childcare leave for my first child, I returned to work on a reduced schedule. After a while, I started feeling like I was being a burden to my coworkers by working fewer hours. I was also quite tired from trying to do everything within a limited amount of time. It was around this time that one of my colleagues invited me to a company workshop for working mothers, and it was there that I discovered everyone else was feeling the same.
“It is simply not possible to do a large amount of work on a reduced schedule. Instead, this reduced schedule has given us the chance to think about how to compensate for decreased quantity with higher quality. This will allow us to conserve our energy so that we can become even stronger employees when we return to work full time. So let’s work on putting our all every day into what we are able to do.” I remember my heart feeling much lighter when they shared this way of looking at things with me.
When I started thinking about having my second and third children, I no longer felt so worried. But since I’m now raising three children, I never have enough time (laughs).
To make sure my coworkers aren’t always needing to guess my schedule, I clock out around the same time every day and put my availability in my calendar, for example, “Available for meetings until 4:00 p.m.”
In addition, we mothers within the same department always have each other’s backs whenever sudden medical issues come up with our children.
In the future, I'd like to provide support to colleagues planning to take maternity or childcare leave by sharing my experiences as a mother.
Male Employee (raising one child)
I took one-and-a-half months of childcare leave after my first child was born.
My colleagues responded positively to the news that I was going to take leave, and my boss warmly advised me to: "Turn off your company phone completely and concentrate on parenting.”
During my leave, I was in charge of taking care of the baby, including bottle-feeding and diaper changing, as well as household duties such as shopping, cleaning, and laundry so that my wife could focus on her recovery after giving birth. Sometimes we both would feel anxious and stressed when the baby wouldn’t stop crying no matter what we tried or when we couldn't get enough sleep. But we were also relieved that we could be together to commiserate. After my leave, I would come in to work at 7:00 a.m. so that I could go home a little early. Since we are on flextime and can use Personal Will (personal accounting system) to shape our own individual work styles, it is easy to make these types of adjustments to our schedules. Every day, I look forward to bottle-feeding my baby after work.
My feelings six months after returning to work
Since I am lucky enough to have an understanding boss and colleagues, it is easy for me to take paid days off whenever our baby suddenly gets sick. If any of my male colleagues has a wife who is expecting, I recommend taking three months of childcare leave to establish a feeding cycle. If you can take turns as a couple doing night feedings, this will reduce the burden on your partner. Since raising a child is full of unknowns, it is important not only to support one other as husband and wife but also to reach out for help from your parents, friends, and doctors to get through this challenging period.
Acquired the Next Generation Certification Mark “Kurumin” from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
DISCO has developed an action plan based on Article 13 of Japan’s Act to Advance Measures to Support Next-Generation Child-Rearing, which was stipulated regarding maintaining and supporting a healthy work-life balance, and proactively takes initiatives to support both work and family life. These efforts were acknowledged, and in 2007, DISCO acquired the Next Generation Certification Mark “Kurumin”.
DISCO will continue to proactively take initiatives and provide necessary support so that employees can establish a variety of working styles and balance both work and family life.
Opening a daycare center inside the company
A daycare center was opened inside Building B at the Head Office/R&D Center to facilitate the return to work of employees who have used child-rearing leave, and to enable them to continue working with full peace of mind. This daycare is located on the second floor of Building B, which was completed in November 2008, and has been operating since April 2009. DISCO strives to establish a good usage environment and devise various ideas to improve the program, such as providing education from professional child-rearing staff (outsourced from Poppins Holdings Inc.), food prepared by a dedicated nutritionist, and giving employees who utilize the daycare permission to prioritize commute by car.
Caregiving Assistance Programs
Since 2005, DISCO has been implementing a caregiving assistance system to help employees who work while caring for their families maintain their work-life balance, and to prevent employees from quitting the company due to caregiving responsibilities.
As employees can use a variety of leave such as expired paid leave, remaining paid leave, etc. for caregiving purposes, they can flexibly make plans to suit their individual situations.
