New measure comes amid strong government push to encourage paternity leave
A major bank in Japan is resorting to mandating fathers to take their paternity leave for a month in a bid to increase the uptake of the benefit, according to reports.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) will mandate employees to take at least one month's paternity leave in principle starting from October, Kyodo News reported.
It will also pay a bonus of JPY50,000 to employees on parental leave and their colleagues if the business remains stable during their absence.
"Our goal is to eliminate gender stereotypes and establish a culture in which men taking paternity leave and participating in childcare are seen as the norm," the bank said in a statement quoted by Kyodo News.
On its website, the bank said its goal is to achieve a 100% male childcare leave utilisation rate. It also wants all eligible male employees to take 30 or more days of childcare leave.
It achieved the 100% uptake for paternity leave in the fiscal year 2023, according to Kyodo News. But it fell short of its 30-day target after the average length of paternity leave taken was just 12 days.
"As a Group, we encourage male employees to take advantage of short-term childcare leave and provide training for management to help create a workplace culture where everyone, regardless of gender, can be actively involved in childcare," the bank said on its website.
Its new requirement comes as the Japanese government advocates for the increase of paternity leave utilisation in the country.
It recently expanded the number of companies mandated to publish their paternity leave uptake to include companies with at least 300 employees, Nippon reported.
In 2024, a record 40.5% of fathers with infants took paternity leave, according to a government survey reported by Kyodo News.
