Maternity and Childcare Leave - Document Filing
Download: Filing schedule
Transcript
Welcome. This is the last video in our series on Maternity and Childcare Leave in Japan. If you've seen the other videos, you'll know I'm a working mother, and part of HTM's team providing support to our clients' employees.
We have 4 videos explaining the Maternity and Childcare Leave system.
• Overview
• Eligibility and Schedule
• Benefits
• Document Filing
In this video, we will look at the document filing schedule.
Over the maternity and childcare leave periods, documents must be filed to four government offices:
1. The pension insurance office
2. The health insurance office
3. Hello work, and
4. The local tax office.
As well as to the hospital.
There are 16 forms and 15 supporting documents that must be filed in up to 29 submissions.
Declare leave period (1:30)
Social insurance contributions are not required during either Maternity Leave or Childcare Leave. Employers are required to declare the maternity leave period to the pension insurance office. Exemptions from social insurance contributions start the 1st day of the first month of leave, and continue until the end of the month before the last month of leave. For example, if the end of leave is on April 21st, exemptions will only continue until the end of March. However, if the final day of leave is the last day of the month, exemptions continue until the end of that month.
Register baby (2:20)
Once born, the baby can be registered as a dependent with the pension insurance office.
If the baby is born earlier or later than the due date, the employer is required to update the pension insurance office of the new maternity leave schedule.
If enrolled in public health insurance, the company only needs to inform the pension insurance office of when the employee is taking leave and that the employee wishes to add the baby as a dependent. If enrolled in private health insurance, the company must inform the health insurance office to add the baby as a dependent, and inform both the health and pension insurance offices of when the employee is taking leave.
Delivery allowance application (3:17)
The delivery allowance is handled by the health insurance office, with one of 3 methods explained in our Benefits video.
• If using the direct payment method, the hospital concludes an agreement with the mother and informs the health insurance office. After birth, the mother claims any difference in expense from the health insurance office.
• If using the proxy method, after concluding a payment agreement with the hospital, the mother informs the health insurance office, from two months before her due date.
• To claim a reimbursement, the mother must file to the health insurance office within 2 years of giving birth.
The application period for delivery benefit is from pregnancy until two years after giving birth, depending on the payment method. For maternity leave benefit, it's from the day you take maternity leave, until two years later.
The maternity leave benefit application is made to the Health Insurance Office. The benefit will be paid 1-2 months after applying.
Local Tax Payment (4:45)
During maternity and childcare leave, the employee must still pay Local Tax. As the employee is not being paid a salary, the payment method must be switched from being deducted from salary to being paid directly by the employee , by notifying the employee's Local Tax Office.
Childcare leave period (5:09)
The employee must notify their company in writing one month before they want to start childcare leave. If they don't provide one month notice, the company can delay the start of childcare leave until one month from the day they received notice.
During childcare leave, the pension insurance office must be informed of the employee's leave period and if the leave period is extended or ends.
If the employer is enrolled in private health insurance, the employer must also notify that office of the employee's leave period and if the leave period is extended or ends.
Benefit application (6:04)
Childcare Leave Benefit is paid every two months to the employee by Hello Work. When the employer first applies they must also declare the employee’s past 6-month salary.
At the end of each two month period, the employer must show that the employee had not worked or been paid more than eligible levels. To be eligible, employees must not
• earn over 80% of their previous monthly salary or
• Work over 10 days each month
If an employee exceeds the 10 day limit, the number of hours worked must not exceed 80 hours.
Hello Work requests that initial application be made within 4 months of the beginning of the Childcare Leave period. After a successful application, Hello Work will send the application forms for the next 2-month period. It is still possible to claim the benefits after the deadline, within two years of ending leave.
Extension (7:19)
If extending the childcare leave period, the employee must first inform the company in writing two weeks beforehand. The employer then informs the pension insurance office before the child's 1st birthday, and applies for benefit extension to Hello Work.
Returning to work (7:41)
At the end of childcare leave, the employer needs to request that the local tax office restart withholding local tax from salary.
If after leave the mother returns to work part-time, two additional filings must be made to allow the mother to pay less in social insurance contributions, without affecting her future receivable pension amount. This also applies to mothers returning to work after maternity leave without taking childcare leave.
There are up to 29 filings to be made, using 15 different forms and 16 supporting documents.
HTM's services ensure all filings are made, and all benefits are received.
This diagram shows the whole process, with the list of forms and supporting documents. The diagram can be downloaded from our website.
If you are interested in learning more about maternity and childcare leave eligibility and benefits, watch our other videos.
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