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.

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

Comments from a Male Employee Who Has Taken Child-Rearing Leave

I took child-rearing leave for approximately one and a half months after my first child was born.

My department and the people around me reacted very positively to me using this program, and I received warm comments from my supervisor such as, “Please turn off the company phone during your child-rearing leave and focus on your child.”

During the child-rearing leave, I was mainly in charge of bottle-feeding our baby and changing diapers, in addition to doing household chores such as shopping, cleaning, and laundry, so that my wife could devote her full attention to recovering after childbirth. As it was our first experience raising a child, both my wife and I sometimes felt anxious and stressed when our baby did not stop crying or when we could not get enough sleep. However, we were able to mentally feel at ease by sharing our feelings with each other during these tough times.

After I returned to work, I started to work from 7 a.m. and leave the office early. DISCO creates an environment conducive to easy time management, thanks to the flextime system and because your working style and how you want to proceed with tasks are left up to you through the Personal Will system. What I look forward to the most every day is bottle-feeding our baby when I get home.

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.

Last updated: 2022/06/15


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