It revealed that less than 40% of the respondents were aware that they can continue technical intern training while taking maternity leave, services such as a consultation about pregnancy and a lumpsum allowance for childbirth are available, and they can resume technical intern training in Japan after returning from their stay at their home country during pregnancy. In Japan, the law prohibits companies and other entities from giving disadvantageous treatment to their employees, such as dismissal, for reasons of pregnancy or childbirth. This also applies to all foreign workers, including technical intern trainees. This article summarizes the support system if you’re pregnant and giving birth, and what you can do if you are likely to be dismissed because you’re pregnant.

Immigration Services Agency: Survey Results of the Improper Treatment of Technical Intern Trainees Who Are Pregnant and Giving Birth (December 2022)

It is illegal to treat a worker disadvantageously due to pregnancy and childbirth.

Dismissal Due to Pregnancy or Childbirth is Illegal

In Japan, the Equal Employment Opportunity Law prohibits disadvantageous treatment such as dismissal because of pregnancy or childbirth. For example, statements such as “If you become pregnant, you will be laid off,” or “If you become pregnant, you will be sent to your home country” or any contract of such intent are not allowed. This law applies to both technical intern trainees and other workers.

If a Technical Intern Trainee or Specified Skilled Foreign Worker has an agreement with a sending agency before coming to Japan that stipulates they will be laid off if they become pregnant, such a contract becomes invalid in Japan.

Technical Intern Trainees: Navigating Pregnancy and Childbirth

The following describes things to remember when a technical intern trainee is pregnant or has given birth.

• Japanese law prohibits disadvantageous treatment, such as dismissal, due to pregnancy or childbirth.
• Technical intern trainees can continue their training during pregnancy. They are entitled to take leave before and after childbirth, and are legally not allowed to work for 6 weeks after childbirth.
• It’s possible to temporarily suspend the technical intern training during the leave period before and after childbirth and resume it later.
• They don’t have to return to their home country because they’re pregnant. This holds true even if such an agreement is made with the sending organization.
• Employers must not have technical intern trainees carry heavy objects or work in environments with harmful gases before and after childbirth.
• Employers cannot agree to requests for overtime, holiday work, or late-night work from technical intern trainees during the prenatal and postnatal periods.

If a company or union will not respond this way, please be sure to consult with the Organization for Technical Intern Training (OTIT).

*If a company or union significantly violates such rules, the company may not be able to hire technical intern trainees and the union may be prohibited from operating technical intern training programs.

Acknowledgment of Paternity for Unmarried Women

What is the nationality (status of residence) of a child born between an unwed foreign woman and a Japanese man? Here, we explain “acknowledgment”, something that affects the child’s nationality and the foreign mother’s status of residence.

Consultation Service about Pregnancy and Childbirth

If you or your friend (foreign worker) is unexpectedly pregnant and worried about being able to continue working or staying in Japan, please contact the consultation service for foreigners or support organizations.

• You can consult about various procedures, grants, and hospitals related to pregnancy, childbirth, and daily life at the consultation service desk of the International Exchange Association and other organizations near you. All foreign workers, including technical intern trainees, are eligible for such consultation.

Local Consultation Services | CLAIR(clair.or.jp)

• Please consult with OTIT regarding suspending and resuming your technical intern training, returning to your home country for childbirth and then coming back to Japan, or issues related to your status of residence. With regard to the procedures for changing the status of residence, please consult with OTIT and the Immigration Services Agency, while receiving support from the union.

Native Language Consultation Services |Organization for Technical Intern Training (OTIT)(otit.go.jp)

Consultation Services for Foreign Nationals

Who should you consult with if you have a problem with your job, school, everyday life, status of residence, etc., and you cannot solve it even after talking to someone close to you? We will introduce various consultation services. Even if you cannot solve the problem after one consultation, do not give up or run away, and consult with several consultation desks.

Leave for Childbirth and Childcare

This is a summary of type of leave available for those giving birth while working in Japan, including foreign workers. Technical intern trainees can continue their intern training while taking leave for childbirth.

Maternity Leave

• In Japan, there is a legally established system known as ‘maternity leave,’ covering the period before and after childbirth. This system is accessible to all foreign workers, including technical intern trainees.
• Number of days off before giving birth: Up to 6 weeks leading to the expected date of childbirth (or up to 14 weeks for twins or more) If the actual birth is after  the expected date, the leave will also be extended to cover the days. 
• Number of days off after giving birth: By law, you are not allowed to work for 8 weeks after giving birth . However, if you wish to work and have obtained a doctor’s permission, you can start working after 6 weeks post-childbirth.

Childcare Leave

• After your maternity leave, childcare leave is available until the day before the child’s first birthday. However, if you are a technical intern trainee, please be aware of your remaining period of training since the leave applies to “those who may still have an active labor contract on the day when the child reaches eighteen months of age.”
• If your child cannot enroll in daycare, you will be able to take days off up until the day before the child’ssecond birthday.

Allowances and Grants for Childbirth and Childcare

Lumpsum Allowance for Childbirth

If you’re covered by health insurance or national health insurance and give birth, a lumpsum allowance for childbirth is available. The allowance is intended to support childbirth costs. Since technical intern trainees and specified skilled foreign workers are also covered by health insurance, they are eligible for the allowance.

• The amount of lumpsum allowance for childbirth: 500,000 yen per newborn baby (488,000 yen in an exceptional cases). For twins or more, the amount corresponds to the number of babies. (As of December 2023)

The amount and method of payment of a lumpsum allowance for childbirth | Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare (mhlw.go.jp)

• If you return to your home country and give birth, you can still receive a lumpsum allowance for childbirth. In that case, it is necessary to stay covered by health insurance during the leave. The airplane tickets for returning home and coming back to Japan will be at your own expense.

Childbirth Allowance

If a person enrolled in health insurance is absent from work due to childbirth and does not receive a salary during that period, a childbirth allowance is paid by the health insurance association at their workplace or similar organizations.

Provision During Childcare Leave

If you take childcare leave to care for a child under 1 year of age, you will be eligible to receive childcare leave benefits.

Exemption from Health Insurance and Pension Insurance premiums

• Company employees, technical intern trainees, and specified skilled foreign workers are not required to pay premiums for Health Insurance and Employees’ Pension Insurance during maternity leave and childcare leave. You can ask someone from your company to take care of the procedures.
• Those such as students enrolled in the national pension system do not need to pay the insurance fee for 4 months before and after childbirth (for 6 months for twins or more). Obtain a notification form at a municipal office, pension office, or online. Then, submit the form to the national pension service desk of the municipal office where you are registered as a resident (this can also be completed by mail).

Suspension and Resumption of Technical Intern Training

If a technical intern trainee becomes pregnant, the trainee can continue to work while pregnant.

Technical intern training can be suspended during maternity and childcare leaves. For example, if a woman takes maternity leave when she has 15 months of technical training remaining, and then also takes childcare leave, she can continue her technical training for 15 months from the date she begins her training again.

A Story of a Vietnamese Specified Skilled Worker Who Overturned the “Dismissal from Pregnancy”

Ms. A, a Vietnamese woman in her 30s (specified skilled worker (i)), who worked as a temporary worker at a tomato farm in Aichi Prefecture, became pregnant. When she consulted with her sending company and the company she worked for about her pregnancy, they both told her she could not work because she was ill. She was told she would be paid 60% of her regular monthly salary for the next two months and was told to apply for an unemployment allowance from the third month.

As she was told to apply for an unemployment allowance, it could essentially be interpreted as having been dismissed.

So, she consulted with a private support organization and joined a labor union that allows an individual membership. Then the labor union negotiated collectively with her sending company.

The labor union requested her employer to maintain her employment and allow her to take maternity leave. Then, an officer of her sending company explained there was a misunderstanding that they gave her a notice of dismissal. They allowed her to take her maternity leave and continue working.

Conclusion

• In Japan, disadvantageous treatment, such as dismissal due to pregnancy or childbirth, is prohibited by law. Even technical intern trainees are allowed to suspend their technical intern training for childbirth and childcare and then resume it.
• If you become pregnant, you have access to many types of consultations at local helpdesks for foreigners and  labor standards inspection offices.
• If a technical intern trainee is likely to face dismissal or be sent home for pregnancy, they can consult with the Organization for Technical Intern Training (OTIT).

Problem #5: “Giving birth with a temporary visitor visa”

A technical intern trainee was forced to leave Japan. She came back to Japan on her own, but she got pregnant and could not find a job, so she was worried about how to make a living.

Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth in Japan for Foreigners

In Japan, there are various procedures that must be completed when during pregnancy and childbirth.

If you want to know more, check here!

Pregnancy and childbirth of technical intern trainees｜Immigration Services Agency