Family Care Support

Contents

  1. Exceptions to Leave and Working Hours
  2. Family Care Absence, Partial Family Care Absence, Shortening of Breaks, and Allocation of Working Hours

1. Exceptions to Leave and Working Hours

Here, we describe the support systems related to family care available to employees of the National Institutes of Natural Science (NINS), including those belonging to the Astrobiology Center. RCUH employees in Hawai`i and local employees in Chile are subject to the local labor-related laws.

(1) Available Special Leaves

The following table summarizes the type of Special Leave related to family care (Family Care Leave). Prior to taking Family Care Leave, employees are required to submit a leave request through the Leave Ledger.

Type of Special LeaveDescriptionDuration
Family Care Leave
Medical care for Eligible Family Members specified in the regulations*
Up to five days within a calendar year, or up to 10 days when you have two or more eligible family members

*About “Eligible Family Members”

“Eligible Family Members” refer to the following family members who are in a condition requiring constant medical care for two weeks or more because of injury, illness, or physical or mental disability (hereafter Care-requiring Condition).

  1. Spouse (including common-law)
  2. Birth parents or adoptive parents
  3. Children or adopted children
  4. Birth parents or adoptive parents of the spouse
  5. Grandparents, siblings, or grandchildren
    6. Those other than listed above and approved by NINS

Upon requesting Family Care Leave, please attach a document proving that your eligible family member is in a Care-requiring Condition.

(2) Restrictions on Overtime Work

If requested by employees who have care-requiring family members, restrictions on overtime work shall be applied as far as it does not impede NAOJ’s normal business operations.

To request restrictions on overtime work, you must complete the procedure at the Employee Affairs Unit at least one day before your desired start date of the requested period (ranging from one month to one year).

2. Family Care Absence, Partial Family Care Absence, Shortening of Breaks, and Allocation of Working Hours

(1) Family Care Absence
(Applicable: Regular Employees / Contract Employees*1)

Family Care Absence allows employees to be exempted from their duties for a certain continuous period so that they can concentrate on childcare with their employment contracts unaffected. Employees can take Family Care Absence three times per care-requiring family member. Regular Employees can be absent for up to a total of 186 days, and Contract Employees for up to a total of 93 days. Note that you are unpaid during the absence period. If you have any questions, contact the Personnel Unit.

*1To take Family Care Absence, Contract Employees must fulfill both of the following requirements: [1] Their total employment period exceeds one year, and [2] Their employment contract does not expire within six months and 93 days after the start date of their absence. If you have any questions, contact the Personnel Unit.
However, these requirements are only applicable to fixed-term employees and not to employees under the Mandatory Retirement System.

(2) Partial Family Care Absence
(Regular Employees (excluding those under the Discretionary Labor System) / Contract Employees*2)

Partial Family Care Absence allows employees to be exempted from their duties for up to four hours at the beginning or the end of their regular working hours so that they can care for their care-requiring family member. The absence can be taken twice per family member within a given three-year period for the period requested through the prescribed form. Absence time can be taken in one-hour increments. The amount of hourly wage will be deducted based on the total hours of work you miss. To take Partial Family Care Absence, employees must submit a leave request to the Personnel Unit at least one month before your desired start date.

*2 If you are a Part-time Contract Employee, replace “four hours” with “half of the shift”

(3) Shortening of Breaks
(Applicable: Regular Employees (excluding those under the Discretionary Labor System) / Contract Employees)

Regular Employees can shorten their breaks to 45 minutes and go home earlier by changing their start/end times based on the designated work shifts when it is deemed necessary for them to care for their care-requiring family member. Regular Employees who wish to receive this support are required to submit an application to the Employee Affairs Unit by completing the prescribed form.

Contract Employees, on the other hand, can shorten their breaks to 45 minutes from 12:15 p.m. to 13:00 p.m. and go home earlier. Prior to receiving this support, Contract Employees are required to contact the Personnel Unit.

(4) Allocation of Working Hours
(Applicable: Regular Employees (excluding those under the Discretionary Labor System) / -)

Regular Employees can request a designated work shift (working hours allocation) when it is deemed necessary for them to care for their care-requiring family members.

Since NAOJ operates in a shift system starting on the first day of each month, please make sure to complete the procedure well in advance of the end of the previous month. A request should be submitted in the prescribed form to the Employee Affairs Unit.