Ota City Forces Fathers to Learn & Write About Childcare

[Taro Toporific]

To achieve a better Japanese society, new fathers working for Ota City government will be required to take six separate weeks of paid leave and submit written reports on their child-rearing efforts.
Can you imagine how good those bureaucratic reports are going to read, hee, hee?
City forces fathers to learn childcare
Personnel Today 18 January 2005 12:00
A Japanese city where no male municipal worker has ever taken a day of paternity leave is to force employees who become fathers to take time off and familiarise themselves with childcare....all male workers with babies will be required to stay at home for a total of 40 days during the child's first year of life.
On their return to work, the men will have to tell their colleagues the lessons they have learned from childcare....
Ota's proposals differ from most of corporate Japan and the civil service as fathers will be paid their full salary.

[gomichild]

A great idea and a sensible approach.

Take notice other bureaus and companies - this is how to do it - not expect your workers to put in 12 hours pay for no overtime, let alone get time without pay to spend time with kids.

[GomiGirl]

I wonder how many wives will be writing the report?

I too think this is the only way to get salary men away from their desks in the pretence of working.. legislate it..

I am sure many new dads will appreciate the time and will take the opportunity.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Sharp to give employees 7 years off to raise kids
Sharp Corp. will launch a new scheme in April under which former employees can get their jobs back up to seven years after they quit the firm to raise their preschool children, the firm announced Thursday. The scheme is aimed at covering the shortfall in employees that will begin in 2007 when many baby boomers reach mandatory retirement age. While an increasing number of firms have offered short-term maternity and paternity leave, Sharp's is the first corporate program to allow employees such long sabbaticals for child raising. The introduction of the program was agreed in labor-management wage negotiations during this year's annual spring labor offensive.

[American Oyaji]

That's interesting.