Maternity leave in Japan lasts 14 weeks for a single pregnancy: six weeks before the expected due date and eight weeks after delivery. For twins or higher-order multiples, the prenatal portion stretches to 14 weeks, bringing the total to 22 weeks. The postnatal period is largely mandatory — an employer cannot put a new mother back to work during the first six weeks after birth even if she asks. Childcare leave then picks up where maternity leave ends, and it can extend a parent’s time at home to a year, 18 months, or two years depending on daycare availability.
The Six Weeks Before Birth
Under Article 65 of the Labor Standards Act, a pregnant worker can request leave beginning six weeks before her expected due date. Prenatal leave is not automatic. The employee has to ask for it, and the employer cannot refuse. A woman who prefers to keep working closer to her due date is free to do so.1Japanese Law Translation. Labor Standards Act – Article 65
For twins or more, that window opens earlier: 14 weeks before the expected due date.1Japanese Law Translation. Labor Standards Act – Article 65
The Eight Weeks After Birth
After delivery, the choice element disappears for the first stretch. The employer is legally barred from allowing a mother to work during the first six weeks postpartum, regardless of whether she volunteers. From week six through week eight, she can return only if she requests it and a doctor certifies the work will not harm her health. Most mothers use the full eight weeks.1Japanese Law Translation. Labor Standards Act – Article 65
Adding both windows together, a single pregnancy comes to 14 weeks (98 days) of maternity leave. A twin or higher-order pregnancy reaches 22 weeks (154 days).
What Comes After: Childcare Leave
Once maternity leave ends, either parent can take childcare leave under the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act. The standard entitlement runs until the child’s first birthday, and each parent can take the leave in up to two separate blocks.2Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Outline of the Act on Childcare Leave
If both parents take childcare leave, coverage can extend until the child is 14 months old. And if a parent applies for daycare and gets rejected because no spots are open, childcare leave can be extended to 18 months. If daycare is still unavailable at 18 months, leave can stretch to two years. Given how competitive daycare enrollment is in many Japanese cities, these extensions are common.2Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Outline of the Act on Childcare Leave
Each extension has to be requested before the current period ends. The application window is at least two weeks’ notice, compared to one month for the initial leave request.
Pay During Maternity Leave
Mothers enrolled in employee health insurance receive a maternity allowance (出産手当金) during the prenatal and postnatal periods. The daily benefit equals two-thirds of the employee’s average standard monthly remuneration divided by 30. The health insurance association pays this directly, and the payments are not subject to income tax.
The first payment typically arrives one to two months after the application is filed, so expect a gap between the last paycheck and the first benefit deposit.
Pay During Childcare Leave
Childcare leave benefits come from employment insurance rather than health insurance. The standard rate is 67 percent of pre-leave wages for the first 180 days, dropping to 50 percent for the remaining period.2Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Outline of the Act on Childcare Leave
Starting in April 2025, a new Post-Childbirth Leave Support Benefit (出生後休業支援給付) adds an extra 13 percentage points on top of the standard 67 percent, bringing the effective rate to 80 percent of gross salary for the first 28 days. Both parents must each take at least 14 days of childcare leave within the child’s first year to qualify. Because social insurance premiums are waived during leave, that 80 percent of gross works out to roughly the same take-home pay as a normal working month.
Benefits are deposited every two months, not monthly, and the first payment can take several months to arrive after leave begins. Savings to bridge that window are important.
The Lump-Sum Childbirth Allowance
Separately from wage-replacement benefits, health insurance pays a one-time lump-sum childbirth allowance (出産育児一時金) of ¥500,000 per child to help cover delivery costs. The amount was raised from ¥420,000 in April 2023. For deliveries at facilities participating in the maternity medical care compensation system after at least 22 weeks of pregnancy, the payment is typically applied directly to the hospital bill.3Nissan Motor Health Insurance Society. Childbirth Lump-Sum Allowance
Social Insurance and Tax Treatment
One of the most overlooked benefits: during both maternity leave and childcare leave, neither the employee nor the employer owes health insurance or pension contributions. The exemption runs from the first month of leave through the month before the employee returns. For childcare leave, the exemption applies as long as the child is under three years old.4Private School Mutual Aid. Exemption from Premium During Maternity/Childcare Leave
Social insurance premiums in Japan typically consume around 15 percent of salary when the employee and employer shares are added together. Waiving both halves raises the real value of every benefit yen received.
Maternity and childcare leave benefits are also exempt from income tax. Resident tax, however, still applies during leave because it is calculated on the prior year’s income. Most employees switch from employer-withheld collection to direct billing by the municipality, so expect invoices in the mail rather than automatic deductions.
Who Qualifies
Maternity leave eligibility is straightforward. Every pregnant worker is covered regardless of employment status, company size, or how long she has been with the employer. Full-time, part-time, and contract workers all qualify. The Labor Standards Act makes no exceptions.1Japanese Law Translation. Labor Standards Act – Article 65
Childcare leave has a few more conditions. A 2022 reform eliminated the general one-year service requirement, though a company’s labor-management agreement can still exclude workers employed for less than one year. Fixed-term contract workers qualify as long as their contract is not set to expire before the child reaches 18 months (or 24 months if the extended leave period applies).2Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Outline of the Act on Childcare Leave
Financial benefits carry their own conditions. Maternity allowance requires enrollment in an employee health insurance plan. Childcare leave benefits require enrollment in employment insurance.
Job Protection When You Return
The Labor Standards Act prohibits dismissal during maternity leave and for 30 days after the employee returns.5Japanese Law Translation. Labor Standards Act – Article 19
The Equal Employment Opportunity Act goes further. Employers cannot dismiss or disadvantage any worker because of pregnancy, childbirth, or requesting maternity leave. Any dismissal of a pregnant employee or one within the first year after childbirth is presumed invalid unless the employer proves the reason was completely unrelated to pregnancy or leave.6Japanese Law Translation. Act on Equal Opportunity and Treatment Between Men and Women in Employment – Article 9
The burden-of-proof shift matters. The employer has to prove innocence, not the employee proving guilt.
Employees returning from leave have the right to be reinstated in their original position or an equivalent one. Employers must also offer shortened working hours for employees with children under three.