①A worker may take caregiver leave upon applying to their employer; provided, however, that a worker employed for a fixed period of time may only file that application in cases where it is not clear that the term of the person's labor contract expires before the day on which six months elapse from the day on which ninety-three days elapse from the scheduled start date for caregiver leave prescribed in paragraph (3).

②Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, a worker who has taken caregiver leave may not file an application under the provisions of the preceding paragraph with regard to an applicable family member for whom the worker has already taken caregiver leave in cases where the relevant applicable family member falls under any of the following items:

③An application pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) (hereinafter referred to as "application for caregiver leave") must be filed by making clear that the applicable family member in the application for caregiver leave is requiring caregiving and, with regard to a continued period for caregiver leave pertaining to the applicable family member, and the first day thereof (hereinafter referred to as "scheduled start date for caregiver leave") and last day thereof (hereinafter referred to as "scheduled end date for caregiver leave") as prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

④The provisions of the proviso of paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) (excluding item (ii)) do not apply to cases where a person employed for a fixed period of time who takes caregiver leave having designated the last day of the person's labor contract period as the scheduled end date for caregiver leave (or, in cases where the caregiver leave scheduled end date is changed pursuant to the provisions of Article 7, paragraph (3), as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 13, the changed scheduled end date for caregiver leave) files an application for caregiver leave, due to the renewal of the labor contract, in which the first day of the renewed labor contract period is the scheduled start date for caregiver leave.

①Employers may not, when an application for caregiver leave is filed by a worker, refuse the application for caregiver leave.

②The provisions of the proviso of Article 6, paragraph (1) and the provisions of paragraph (2) of the same Article apply mutatis mutandis to cases where a worker files an application for caregiver leave. In this case, the term "the proviso of the preceding paragraph" in the same paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "the proviso of the preceding paragraph, as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 12, paragraph (2)," and the term "paragraphs (1), (3) and (4) of the preceding Article" in the same paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "Article 11, paragraph (1)."

③An employer may, as prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, in cases where a worker files an application for caregiver leave, when the scheduled start date for the caregiver leave in the application falls before the day on which two weeks from the day following the date of the application elapse (referred to as "two week expiry date" hereinafter in this paragraph), designate as the scheduled start date for the caregiver leave any day during the period from the scheduled start date for the caregiver leave until the two week expiry date.

④The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs do not apply to cases where a worker files an application for caregiver leave prescribed in paragraph (4) of the preceding Article.

The provisions of Article 7, paragraph (3) apply mutatis mutandis to an application for a change of the scheduled end date for caregiver leave.

①A worker who has filed an application for caregiver leave may withdraw the application on or before the day preceding the scheduled start date for the caregiver leave in the application (in cases where an employer designates the day pursuant to the provisions of Article 12, paragraph (3), the day designated by the employer; the same applies in Article 8, paragraph (4), as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to paragraph (3) of this Article and paragraph (1) of the following Article).

②In cases where an application for the caregiver leave is withdrawn pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, and the first application for caregiver leave filed after the withdrawal with regard to the applicable family member subject to the withdrawal is withdrawn, an employer may refuse a subsequent application for caregiver leave with regard to the applicable family member, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 12, paragraph (1).

③The provisions of Article 8, paragraph (4) apply mutatis mutandis to an application for caregiver leave. In this case, the terms "child" and "childcare" in the same paragraph are deemed to be replaced respectively with "applicable family member" and "caregiving."

①A period for which a worker who has filed an application for caregiver leave may take caregiver leave (hereinafter referred to as a "period of caregiver leave") is to be between the scheduled start date for caregiver leave and the scheduled end date for caregiver leave in the application (or, when the scheduled end date falls after the period of days elapses from the scheduled start date for caregiver leave, which are obtained by subtracting from 93 days the number of days for caregiver leave taken for the applicable family member in the application for caregiver leave filed by the worker, the day on which the period elapses; the same applies in paragraph (3) of this Article).

②In this Article, the scheduled end date for caregiver leave, in cases where the scheduled end date for caregiver leave is changed pursuant to the provisions of Article 7, paragraph (3), as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to the provisions of Article 13, means the changed scheduled end date for caregiver leave.

③In cases where any of the circumstances listed in the following items occurs, the period of caregiver leave ends on the day on which the relevant circumstance occurs (or, in cases where the circumstance set forth in item (ii) occurs, the preceding day), notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1):

④The provisions of the second sentence of Article 8, paragraph (4) apply mutatis mutandis to cases where there are reasons specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare provided for in item (i) of the preceding paragraph

An employer must not dismiss or otherwise treat a worker disadvantageously due to the worker having filed an application for caregiver leave or having taken caregiver leave.