①A general employer who has been certified as prescribed in the preceding Article (referred to below as the "certified general employer") may affix a mark specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to goods or services, documents or communications used for advertisements or transactions, and other items specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (referred to as "advertisements, etc." in the following paragraph and Article 15-4, paragraph (1)).

②No person may affix a mark prescribed in the preceding paragraph or any other mark that could be confusingly similar to that mark to advertisements, etc., excluding the cases under the provisions of that paragraph.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may revoke a certification for a certified general employer referred to in Article 13 when a certified general employer falls under any of the following items:

Based on an application from a certified general employer, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, may certify that the certified general employer has formulated an appropriate general employer action plan in light of the guidelines for the formulation of an action plan (limited to a plan whose last day of its implementation period is on or after the day on which the certified general employer obtained the certification referred to in Article 13), concerning their efforts to improve the employment environment, has implemented the general employer action plan, has achieved the goals specified in the general employer action plan, has implemented the measures to support raising next-generation children in a superior manner, and conforms to other standards specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①The provisions of Article 12, paragraphs (1) and (5) do not apply to a certified general employer who has obtained the certification referred to in the preceding Article (referred to below as a "specially certified general employer").

②A specially certified general employer must make public the status of the implementation of the measures to support raising next-generation children at least once every year pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

③If a specially certified general employer does not make the relevant facts public pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may recommend the specially certified general employer to make the facts public within a reasonable period of time.

①A specially certified general employer may affix a mark specified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to advertisements, etc.

②The provisions of Article 14, paragraph (2) apply mutatis mutandis to the mark referred to in the preceding paragraph.

The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may revoke the certification under Article 15-2 when a specially certified general employer falls under any of the following items:

①If a general employer with 300 or less regularly employed workers that is a member of an approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises (referred to below as a "small and medium-sized employer" in this and the following paragraph) commissions the recruitment of workers required for the implementation of the measures to support raising next-generation children through that approved employer organization, and if that approved employer organization intends to engage in the relevant recruitment process, the provisions of Article 36, paragraphs (1) and (3) of the Employment Security Act (Act No. 141 of 1947) do not apply to the small and medium-sized employer that is a member of that approved employer organization.

②The term "approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises" as used in this and the following Article means a business cooperative, a federation of cooperatives, or any other cooperative or federation of cooperatives established under special acts, as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, or a general incorporated association comprising of small and medium-sized employers as its direct or indirect members (limited to an association that meets the requirements prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; referred to below as a "business cooperative, etc." in this paragraph), which has been certified by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, based on an application from the business cooperative, etc. and in accordance with the standards specified by the Minister as an organization that provides consultations and assistance to a small and medium-sized employer that is a member of that business cooperative, etc. with regard to securing human resources for the measures to support raising next-generation children.

③When the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that an approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises is no longer suitable to provide the consultations and assistance stated in the preceding paragraph, the Minister may revoke the certification stated in that paragraph.

④When an approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises intends to engage in the relevant recruitment process, the organization, as provided for by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, must notify the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of the recruitment period, the number of persons to be recruited, the recruitment area, and other matters related to the recruitment of workers as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑤The provisions of Article 37, paragraph (2) of the Employment Security Act apply mutatis mutandis to cases in which a notification under the preceding paragraph has been received; the provisions of Article 5-3, paragraphs (1) and (4), Article 5-4, paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 5-5, Article 39, Article 41, paragraph (2), Article 42, Article 48-3, paragraph (1), Article 48-4, Article 50, paragraphs (1) and (2), and Article 51 of that Act apply mutatis mutandis to a person who engages in recruitment of workers upon submitting a notification under the preceding paragraph; the provisions of Article 40 of that Act apply mutatis mutandis to providing compensation for a person who engages in recruitment of workers upon submitting a notification under the preceding paragraph; and the provisions of Article 50, paragraphs (3) and (4) of that Act apply mutatis mutandis to cases where the authority prescribed in paragraph (2) of that Article, as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to this paragraph, is exercised. In this case, the term "person seeking to conduct worker recruitment" in Article 37, paragraph (2) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "person seeking to engage in recruitment of workers upon submitting a notification under Article 16, paragraph (4) of the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children (Act No. 120 of 2003)"; and the term "order the discontinuance of the worker recruitment operations, or order the suspension thereof for a designated period" in Article 41, paragraph (2) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "order the suspension of the worker recruitment operations for a designated period."

⑥With regard to the application of the provisions of Article 36, paragraph (2) and Article 42-2 of the Employment Security Act, the term "referred to in the preceding paragraph" in Article 36, paragraph (2) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "that a person who intends to have a person other than their employee engage in recruitment of workers intends to give to that person" and the term "commissioned recruiters provided in Article 39" in Article 42-2 of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "persons who engage in recruitment of workers upon submitting a notification as prescribed in Article 16, paragraph (4) of the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children", and the term "said paragraph" is deemed to be replaced with "following paragraph."

⑦The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may request the approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises to submit a report on the status of the provision of the consultations and assistance referred to in paragraph (2).

A public employment security office must endeavor to facilitate an effective and appropriate recruitment process by providing employment information and results of any occupational research or studies, and, based on those information and results, providing guidance on the details or methods of the recruitment process to an approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in the recruitment of workers after giving the notification pursuant to the provisions of the preceding Article, paragraph (4).

The national government is to endeavor to provide necessary advice, guidance, and other assistance to a general employer who formulates a general employer action plan pursuant to the provisions of Article 12, paragraph (1) or paragraph (5), or who has submitted a notification pursuant to those provisions, in order to facilitate a smooth formulation of the general employer action plan, public announcement of that action plan, its dissemination to workers, or implementation of measures based on the general employer action plan.

①The national and local government bodies, and the heads or other officials of these bodies specified by Cabinet Order (referred to below as "specified employer") must formulate a specified employer action plan (meaning a plan related to the measures to support raising next-generation children implemented by a specified employer; the same applies below in this Article) in line with the guidelines for the formulation of an action plan pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

②A specified employer action plan is to prescribe the following matters:

③When a specified employer intends to formulate or change a specified employer action plan, the specified employer, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Office Order, must ascertain the status of the employee’s use of childcare leave, etc. (meaning the childcare leave under Article 3, paragraph (1) of the Act on Childcare Leave of Diet Officials (Act No. 108 of 1991), Article 3, paragraph (1) of the Childcare Leave Act of National Public Employees (Act No. 109 of 1991) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 27, paragraph (1) of the same Act and the Act on Temporary Measures concerning Court Officials (Act No. 299 of 1951)), or Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Act on Childcare Leave of Local Public Employees (Act No. 110 of 1991), the childcare leave prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Act on Childcare Leave of Judges (Act No. 111 of 1991), or any other leave specified by Cabinet Office Order as being equivalent to that childcare leave; the same applies below in this paragraph) and the status of their working hours, analyze the circumstances to be improved to achieve the balance between the professional and domestic lives of the employee, and formulate the plan by taking into consideration the results of the analysis. In this case, the specified employer must quantitatively determine the goals stated in item (ii) of the preceding paragraph by using the figures indicating the status of the employee’s use of childcare leave and the status of their working hours.

④When a specified employer formulates or changes a specified employer action plan, the specified employer must make that fact public without delay.

⑤If a specified employer formulates or changes a specified employer action plan, the specified employer must take measures to notify their employees of that fact without delay.

⑥A specified employer must make public the status of the implementation of any measures based on a specified employer action plan at least once every year.

⑦A specified employer must implement measures based on a specified employer action plan and endeavor to achieve the goals provided for in the specified employer action plan.

①The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may designate a general employer organization or any of its allied organizations (excluding an organization that is not a corporation or a federation that does not have a designated representative) that the Minister finds to be capable of properly and reliably performing the business prescribed in the following paragraph as a center for advancement of measures to support raising next-generation children, upon receiving an application from that organization.

②A center for advancement of measures to support raising next-generation children is to provide consultations and other assistance to a general employer and other persons concerned for the improvement of the employment environment in relation to the formulation and implementation of a general employer action plan.

③When the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds it necessary to improve the financial status or business operations of a center for advancement of measures to support raising next-generation children, the Minister may order that center to take any measures necessary to achieve that improvement.

④When a center for advancement of measures to support raising next-generation children violates an order under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may revoke the designation under paragraph (1).

⑤A current or former officer or employee of a center for advancement of measures to support raising next-generation children must not divulge any secret learned in connection with the business prescribed in paragraph (2).

⑥The procedures for the designation referred to in paragraph (1) and other necessary matters concerning a center for advancement of measures to support raising next-generation children are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.