①If a small or medium-sized enterprise that is a member of an approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises (meaning a general employer with 300 or less regularly employed workers; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph and the following paragraph) commissions the recruitment of workers required for the implementation of initiatives related to the promotion of women's active engagement in professional life through the approved employer organization, when that organization intends to engage in the relevant recruitment, 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 enterprise that is a member of the organization.

②The term "approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises" as used in this Article and the following Article means, among business cooperatives, federations of cooperatives, or other cooperatives or federations thereof established under special acts, or a federation as specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare or a general association comprising of small and medium-sized enterprise employers as its direct or indirect members (limited to those falling under the requirement prescribed by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), an organization that provides consultations and assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises that are members of that organization with respect to securing human resources for the implementation of initiatives related to the promotion of women's active engagement in professional life, and which are approved by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in that the organization conforms to the standards required for appropriate implementation of that consultation and assistance specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, based on an application from the organization.

③The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare may rescind the approval provided in the preceding paragraph if it is confirmed that an approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises no longer conforms to the standards prescribed in the preceding paragraph.

④When intending to engage in the recruitment prescribed in paragraph (1), an approved employer organization for small and medium-sized enterprises 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 particulars related to the recruitment of workers 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 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 persons who engage in the recruitment of workers upon submitting the notification prescribed in the preceding paragraph; the provisions of Article 40 of that Act apply mutatis mutandis to giving compensation to persons who engage in the recruitment of workers upon submitting the notification prescribed in that paragraph; and the provisions of Article 50, paragraphs (3) and (4) of that Act apply mutatis mutandis to cases in which the authority prescribed by paragraph (2) of that Article, as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to this paragraph, is exercised. In this case, the phrase "the person seeking to conduct worker recruitment" in Article 37, paragraph (2) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "a person who intends to engage in worker recruitment upon submitting a notification pursuant to Article 16, paragraph (4) of the Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life", and the phrase "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 phrase "the compensation referred to in the preceding paragraph" in Article 36, paragraph (2) of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "the compensation that a person who intends to have a person other than their own employee engage in worker recruitment intends to give to that person other than the employee", the phrase "commissioned recruiters provided in Article 39" in Article 42-2 of that Act is deemed to be replaced with "persons who engage in worker recruitment upon submitting a notification pursuant to Article 16, paragraph (4) of the Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life (Act No. 64 of 2015)", and the phrase "in said paragraph" is deemed to be replaced with "in the 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 implementation of the consultation and support referred to in paragraph (2).

Public employment security offices are to provide employment information and results of occupational research and study, and, based on these, provide guidance on the content or means of the recruitment, thereby achieving effective and appropriate implementation of the recruitment to approved employer organizations 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 consultation services and other assistance to general employers who intend to formulate a general employer action plan pursuant to the provisions of Article 8, paragraph (1) or paragraph (7), or who have submitted a notification pursuant to these provisions, in order to facilitate smooth implementation of the formulation of the general employer action plan, dissemination of the action plan to workers or publication, or measures based on the general employer action plan.

①The national government and local government organizations, and the head or other officials of these organizations specified by Cabinet Order (hereinafter referred to as the "specified employers") must establish a specified employer action plan (meaning a plan concerning initiatives for the promotion of women's active engagement in professional life implemented by specified employers; hereinafter the same applies in this Article) in line with the guidelines on the formulation of the employer action plan pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

②The specified employer action plan is to prescribe the following particulars:

③When intending to establish the specified employer action plan or modify it (excluding minor modifications specified by Cabinet Office Order), specified employers must, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Office Order, ascertain the ratio of women employees to the total number of employees they have hired, gender differences in the number of years of continuous employment, the state of working hours, the ratio of women employees in managerial positions, and other factors in relation to women's active engagement in professional life in their administrative duties and business, analyze what can be changed to improve the promotion of women's active engagement in professional life, and then establish the plan taking the results into account. In this case, the goals set forth in item (ii) of the preceding paragraph must be quantitatively prescribed using the ratio of women employees to the total number of employees they hire, the ratio of reduction of difference in the number of years of continuous employment based on gender, working hours, the ratio of women employees in managerial positions and other figures.

④When a specified employer establishes the specified employer action plan or modifies it (excluding minor modifications specified by the Cabinet Office Order referred to in the preceding paragraph), the specified employer must take measures to publicize this among its employees without delay.

⑤If a specified employer establishes the specified employer action plan or modifies it, the specified employer must publicize this without delay.

⑥A specified employer must publicize the status of implementation of initiatives based on the specified employer action plan at least once every year.

⑦A specified employer must implement initiatives based on the specified employer action plan and endeavor to achieve the goals prescribed in the specified employer action plan.

①General employers prescribed in Article 8, paragraph (1) (limited to those with over 300 regularly employed workers) must regularly publicize the following information regarding women's active engagement in professional life in their business to contribute to choice of occupations for women who work or who intend to work, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare:

②General employers prescribed in Article 8, paragraph (1) (other than the general employers prescribed in the preceding paragraph) must regularly publicize the following information with respect to women's active engagement in professional life in their business to contribute to choice of occupations for women who work or who intend to work, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare:

③General employers prescribed in Article 8, paragraph (7) must endeavor to regularly publicize at least one of the pieces of information set forth in the items of paragraph (1) with respect to women's active engagement in professional life in their business to contribute to choice of occupations for women who work or who intend to work, pursuant to the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Specified employers must regularly publicize the following information regarding women's active engagement in professional life in their administrative duties and business to contribute to choice of occupations for women who work or who intend to work, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Office Order: