The government approved a bill Tuesday to revise the law guaranteeing equal employment opportunities in a move to curb gender discrimination in the workplace, including plans for facilitating maternity leave, banning indirect discrimination and reinforcing measures against sexual harassment.
The legislation was to be submitted to the Diet in the afternoon with the aim of getting it passed during the current session.
Employers would be prohibited from, without rational reason, seeking potential staff based on height and weight, hiring career track employees with the prerequisite of domestic transfers, and looking at past relocation records in deciding promotions.
The current law bans employers from terminating the employment of women who take maternity leave, but under the bill they would additionally be prohibited from treating pregnant staff unfavorably, such as by reassigning them because they take pregnancy-related leave.
Employment termination during pregnancy or within a year after giving birth would be nullified unless employers can prove the decision was not because of the pregnancy or childbirth. The bill includes tougher measures against sexual harassment.