Equal Employment Opportunity Law (Japan)

Japan's Equal Employment Opportunity Law, enacted in May 1985 and effective from April 1986, required equal treatment of men and women in recruitment, hiring, promotion, job assignment, and training, and created a Conciliation Commission to resolve disputes between women and their employers. It amended the 1947 Labor Standards Act and the Working Women's Welfare Law and added protections for pregnant workers and new mothers, including employer-provided time for medical care during pregnancy and for up to a year after childbirth. Amendments in 1997 addressed discrimination in hiring and promotion and amendments in 2005-2006 made employers responsible for preventing sexual harassment, though critics have long faulted the original law for carrying no enforcement penalties.