Real-life Examples of Our Systems at Work

Supporting Diverse Working Styles for a Fulfilling Work and Personal Life

At some point in their life, everyone feels anxious and unsure about how to balance childcare or nursing care with work, or what to do if they fall ill. The Sekisui House Group is proactively implementing highly flexible systems and programs for working, which allow each employee to select and combine diverse working styles to suit their individual lifestyle and circumstances.

Real-life Examples

Balancing Work and Childcare

Employee A raising her nursery school-age child

I gave birth to my child in October. I was planning to return to work in the April two years after the birth, but I was having trouble finding a nursery school... Fortunately, I was able to extend my childcare leave for another year, and so I could find a nursery school for my child and return to full-time work. I’m also really grateful for access to Financial Aid for Childcare, in which the company covers about 70% of the nursery school fees. And I can flexibly use the Hour-Based Annual Leave System to take time off if my child suddenly falls sick with a fever.

Employee B and his wife, who works at another branch

About the same time my wife got pregnant, she was offered a promotion to a manager position. We used the “Nursery School Hunting Concierge” service to quickly find a nursery school, so that my wife could return to work within a year after giving birth. We received information about nursery schools, and after my wife returned to work, I was also able to take the one-month paternity leave and focus on looking after my newborn child. Now my wife and I are able to successfully balance work with raising our child, by adjusting our working hours according to our work schedules.

Employee C, who works at a model house and uses a babysitter on Sundays

Both my husband and I work on Sunday. We searched for a nursery school that could take care of our child, but there was nowhere nearby that would take in a baby who wasn’t a year old yet. Before taking maternity leave, I received some documents from work that told me about financial support for hiring a babysitter (“Financial Aid for Childcare”), and so I decided to hire a babysitter from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. The babysitter comes to our house, so we don’t need to pick her up or see her off, and my baby also seems to be finding it relaxing. The thing I was most worried about was finding a sitter who my baby would take to, but before returning to work I sat in with a few sitters on a trial basis. When I found one I could trust, I decided to continue using her going forward. This is helpful not just in that we were able to secure someone to look after our child on Sunday, but also in refreshing myself on my day off, and for the child as well, being able to interact with various people helps with socialization. For these reasons, I really recommend hiring a babysitter.

Finding a Balance between Work and Infertility Treatment

Employee D, who works in sales administration and got pregnant safely

When I started my fertility treatment, I didn’t tell people at work, and I tried my best to balance it with my sales job, but I wound up always prioritizing work, so the treatment was ineffective, and it was a severe mental burden on me. A few years after starting the treatment, when I was 35, I talked to my boss about maybe quitting, and was encouraged to use one of our systems, so I was able to continue both my work and fertility treatment with shorter work hours, three days off per week, and no-working on holidays. Rather than struggling to the point of actually considering leaving my job, it would have been better to discuss it earlier. Because both my boss and coworkers set up a support system for me, my life rhythm, health, and mental status stabilized, and I was finally able to become pregnant. Now, I am looking forward to the day I can welcome my new baby into the world.

Balancing Work and Nursing Care

Employee E, who is looking after his mother who lives far away

I took Nursing Care Leave to look after my mother, who lives in our hometown. I took a total of two months leave, so I was able to apply for primary nursing care requirement authorization for my mother and be there for the at-home inspection, as well as complete the procedures for using nursing care services after we received authorization. I’m still able to regularly return to my hometown to visit my mother. I can take up to two weeks leave if necessary, so it gives me peace of mind to know I can be there for my mother when she needs me.

Return-to-work Support

Employee F, a designer who had to leave work and return later, due to her husband’s being posted overseas

I switched from working in Osaka to Tokyo because of my marriage, and then going into my third year at the company, my husband was posted overseas, so I left my job. After returning to Japan, our child was already one year old, and so I decided to return to work. Because I had registered in the Retiree Reinstatement Registration Program, the process went smoothly. Now I’m working in design at Sha Maison, and I can do a job that allows me to utilize my skills and qualifications such as my First-class Architect qualification and interior coordinator qualification. Since coming back, I’ve also been able to avail of the “Financial Aid for Childcare” childcare support system for hiring a babysitter, and this allows me to balance work with parenting.

List of Work-life Balance Support Systems and Programs

The Sekisui House Group has an original and extensive line up of work-life balance support systems and programs. Many of these initiatives originated from employee feedback. We are also improving existing systems and programs as required so that they work better, as well as introducing new initiatives as needed.

Support for Balancing Work and Childcare