POLICY
"Eruboshi" Certification Empowers Working Women in Japan
November 18, 2022
Japan has been struggling to achieve gender equality for a long time. Japanese government has sometimes been criticized in the international community for its ample for improvement.
On the other hand, in Japanese business sphere, especially in the past several years, many enterprises began to empower their female members to supplement their decreasing workforce and enhance their global competitiveness.
The "Eruboshi Certification" is based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and is a system to certify companies that meet certain standards and have excellent conditions for promoting women.
To evaluate whether the workplace environment is conducive to women demonstrating their abilities, the following five evaluation items have been established, and their performance must be announced annually in the "Database of Companies Promoting Women's Activities".
The five evaluation items
(1) Employment
(2) Continued Length of Employment
(3) Working Hours and Work Styles
(4) Ratio of management positions
(5) Diverse Career Paths
There are four kinds of Eruboshi, or “Labor Star” mark. If a company meets one or two of the five items above, it can receive orange mark. If three or four, salmon pink. If five, azalea. In 2020 June, Platinum Eruboshi was introduced.
To receive Platinum Eruboshi Certification, a company needs to have Eruboshi Certification of one of the three levels and to meet the following requirements.
(1）All of the five evaluation items are met according to Platinum Eruboshi's criteria.
(2) The company implements actions based on the established general business owner action plan and achieves the goals set forth in the action plan.
(3) Appointment of a person to promote equal employment opportunities for men and women and a person to promote work-family balance.
(4) The company has disclosed at least eight of the information disclosure items (excluding the outline of internal systems) based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace.
As of September 2022, 1905 companies have been certified as Eruboshi (excluding those that did not consent to be officially listed as Eruboshi companies) and twenty-nine companies have been certified as Platinum Eruboshi.
On the other hand, in Japanese business sphere, especially in the past several years, many enterprises began to empower their female members to supplement their decreasing workforce and enhance their global competitiveness.
The "Eruboshi Certification" is based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and is a system to certify companies that meet certain standards and have excellent conditions for promoting women.
To evaluate whether the workplace environment is conducive to women demonstrating their abilities, the following five evaluation items have been established, and their performance must be announced annually in the "Database of Companies Promoting Women's Activities".
The five evaluation items
(1) Employment
(2) Continued Length of Employment
(3) Working Hours and Work Styles
(4) Ratio of management positions
(5) Diverse Career Paths
There are four kinds of Eruboshi, or “Labor Star” mark. If a company meets one or two of the five items above, it can receive orange mark. If three or four, salmon pink. If five, azalea. In 2020 June, Platinum Eruboshi was introduced.
To receive Platinum Eruboshi Certification, a company needs to have Eruboshi Certification of one of the three levels and to meet the following requirements.
(1）All of the five evaluation items are met according to Platinum Eruboshi's criteria.
(2) The company implements actions based on the established general business owner action plan and achieves the goals set forth in the action plan.
(3) Appointment of a person to promote equal employment opportunities for men and women and a person to promote work-family balance.
(4) The company has disclosed at least eight of the information disclosure items (excluding the outline of internal systems) based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace.
As of September 2022, 1905 companies have been certified as Eruboshi (excluding those that did not consent to be officially listed as Eruboshi companies) and twenty-nine companies have been certified as Platinum Eruboshi.
