What should trainees, engineers do when pregnant during their stay in Japan

According to NHK, there are a series of problems related to the pregnancy and childbirth of foreign technical trainees. In March last year, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Justice of Japan issued a document calling on companies and unions to prevent trainees from being disadvantaged because of their pregnancy. . It clearly states that interns are also entitled to apply the “Law on gender equality at work” like the Japanese.

If you are pregnant and have given birth, you will be protected and protected by the law. When you are in danger of being laid off from your job due to childbirth or child rearing, be brave enough to go to the locality where you live to exchange and receive help. Anyone in Japan with basic insurance and nenkin payments can: 

• Receive support for antenatal care 
• Receive childbirth money 
• Receive monthly child support (teate) 
• And if possible, can ask the company to apply for maternity leave. 

These are your rights while in Japan, especially when you can’t return home, so boldly take this allowance.

According to the law, if you work or depend on employees, have insurance, you are entitled to receive maternity support from the government. This is not money from the company, but from the insurance you and your family receive if you meet regulatory requirements. If you are not supported or have to quit your job for some reason, contact the government agency and ask about the 生活保護 (seikatsu hogo) regime.

Before entering Japan, if the intern has signed a contract with the unit sending labor to Japan with the content that it will be handled if he gets married or gets pregnant before completing the Internship program, please contact Organization for Technical Intern Training (OTIT for short) for advice.

You don’t have to be afraid of not having an interpreter, just use google translate in advance, prepare your email, phone number if you have one for them to contact, many localities have translation support on site or by phone at kuyakusho /shiyakusho/mother and child care facilities of the local community health center (hokenjo), or ask someone in the community of Vietnamese Mothers in Japan to translate for you.