To help working people exhibit their professional abilities over a long time, support for company education and training and individuals' voluntary efforts to develop professional abilities will be promoted by providing diverse information and consulting services, and utilizing lifelong ability development allowances. Vocational training offered at public professional ability development centers will also be promoted.
b. Realizing a comfortable vocational life
Shifting to the 40-hour week system, which is scheduled to be carried out on a full scale from April 1997, will be facilitated. Working hours will continue to be reduced positively to achieve and maintain total annual working hours of 1,800 by popularizing the five-day workweek system, encouraging annual paid vacation and reducing overtime work. This will in turn contribute to harmonizing professional careers with family and community life as well as maintaining and expanding employment opportunities.
Additionally, refreshing vacations will be encouraged and health careor working people will be promoted through health improvement programs implemented at workplace levels.
c. Helping women exhibit their abilities in terms of employment and working
To help women exhibit their abilities in terms of employment and working, further efforts will be made to assure equal opportunities and labor conditions. In addition, referral services and vocational training that meet the needs of women will be promoted and women's involvement in the sectors of agriculture, forestry and fishery will be facilitated.
d. Promoting measures to help working people cope with both professional careers and family life
Measures to help working people cope with both their professional careers and family life will be promoted comprehensively and systematically.
Employment and working environment will be improved so that working people can cope with both their jobs and child-care and care for the elderly by creating an atmosphere where it is easy to take leave for nursing and elderly care and return to work, or continue to work while caring children and the elderly alike. The popularization of the child-care leave system will continue to be promoted and the early introduction of care leave for the elderly systems, the implementation of which will become compulsory in April 1999, will be encouraged.
