Sojitz has been awarded the Platinum Kurumin Plus certification. This designation was established as part of April 2022 revisions to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Kurumin system in order to recognize companies that support employees balancing work and infertility treatment.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare utilizes the Kurumin system to recognize companies with excellent childcare support policies that meet the specified requirements for certification and that have achieved the targets set out in their General Employer Action Plans based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children.

Sojitz received the Kurumin certification in 2010 and was awarded the Platinum Kurumin certification in 2021, a designation that recognizes outstanding companies that meet higher standards in supporting employees to balance work and childcare. Sojitz has now acquired the Platinum Kurumin Plus certification in recognition of its focus on heath support measures that enable employees to balance work and infertility treatment.

■Sojitz Initiatives for Supporting Employees Balancing Work and Infertility Treatment
In recent years, Sojitz has established a system that enables employees to balance medical treatment and work through the use of resources such as remote work and the super flextime system, which does not have core working hours. The company has also set a goal of increasing the percentage of its female employees to approximately 50% during the 2030s and introduced new initiatives in April 2022 to support women’s health and promote the success and retention of female employees. Sojitz recognizes that balancing infertility treatment and work is an important women’s health issue, and the company will continue to strengthen its efforts for supporting employees undergoing infertility treatment moving forward.

1. Use of Cradle, a service promoting diversity and inclusion with a focus on women’s health
Sojitz has partnered with Cradle Inc. (Representative Director: Mari Ozaki, known by pseudonym Sputniko!; “Cradle”) to offer Sojitz employees online education seminars by doctors and experts as well as provide employees and their partners support with infertility treatment through Cradle’s services.

2. In-house fertility consultation service
Sojitz has established an in-house consultation service whereby all employees, regardless of gender, can comfortably discuss fertility-related issues with both male and female consultants. Through this service, Sojitz aims to spread infertility awareness not only among those considering infertility treatment, but to manager-level employees and throughout the company.

In addition to the aforementioned initiatives, Sojitz has also introduced a dedicated gynecologist at its Health Care Room, providing a space for employees to freely discuss gynecological health with an expert. By addressing issues such as infertility, menstruation, and menopause in order to lessen the severity of symptoms, female employees can gain physical and mental health benefits that will allow them to continually perform at their best. In addition to standard paid annual leave, employees are also eligible to take a maximum of five days of special leave that can be used for handling family matters. Employees undergoing infertility treatment may also take advantage of this leave.

Sojitz aims to empower all employees, regardless of gender, to succeed and achieve work-life balance while helping to raise the overall added value and productivity of the organization, and the company will continue to support the development of the next generation of children moving forward.

(Reference):
・Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website (Japanese) 
・Sojitz Group “Sojitz Healthy Value” charter

[For questions, please contact:]
Sojitz Corporation Public Relations Dept.　+81－3－6871－3404