Japan's immigration bureau to verify visa applicants have social security health insurance
Effective in April, expatriates working in Japan will need to furnish proof that they are covered under the statutory health insurance plan in Japan in order to renew their visa.
The obligation to enroll employees and their dependents in the social security health insurance plan is not new, but up to now it has been loosely enforced. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is responsible for verifying coverage, but because of a lack of administrative capacity, it has asked the immigration bureau to include it as one of the criteria for an extension of a foreigner's work visa.
The immigration bureau has not yet decided on how it will handle noncompliant expatriates. It appears that they will be checking only for health insurance coverage, but not for other mandatory coverage. It is not clear whether the authorities might refuse to grant visa renewals or convey that information in an attempt to recover premiums that should have been paid.
Under Japanese law, all residents of Japan - including foreigners - must be covered under one of the two social security health insurance plans:
1. Employed persons who work more than 20 hours per week for a company with more than five employees must be covered under the Employees' Health Insurance plan. Dependents also are covered. A company is permitted to contract out of the EHI and establish a plan that meets the requirements of a Health Insurance Society. The cost of the EHI coverage is shared equally by employer and employee.
2. Individuals who are employed in small companies, as well as self-employed and nonemployed persons, must be covered under a National Health Insurance program. The individual pays the full cost.
Up to now, some employers only have maintained health insurance coverage for their expatriate employees and their dependents under a private health insurance plan - often the plan in the employee's home country or an expatriate plan. Companies may have felt that providing health coverage to non-nationals under the Japanese social security plan was unnecessary and expensive (about 4.1% of payroll for the company and an equal amount for the employee).
The Japanese government has made it clear that it expects all individuals working in Japan, including expatriates, to be covered under its social security programs. Some temporary assignees may be exempt from participation (typically for no more than five years) under bilateral social security agreements, but requirements vary by country.
Spain increases paternity leave to four weeks
The Spanish government has extended paternity leave from 13 days to four weeks, effective January 2011. Currently, employers also are required by the Workers' Statute to provide two days' paid leave for the birth of a child, giving fathers in Spain a total of 15 days paternity leave.
This law primarily affects male employees, though female employees are eligible for this leave if they are an adoptive or same-sex parent. In both cases, only one parent may benefit from the leave, and it cannot be the parent who gave birth. Leave also is granted in the case of foster care.
The leave period is extended by two days for each additional child in the event of multiple births or adoptions. Therefore, an adoptive parent or the father of twins would be eligible for four weeks plus two days.
The extended paternity leave is in addition to the two days of paid leave for the birth of a child that the Workers' Statute requires employers to provide to fathers.
Paternity leave is granted and payment is calculated in the same manner as for maternity leave:
- The employee must give his employer advance notice of the expected birth.
- The employment contract is temporarily suspended during the leave period.
- The employee is compensated by social security at the maternity leave rate. Social security law has not yet been amended to reflect the extended leave periods, but a change is expected prior to the law's effective date in 2011.
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