Help or Hindrance? Work-Life Leave Policies and Employment Continuity among Japanese Regular Employees

• In Event: 50260 - Section on Asia and Asian America Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 8: Precarity, Labor, and Relational Work Across Asian and Asian American Contexts

Abstract

To enhance gender equality and ameliorate increasing work-life conflicts experienced by employees, many industrialized countries have implemented various Work-Life Balance (WLB) programs, where flexible leave arrangements at the workplace are an integral component. Yet, how flexible leave affects workers’ labor market outcomes and gender inequalities is little understood. This study investigates the relationship between workers’ taking up flexible leave and their employment continuity from a micro-level perspective. I argue that the nature of policies would intersect with the prevailing workplace culture to empower or hinder workers in achieving work-life balance and advancing careers. Using longitudinal data from Japan, multivariate results show that female regular workers—married women and mothers in particular—experience flexibility penalty in taking enhancer-type leave (leave in consecutive days that enhances time deviation from the ideal worker norm) in continuing employment, whereas male regular workers appear to reap flexibility benefit by taking the diminisher-type leave (leave in separate spells that mitigates time deviation). These patterns suggest that flexible leave as part of the Work-Life Balance package may amplify gender inequality in Japan’s workplace. This study makes important contributions to the literature on work-life policies, flexibility stigma, and gender inequalities in the labor market.

Author

• Jia Wang, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University