Expat sues Japanese broker over parental leave

Paternity leave is guaranteed under Japanese law, but few employees attempt to utilise it. One Canadian expat says that led to an uncomfortable workplace.
By: | November 7, 2019
Topics: Compliance | Employment Law | Japan | News

A Canadian father alleges he was bullied, and then fired by his Japanese employer, after attempting to claim paternity leave.

Glen Wood, aged 49, was working with brokerage Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities when his son was born prematurely in October, 2015. The birth took place in Nepal where Wood’s partner had been working at the time.

Wood says he applied for leave before his son was born, and even submitted a DNA test to prove paternity.

“I knew it was a sort of old-fashioned thinking type of company but I was still very surprised, even when it was an emergency and my son was in the ICU (intensive care unit), that they wouldn’t let me take paternity leave,” he told media before a hearing in October this year.

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities says it supports the rights of employees to take their legally mandated parental leave.

Wood did take leave in December that year, and alleges he was harassed upon his return. He took six months of medical leave to deal with the subsequent stress, and was fired later that year.