(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
Today, the “Bill on Special Provisions for Concurrent Employment of National and Local Public Employees to Ensure the Smooth Execution of Duties by Self-Defense Force Reserve Personnel and Others” was approved by the Cabinet. To help ensure the continuous and stable recruitment of Self-Defense Force (SDF) Reserve Personnel and others, this legislation is intended to improve the environment for responding to call-ups and to deepen public interest in and understanding of the importance of the duties of SDF Reserve Personnel and others, thereby ensuring their smooth execution of duties. To elaborate on the bill, when national public employees and others engage in concurrent service as SDF Reserve Personnel and others, they have until now been required to obtain permission both at the time of becoming a Reserve Personnel and at the time of responding to a call-up. However, under the bill, they will be able to obtain all approvals at the time they become Reserve Personnel and others. Employees who have received approval will be exempted from their normal duty-of-devotion obligations during periods when they respond to call-ups, and their regular salary will not be reduced during periods when they respond to training call-ups. In addition to establishing special provisions to the National Civil Service Law and related laws, the bill stipulates that, as a responsibility of the national government, efforts would be made to deepen public interest in and understanding of the importance of the duties of SDF Reserve Personnel and others. The bill will be deliberated in the Diet going forward. We intend to provide careful explanations of the bill’s content so that it will be understood by many people. Although this bill does not apply to private-sector employees, we hope that companies employing SDF Reserve Personnel and others will continue to adopt measures modeled on those for public employees, and we aim to further improve the sufficiency rate of SDF Reserve Personnel. That concludes my opening remarks.