Work-life balance creates a positive cycle of a fulfilling life both at work and at home.RIKEN is committed to encouraging all employees to achieve a balance between work and their personal life. What this means in practice is that RIKEN offers support for employees, in the form of benefits such as childcare leave and maternity leave, to care for their families and for their own personal lives. The offering of these benefits falls in line with the Japanese government's recent policy of re-examining working conditions and promoting gender equality programs as countermeasures against the country's aging population. Finding ways to change the overall work environment so that people can maintain a better work-life balance, in particular during their childcare years, is one of the goals of RIKEN's Committee for Gender Equality.

"If I could be young again, I would certainly take childcare leave. Men who have this opportunity should take advantage of it."For employees, what this all means is that RIKEN takes seriously the issue of balancing one's family and personal life with one's work life. Provisions are in place so that in situations where it may be difficult to continue work, in particular during periods of pregnancy, childbirth or childcare, both women and men can take a certain period of paid leave, as well as reduced hours depending on circumstances. Measures are also in place which allow RIKEN to hire temporary staff to cover for women researchers who are pregnant or taking care of children, making it possible for these researchers to take short-term leave from work.

Additionally, RIKEN recently conducted a trial of a new “telework” system that would allow employees to work from home, enabling them to strike a healthier work-life balance, enhance their individual potential to the fullest, and foster their ability to plan and impose self-discipline. The Personnel Division is currently considering its formal introduction at RIKEN.