A.	Promotion of welfare at small and medium enterprises

The promotion of workers' welfare and the stabilization of labor-management relations are important tasks for small and medium enterprise. To help such enterprises take on these challenges, the Ministry of Labour is conducting "Activity 1" shown in the Figure below through prefectures, as well as "Activity 2" through municipalities.
      The Small and Medium Enterprise Workers' Comprehensive Welfare Promotion Initiative enables such enterprises to work with the Small and Medium Enterprise Workers' Welfare Service Center to stabilize worker livelihood during employment and into old age, as well as to maintain and enhance health, services that are difficult for these employers to provide independently.

B.	Small and Medium Enterprises' Retirement Allowance Mutual Aid System

Under this system, retirement allowances are paid through a mutual system as well as government aid, to small and medium enterprises that find it difficult to establish a retirement allowance system independently.
      At present, this system is composed of two subsystems: i) the General Retirement Allowance Mutual Aid System for Regular Workers; and ii) the Specified Industries Retirement Allowance Mutual Aid System, for those who are employed for certain periods in the construction, sake-brewing and forestry industries. About 4.86 million employees in small and medium enterprises are covered by these systems.

C.	Conference on Promotion of Smaller Enterprises' Industrial Welfare

Small and medium enterprises operate in a wide variety of business areas and operating modes. They are built on relatively weak management infrastructure resulting in difficulties related to securing and cultivating human resources, improving labor conditions and enhancing workers' welfare benefits - placing them significantly below levels offered by large enterprises. Given these circumstances, in order to keep smaller enterprises vigorous and promote the sound growth of the Japanese economy and society, efforts must be made to solve the labor problems faced by small and medium enterprises, including the aforementioned gap between large and small business.
      The Ministry of Labour holds the Conference on the Promotion of Smaller Enterprises' Industrial Welfare (comprised of specialists).

D.	Improvement of small and medium enterprise employment management

Japanese small and medium enterprises play an important role in the Japanese economy through the creation of numerous opportunities for employment, but are at a disadvantage in securing workers compared with large enterprises due to significant gaps in terms of working hours, working environment, welfare and other employment management matters, as well as less name recognition. Even in a recession, many small and medium enterprises feel they are short of hands.
      To cope with this situation, the Law Concerning the Promotion of Improvement of Employment Management in Smaller Enterprises for Securing Manpower provides that comprehensive measures be taken to extend fiscal, financial and tax-break supports to small and medium enterprises organizations that are making efforts to improve their workplace environments and promote workers' welfare, as well as to the small and medium enterprises that are members of such organizations, and non-member small and medium enterprises, in order to make small and medium enterprises more attractive and help them secure workers.