Kudamatsu City Manufacturing SME Childcare Leave Promotion Subsidy

1) Program Overview: This subsidy is provided by Kudamatsu City (Yamaguchi Prefecture) Industrial Promotion Division to create a workplace environment in which manufacturing SMEs can better support employees balancing childcare and work. It pays grants both to businesses that promote employee childcare leave and to female employees who have returned to work after taking childcare leave, complementing the national childcare leave support subsidy. 2) Eligible Applicants: (1) Manufacturing businesses with an operational base in Kudamatsu City that qualify as SMEs under Article 2-1 of the SME Basic Act (capital or total contribution of 300 million yen or less, OR 300 or fewer regular employees). (2) Businesses that have received a payment decision under the national Childcare Leave Support Course Subsidy (Article 116 of the Employment Insurance Act Enforcement Regulations). (3) Businesses certified as a Kudamatsu Manufacturing Women Employment Promotion Business. (4) No ties to anti-social/organized-crime groups. (5) No municipal tax arrears. The Return-to-Work Incentive is paid directly to the eligible returning female employee. 3) Eligible Expenses / Benefits: Four flat-rate grants of 100,000 yen each are available: Childcare Leave Acquisition Grant, Return-to-Work Grant, and Substitute Personnel Employment Grant (each paid to the business per person per national-subsidy decision), and the Return-to-Work Incentive paid directly to the returning female employee. Payments are fixed amounts and not tied to itemized expenses. 4) Rate / Cap / Schedule / Application Notes: The amount is a flat 100,000 yen per case (no percentage rate). The application window runs from July 1, 2024 to March 31, 2028, ending when the annual budget is exhausted. Applications must be filed within 60 days of receiving the national subsidy payment decision. Each business may apply only once, even within the cap. Submission is by mail or in person to Kudamatsu Industrial Promotion Division (744-8585 Otemachi 3-3-3). Required documents include the prescribed application form (Form 1 or Form 2), a copy of the national subsidy application and payment decision, the Childcare Leave Return Support Plan, and a municipal tax payment certificate.