Nintendo Will Officially Provide Spousal Benefits For Same-Sex Partnerships In Japan

Nintendo has published their latest Corporate Social Responsibility report for 2022, which details actions the company is taking to improve in the areas of Consumers, Supply Chain, Employees and Environment.

This year, one of the more significant changes highlighted is the introduction of the Partnership System, which aims to ensure that any employees in a common-law partnership with the member of the same-sex will receive the same benefits as employees with an opposite-sex partner, regardless of whether they are legally recognized as “married” by the government. This announcement is quite significant, as the Japanese government currently does not legally recognize same-sex marriages at the time of this writing.

You can read the relevant excerpt from their statement below:

We introduced the Partnership System in March 2021 as one initiative based on this philosophy. Although same-sex marriages are not currently recognized under Japanese law, this system ensures employees who are in a domestic partnership with a same-sex partner have the same benefits as employees in an opposite-sex marriage. We have also established that a common-law marriage between couples will be observed in the same way as a legal marriage.

This move marks a significant step in Nintendo’s goals to promote diversity in the workplace, and is commendable especially since it runs slightly contradictory to the stance of their home country’s government. If you wish to learn more about Nintendo’s other diversity related policies, you can read their full article on the topic here.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.