~Reduction of "I don't know what to do and when to do it" inquiries and administrative man-hours that had become gerrymandered. Contributing to a sustainable management system that supports the rapid increase in the number of maternity leave requests.
- The following is content from the press release -
(Headquarters: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Noriyuki Togashi; hereafter "illumista"), provider of the "workingU" childcare leave support system, announces that its service is now in operation at Ururu Inc. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Tomoya Hoshi; hereinafter referred to as "URURU").
This implementation has helped URURU reduce the number of routine business communications by approximately 501 TP6T for HR personnel, while also helping to eliminate "procedural anxiety" among employees and standardize the management of maternity leave in a growing company.
▼ Case study of Ururu: For the interview, please refer to the following article.this way (direction close to the speaker or towards the speaker)
Social Background: "Management Barriers" and "Workplace Burdens" in the Era of 40% Male Maternity Leave
In FY2024, the rate of male employees in the private sector taking maternity leave reached 40.51 TP6T, a significant increase of 10.4 percentage points from the previous year and a new record high. This is the second consecutive year that the MHLW survey has shown an increase of more than 10 points, and maternity leave is rapidly changing from something "special" to a "taken-for-granted right.
On the other hand, as the patterns of acquisition have become more complex in recent years, including variations in the period of acquisition by men and split acquisition, the man-hours required by HR personnel to inform eligible employees, manage schedules, and apply for benefits have continued to increase. Many companies are trying to manage these issues using Excel, spreadsheets, and personal experience, but the risk of omissions and repeated inquiries from employees are straining the resources of HR personnel.
Pre-introduction issues at Ururu Inc.
With the growth of the business, the number of employees exceeded 400, and the number of employees taking maternity leave and the length of leave were increasing.
- Limitations of Spreadsheet Management and Genralization
The schedule was managed using a spreadsheet, but there were no reminders, so there was a risk of missing tasks if the person in charge neglected to check the schedule. In addition, the operation relied on the experience of the person in charge, and there was concern that inexperienced staff would not be able to respond quickly enough. - Inquiries that do not decrease even though "I thought I gave you the information.
In the past, employees were given a summary of procedures and tasks both orally and in writing at the time of their pre-paternity leave interview. However, employees were not always able to remember all at once, and after taking leave, they were asked when to submit these documents, which required a response each time. - Information "blocking" and data transfer during the holidays
The only available terms and conditions and documents related to maternity leave were on the company's intranet, and those on leave without access could not review the information on their own. As a result, personnel had to individually download files and send them as email attachments, an inefficient process.
Solution and benefits of "workingU" implementation
The introduction of "workingU" has been confirmed to have the following effects, which go beyond mere improvement of administrative work efficiency to help alleviate employees' psychological anxiety and foster a culture that promotes maternity leave throughout the entire organization.
- Reduced routine business communication by "approximately 501 TP6T in experience
The automatic task notification function eliminated the need for HR to individually contact each employee and ask them to submit that document. This has dramatically improved the efficiency of both sides of the business, not only in terms of man-hours spent on communication on the HR side, but also in terms of the cost of the employee's "I checked" reply. - Elimination of uncertainty about "what to do and when" and autonomous action
Employees now have a sense of security that they will know when they see the workingU, and they voluntarily digest tasks as notified by the system. This has fundamentally eliminated the anxiety of not knowing who should do what and when. - No more individual documents to be sent. Smooth information sharing
The "Document Function" allows necessary regulations and documents to be viewed on the system while the employee is on leave. Personnel no longer have to send files as email attachments at all. - Fostering a "climate conducive to taking time off" by sending messages from management
The "Guidebook for Taking Maternity Leave" in the system includes "messages from management and the head of the Human Resources Department recommending that employees take maternity leave. In addition to the development of the system, the system provides psychological reassurance that "the company is supporting the leave" and encourages male employees to take childcare leave and other leave.
URURU Corporation Contact person's comment
Mr. Kento Isono, Manager, Labor Management Section, Human Resources Department, Ururu Inc.
The number of employees has increased dramatically due to the expansion of our organization in line with our business growth. In proportion to this, the number of employees taking maternity leave has increased rapidly, and we were reaching the limit of our human resource management with spreadsheets. In particular, sharing information with employees on leave and reminding them of increasingly complex procedures were becoming burdensome for both personnel and employees.
With the introduction of "workingU," routine business communication was reduced by approximately 501 TP6T in terms of experience, and we were able to standardize management and dramatically improve efficiency. In addition, the visualization of "what to do and when to do it" has created an environment in which employees can take maternity and paternity leave with more peace of mind, which is a great achievement.
In the future, we would like to use the time created by the reduction in administrative contact to engage in more positive communication with employees on maternity leave. In addition, by continuing to deliver the company's message of encouragement through the system, we would like to further accelerate the creation of an organization where everyone, regardless of gender, can take childcare leave as a matter of course and work vigorously while enjoying their life events. I look forward to continuing to proactively provide feedback from the workplace and to the further evolution of workingU."
▼ For a detailed interview article, please seethis way (direction close to the speaker or towards the speaker)You can view it from
Ururu Corporation(in Japanese history)https://www.uluru.biz/)
Established: August 31, 2001
Representative: Tomoya Hoshi
Listed market name: Growth Market
Number of employees: 423 (*)
Business Description:
Crowd Generated Service (SaaS) business
Crowdsourcing Business
BPO Business
*As of December 2025, group-wide, including full-time and part-time employees
Noriyuki Togashi, CEO of illumista K.K., comments
While maternity leave is an important period of time that supports employees' careers and life events, there are also concerns about the workload for HR personnel and their colleagues who have to stay close to the employee and deal with the situation.
We are very pleased that Ururu Inc., a growing company, has implemented workingU, which has helped to eliminate gerrymandering, improve operational efficiency, and alleviate employee concerns.
As the number of male employees taking maternity leave increases, we are convinced that "systemization" through technology will contribute to the penetration of maternity leave and, in turn, to the success of female employees and employee retention.
Illumista will continue to support Japanese companies in their efforts to promote the use of childcare leave and create a comfortable work environment through technology.
About "workingU," a childcare leave support system
WorkingU is a childcare leave DX platform that "mechanizes" the management of childcare leave, which varies from company to company, and simultaneously reduces human resource man-hours and encourages employees to take childcare leave. workingU also supports the revision of the Child Care and Family Care Leave Law to be enforced in October 2025, and complex task management associated with shorter and divided male childcare leave.
| Main Functions (partial) | feature |
| Management of maternity and paternity leave recipients | Manage all essential information in one place and automatically update birthdates/paternity leave periods, which are often subject to change |
| Automatic Task Management | Automatic notification/progress management of tasks for both personnel and acquirers to prevent omissions |
| AI Maternity Leave Simulation | AI simulates your maternity leave plan and the money you will receive with a simple input. |
| message function | Web-based communication via smartphone even after device return |
| dashboard | Automatic tabulation of maternity leave-related data to support reporting |
The "workingU" website, a childcare leave support system:https://working-u.jp/ (Application for downloading materials is available)
About Us
Company name】illumista Corporation
Location] 3F, Yanagikoji East Corner, 3-11-1 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Establishment] February 2024
Representative: Noriyuki Togashi, Representative Director and CEO
Business description: Development and provision of childcare leave support systems and consulting
[URLhttps://illumista.jp/
An HR tech startup that utilizes technology with the mission of "making 'work' shine together with life scenes".
Selected for the 19th term of ASAC, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's startup acceleration program, and received the AWS Award at DemoDay. Winner of the "BabyTech® Awards 2025-26" in the Social Impact category.
