Small and Medium Enterprise Retirement Allowance Mutual Aid System

Japanese: 中小企業退職金共済制度

The Small and Medium Enterprise Pension Mutual Aid System (abbreviated as "Chutaikyo System") is a system based on the Small and Medium Enterprise Pension Mutual Aid Act enacted in 1959, and refers to an external savings-type retirement pension system that small and medium enterprises can join.
- The purpose of this scheme is to contribute to improving the welfare of employees of small and medium-sized enterprises, stabilizing employment, and promoting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises by establishing a retirement pension system with assistance from employers' mutual aid and the government for small and medium-sized enterprises that find it difficult to establish their own retirement pension systems.
- It is operated by the Small and Medium Enterprise Pension Mutual Aid Headquarters of the Employees' Pension Fund Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Pension Fund Headquarters").
・Employers enter into a retirement allowance mutual aid contract with Chutaikyo Headquarters and pay monthly premiums to a financial institution. Employees cannot be required to contribute part of the premiums, and when an employee retires, the retirement allowance is paid directly to that employee by Chutaikyo Headquarters.
・Only companies with 300 or fewer regular employees (100 in wholesale and service industries, and 50 in retail) or capital or investment of 300 million yen or less (100 million yen in wholesale industries, and 50 million yen in service and retail industries) can join. (The same as the definition of "small and medium-sized enterprises" in Article 2 of the Small and Medium Enterprise Basic Law.)
・Employees can choose from 16 different monthly contribution amounts. In addition, "increases" are possible at any time after joining, and "reductions" are possible only with the employee's consent or when the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare recognizes that it is difficult to continue the current monthly contribution amount.
・The benefits for companies include the fact that the premiums are fully tax-exempt as a loss for corporations and a necessary expense for individual companies. In addition, there is a subsidy system in place where the government will subsidize half of the premiums (up to a maximum of 5,000 yen) for new business owners from the fourth month after joining for one year. By taking advantage of this system, it is expected that the effects will include increasing the motivation of employees working for small and medium-sized enterprises and ensuring stability in their work.
- As a benefit for employees, when changing jobs, if the new employer also uses the Chutaikyo system, the accumulation system allows the contributions paid to be accumulated at the new employer, and employees can receive their retirement benefits in a lump sum.
- Retirement benefits are calculated based on the monthly contribution and the number of months for which contributions have been paid, but if the number of months for which contributions have been paid is 11 months or less, no retirement benefits will be paid.
- For small businesses (those with 20 or fewer regular employees (5 or fewer for wholesale, retail and service industries)), there is the Small Business Mutual Aid Scheme run by the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation.

Source: Active & Company, Inc. Human Resource Management Glossary Information

Japanese:

・中小企業退職金共済制度(略して「中退共制度」という。)は、昭和34年に制定された中小企業退職金共済法に基づく制度で、中小企業が加入することのできる社外積立型の退職金制度のことを指す。
・自社では、退職金制度を設けることが困難な中小企業について、事業主の相互共済と国の援助で退職金制度を設けることで、中小企業の従業員の福祉の増進と雇用の安定、中小企業の振興に寄与することが目的である。
・独立行政法人勤労者退職金共済機構の中小企業退職金共済事業本部(以下:中退共本部という)が運営している。
・事業主が中退共本部と退職金共済契約を結び、毎月の掛金を金融機関に納付する。掛金の一部を従業員に負担させることはできず、従業員が退職したときは、その従業員に中退共本部から退職金が直接支払われる。
・加入できるのは常用従業員数300名(ただし卸売業・サービス業100名、小売業50名)以下、または資本金・出資金3億円(ただし卸売業1億円、サービス業・小売業5千万円)以下の企業である。(中小企業基本法第2条の「中小企業」の定義に同じ)
・掛金月額は、従業員ごとに16種類の中から任意に選択ができる。また、「増額」は加入後いつでも可能、「減額」は従業員の同意があった時、または現在の掛金月額を継続することが困難であると厚生労働大臣が認めたときに限り可能である。
・企業側のメリットとして、掛金が、法人企業の場合は損金、個人企業の場合は必要経費として全額非課税となることが挙げられる。また、新規に加入する事業主には、掛金の2分の1(上限5,000円)を加入後4か月目から1年間、国が助成するなどの助成制度がある。この制度を活用することで、中小企業で働く人材の働く意欲の向上、安定確保などが効果として見込まれる。
・従業員側のメリットとして、転職の際、転職先も中退共制度を利用している場合、通算制度により、掛金納付実績を新しい企業へ通算でき、退職金をまとめて受け取ることができる。
・退職金は、掛金月額と掛金納付月数に応じて計算されるが、掛金納付月数が11か月以下の場合には、退職金は支給されないことになっている。
・小規模企業(常用従業員数20名(ただし卸売業・小売業・サ-ビス業は5名)以下)向けの制度には独立行政法人中小企業基盤整備機構の小規模企業共済制度がある。

出典　(株)アクティブアンドカンパニー人材マネジメント用語集について　情報

<<: Small and medium-sized enterprise investment and development company

>>: Small and medium-sized enterprise credit insurance