Reforming Working Styles

Nihon Kohden has been implementing Working Style Reforms to enable greater flexibility in work styles, improve the work-life balance of employees, and maximize results without relying on long working hours. In FY2022, the annual paid leave usage rate was 49.6%. In addition to legally mandated paid leave, Nihon Kohden offers its unique paid leave program such as Accumulated Paid Leave Program and Special Paid Leave Program. In FY2022, the number of non-mandated paid leave days taken per employee was 2.8 days.
The Good Job Award, which gathers examples of initiatives that lead to improved productivity and work-life balance in each department, has been held annually since FY2019, and we have continuously improved productivity throughout the Company. There were many applications in FY2022 as well, and the efforts to revitalize the organization and improve operational efficiency by using the groupware were highly evaluated. As a new initiative to enhance employee engagement, we also collected episodes of satisfaction and pride in contributing to healthcare and shared them with all employees as an opportunity to reaffirm the significance of working for Nihon Kohden. Many episodes were received, including episodes in which an employee reaffirmed the significance of working for the Company when they encountered our products in use at a medical institution where the employee or their family were receiving treatment.

In FY2022, with a view to new ways of working in the post-COVID-19 world, we expanded various systems such as the Flextime System and Teleworking System to promote flexible work styles. We have also introduced a system where the Company subsidizes a part of an employee’s wages for the first month of childcare leave. We focus on promoting the use of childcare leave by employees, including male employees. We are also reviewing various allowances in accordance with the introduction of the new personnel system.

A system where employees can take leave until the child of an employee reaches the age of two.

A system where employees who have members in need of nursing care can take leave of up to two years.

A system where employees can reduce their daily working hours by up to a maximum of two hours (starting in FY2021; previously, the maximum was one hour). From FY2021, employees also can take advantage of the Flextime System at the same time. The program is available for employees who meet certain criteria such as having a child in the sixth grade ofelementary school or younger.

A system where employees can shift their working hours by up to one hour without changing the daily working hours. This system is available when certain conditions are met while the child of an employee is an elementary school student or younger.

A system where employees can work at home or a place similar to home regardless of the reason. This system is available for all employees. The previous Work at Home System, which was applicable only for specific reasons, was abolished.

A system where employees can take leave of up to five days per year (ten days when there are two or more children), when a child up to the sixth grade of elementary school requires nursing care.

A system where employees can manage their own daily working hours. Employees can be exempted from working core hours depending on business necessity.

A system where employees can have side jobs outside of working hours. This system is available when certain criteria are met.

Annual paid leave that has expired due to prescription can be accumulated separately. In addition to the injury or illness of the employee or his/her family, employees are able to take leave when they need to care for a child during temporary closure of the child’s school or suspension of classes at the school. This system is available when certain criteria are met.

The program aims to encourage employees to make effective use of the time before and after work for personal relaxation, by setting aside days with shorter working hours.

The previous Casual Days (Wednesdays and Fridays) were abolished to allow employees to work in workplace appropriate attire regardless of the day of the week.

A system where the Company subsidizes a part of an employee’s wages for the first month of childcare leave, in addition to the childcare leave benefits from unemployment insurance.

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