Basic Approach

The working environment has changed greatly due to a shift in work values, an increase in dual-income households, and labor shortages caused by the declining birthrate and aging population. Against such a backdrop, we implement initiatives to improve employee motivation and realize diverse workstyles.

Work-Life Balance

In order to help employees achieve work-life balance, we have introduced the following systems and are operating them appropriately.

Promoting the Use of Childcare Leave by Men

In order to create an environment where men can take childcare leave without qualms, we have set up a consultation desk, and we also engage in other efforts such as distributing childcare support pamphlets. Furthermore, we encourage male employees to proactively take childcare leave by explaining the childcare leave system to eligible male employees. The rate of childcare leave taken by male employees in FY2022 was 55% (5 out of 9 eligible employees took leave).

Open plan office

In order to further transform workstyles and promote cross-departmental communication, we are converting the Head Office and branches to open plan offices. Starting with its introduction at the Fukuoka Sales Office (currently Fukuoka Branch) in April 2022, an open plan office layout was introduced at all departments of the Head Office and at the Tokyo Branch in March 2023.

Expansion of Work-from-Home System

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had already introduced a work-from-home system in April 2019. Subsequently, when the government requested companies to restrict the number of employees coming into the office due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we increased the provision of company-paid mobile phones and equipment for web conferencing, and enhanced our remote working systems through measures such as establishing a new work-from-home allowance. As a result, we created an environment where many employees can work from home while maintaining their productivity. Even after the Japanese government reclassified the infectious disease category of COVID-19 from Category 2 to Category 5 in May 2023, we have continued to operate a system that allows employees to work from home in accordance with the nature of their duties.

Promoting the Use of Paid Leave

We aim to have our employees use an average of ten days or more of paid leave. In order to encourage employees to take paid leave, we have established a system with planned leave twice a year based on a labor-management agreement. Moreover, we encourage employees to use the days in between holidays broken up by one or two workdays as days for paid leave, and/or to take paid leave in conjunction with summer and winter holidays. In FY2022 the average number of days of paid leave taken annually by all employees was 13.8.

Labor Relations

Nihon Nohyaku and the Nihon Nohyaku Labor Union have concluded a labor agreement, and discussions are held on equal footing at the labor-management council. We consider labor unions to be one of our important stakeholders, and we have built good labor relations with a foundation of mutual understanding and trust, based on a shared understanding of “improving the company and improving the lives of employees.” Moreover, discussions and recreational activities jointly organized by labor and management are held at each office to deepen communication among employees and to promote equal relationships.

In FY2022, Nihon Nohyaku and the Labor Union held the following discussions.

Number of meetings of the labor-management council held: 14 (including one meeting with top management)
Policy explanation meeting by division: Policy briefing and exchange of opinions with the Domestic Sales Division, Overseas Division, and Industrial & Pharmaceuticals Sales Division
Number of labor-management study sessions held: 9
The labor-management council met 15 times.