The Nomura Securities logo at the company's Otemachi headquarters in Tokyo.Toru Hanai / Reuters
Nomura Holdings Inc. will ban its staff in Japan during business hours starting in October, even if they work from home. The largest broker in the Asian country will close all the smoking rooms it manages at the end of December. The company does not plan to monitor whether employees working remotely are following the guidelines, so the rules will be based on mutual trust and will not include a punitive clause. Nomura is introducing measures to create a favorable work environment, prevent passive smoking and promote employee health, explained in a statement: “There needs to be an environment in which everyone is healthy and can live animated so that employees employees fully demonstrate their ability ”.
Despite the absence of a sanctioning mechanism, some employees have described the measure as “intrusive”.
Others have told the
Financial Times
that they take the ban as an attempt to eliminate a work culture where short smoking breaks are allowed.
Currently, around 50% of Nomura's staff in Japan work from home.
Smoking at home
More information
Covid and tobacco: from the drop in its consumption to a higher incidence among smokers
What can and cannot be done while telecommuting
Nomura is the latest Japanese firm to take action against smoking, as the health risks associated with cigarettes increasingly attract the attention of companies. About two in 10 smokers said their cigarette use has increased due to teleworking and confinement during the pandemic, according to a March survey by Japan's National Cancer Center. That's partly because there are no restrictions on smoking at home. The company seeks to reduce the smoking rate among its employees in Japan to 12% by 2025, compared to 20% in March 2020, according to its website. The
broker
has been providing financial assistance to help workers quit since 2017, and its latest policy also strongly recommends that people stay away from their offices for 45 minutes after smoking at lunchtime or on breaks, according to the Yoshitaka Otsu company spokesperson by phone.
Meanwhile, snack maker Calbee Inc. in 2018 banned smoking during working hours, claiming that the health of its employees and their families was "essential" for the growth of a business, according to spokeswoman Marina Fukaya. Food producer Ajinomoto Co. instituted a similar policy in 2019, which also applies to staff working remotely, a spokesperson said. Still, he acknowledged that the company does not have the ability to monitor or control employees who work at home. Telecommunications unit SoftBank Group Corp. introduced a similar rule in April last year to ensure employee health and protect customers from passive smoking, according to spokeswoman Rika Takahashi.
