Pursuit of employee well-being

Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.

Further information
Human Capital Report

Creating environments enabling employees to work healthy and safely

Physical and mental health: Promoting measures to achieve health management in Japan

Financial health: Supporting employees in building assets independently

Work styles: Creating flexible work environments to address employees' diverse needs

Maintaining and improving the physical and mental health of every employee is directly linked to improved employee productivity and engagement and is essential to encourage our employees to take on ambitious challenges. To this end, Mizuho promotes well-being from two sides — physical and mental health and financial wellness — as a means of creating organizations in which our employees can work with enthusiasm at all times. We measure the effectiveness of various well-being promotion measures with a health and productivity management strategy map and take additional steps as necessary.

Creating environments enabling employees to work healthy and safely

The goal of the CANADE HR framework is workplaces where our employees can work comfortably and being themselves. To achieve this goal, it is important that our employees are physically and mentally healthy and can work safely and securely. Through health promotion and occupational safety initiatives, we aim to make our workplace environments comfortable places for all employees to work.

Organizational structure for promotion

The Group CHRO is designated as the person responsible for health management, and the company's HR department and health insurance association work together to establish a health management promotion system. Additionally, various committees have been formed to address critical issues, ensuring consistent execution of processes from the discussion of measures to impact evaluation. 

Ensuring employee safety in emergencies

Mizuho undertakes initiatives to be prepared for emergencies and ensure employee safety as a top priority. In particular, we have developed manuals that outline actions to ensure employee safety. These actions include risk-avoidance behavior, rescue operations, and evacuation procedures, taking into account emergencies such as large-scale natural disasters, conflicts or terrorism both inside and outside Japan, as well as the spread of infectious diseases. We also raise employee awareness of initial responses to emergencies through regular emergency drills and constant reminders of the state of affairs both inside and outside Japan, and by evaluating the effectiveness of the manuals. In addition, we have contracted a safety check service to establish a system to immediately check on the safety of our employees and their families in the case of emergencies.

Physical and mental health: Promoting measures to achieve health management in Japan

As part of realizing our vision with health management, we promote health management measures while determining their results and status with the use of a health and productivity management strategy map that visualizes the links between our targets and measures. We have introduced new tools and systems for mental health, which has been a particular focus in recent years, for the early detection of mental health issues and to enhance support for our employees in their return to work. Absenteeism¹ stands at 1.5% and has remained unchanged since FY2022. Consequently, we recognize the need to continue addressing mental health issues while monitoring the effects of the new initiatives over the medium to long term.

1. The percentage of employees who have been on sick leave for 30 calendar days or more, excluding paid leave, after the start of sick leave. While striving to improve absenteeism, we recognize that employees should take time off when necessary. At the present time, we have not set a target for the level of absenteeism and will continue to monitor and analyze the factors contributing to absenteeism.

 

 

Health and productivity management strategy map

Financial health: Supporting employees in building assets independently

In addition to physical and mental health and wellness, Mizuho focuses on financial wellness, to eliminate our employees' future financial concerns so they can work with peace of mind. In FY2023, we concentrated on creating motivation for independent asset building through awareness-raising campaigns. In FY2024, we engaged with employees with significant interest in and understanding of building assets, with active encouragement from their departments and support tailored to their individual circumstances. We held talk events at branches and offices upon request and presented information based on the needs of motivated employees. We have confirmed that these initiatives have led to employees taking actual steps toward self-directed asset formation. We will continue to measure the effectiveness of these efforts while pursuing greater financial wellness for our employees.

Financial wellness initiatives

 

Work styles: Creating flexible work environments to address employees' diverse needs

We have established systems and advanced initiatives to reduce working hours so that every employee can thrive while being themselves and feeling at ease at work.

Initiatives for improving productivity

We work to thoroughly eliminate excess work, in compliance with labor laws and regulations, to arrange environments in which our employees can work in good health for many years. We also promote initiatives to raise company-wide operational efficiencies so that we can cut working hours while boosting productivity. One particular focus has been maximizing the use of tablet devices in many work situations, such as promoting paperless documentation, joining online meetings from remote locations using IT tools, and preparing presentation materials for customers both in person and remotely. Measures like these are driving more efficient business operations.
We have implemented a number of initiatives to promote varied work operations and reduce working hours. These include setting designated company-wide days for leaving work on time (summer refresh day, winter refresh day, family day), setting periods for promoting work style reforms, turning off all lights at the end of the workday in head office buildings, and introducing a work-interval system designed to ensure at least 10 hours of rest between the end of one workday and the start of the next workday.

Promoting flexible and diverse work styles

Mizuho aims to enhance the productivity of organizations and individuals through flexible work styles that are not constrained by specific hours or locations, which contributes to the sustainable growth of the company.

Introduction of flexible work hours

We have introduced flexible work hour programs, such as flex time with or without core hours and staggered hours, that our employees use according to the specific work circumstances at their respective department, in order to implement efficient and productive work styles. We have implemented a shortened work hours system that reduces regular working hours by moving back start times or moving up end times, and a shortened workday system that allows our employees to set two days off per week. All employees, in general, are eligible for both systems.
We also have established many work-life balance support systems that exceed legal requirements for employees that have time constraints due to childcare or caregiving responsibilities. In particular, we have enhanced our childcare support system for employees raising children younger than middle school age, providing multilayered assistance through shorter work hours, staggered work hours, and exemption from overtime work, as well as the provision of nursing care leave days beyond those legally required.

Introduction of flexible work locations　- Utilizing remote work -

We have introduced work from home system for all employees as well as satellite offices encouraging flexible work styles that are not restricted by "location". We have organized systems that allow our employees to work without coming to the office based on their business characteristics, and established environments that enable time-constrained employees, such as those balancing work and child/family care, to perform to their fullest potential. 

Initiatives to promote taking leave

Mizuho has set a KPI target of "80% of paid annual leave taken" as a level to be maintained on an ongoing basis. For employees balancing work and child/family care, we offer a variety of flexible leave options, such as paid half-days off, which can be taken up to 32 times, paternity leave, refreshment leave, self-enlightenment leave, and volunteer leave, encouraging them to flexibly take leave according to their own circumstances.

Complying with laws/regulations and building work environments

Mizuho has been undertaking establishment of supportive and safe work environments where all employees' human rights and the minimum standard of healthy and cultured living are respected.

Ensuring minimum wage

Mizuho ensures that all employees receive salaries exceeding local minimum wages. We monitor annual trends in minimum wage increases and revise wages as necessary based on these trends. For FY2023, we confirmed that our salary standards exceed local minimum wages. Additionally, based on the concept of equal pay for equal work, we have established fair labor standards regardless of the type of employment.  
In offices and branches outside Japan, Mizuho ensures that employees' wages meet or exceed the minimum wage as defined by applicable law and is committed to the principle of equal pay for equal work, thereby treating all employees appropriately.

Guaranteed living wages

At Mizuho, in addition to guaranteeing the minimum wage, we strive to provide industry competitive wages that enable our employees to maintain an adequate standard of living.¹
Typical initiatives to provide necessary welfare benefits and expense subsidies include dormitories for single employees and housing subsidies to support the livelihoods of early-career employees, childcare subsidies to encourage early return to work and early resumption of normal duties by employees coming back from childcare leave, and enrollment in insurance to support balancing work with treatments for employees who suffer from one of the three major diseases. For international assignees, we set salary levels in consideration of local exchange rates and living costs and arrange mechanisms to cover expenses related to housing, medical care, and children's education.

1. The starting salary for new graduates in FY2024 was approximately 165% of the national weighted average of regional minimum wages (approximately 150% of the minimum wage in Tokyo).

 

Building work environments

We believe it is important to improve working environments so that our employees can carry on working at Mizuho with reassurance. To this end, we monitor, regularly and on an ad hoc basis, compliance with minimum wages and the 36-hour workweek agreement, the status of overtime work and leave usage, and the incidence of workplace accidents. Moreover, company management and employee union representatives discuss working conditions and other work-related issues.
At Mizuho, we have set standard working hours per day or week, and for any work exceeding these hours, we have mechanisms to monitor daily working conditions from the perspectives of legal compliance and employee health. Specifically, we promptly confirm working hours based on employees' computer login and logoff times and we conduct thorough post-hoc monitoring by cross-referencing various data such as other system logs and building entry / exit data with recorded working hours. To prevent excessive overtime and overwork, we issue alerts regarding long work hours through the attendance management system, conduct medical consultations by occupational health physicians with employees working long hours, and provide individual follow-ups by HR departments. We provide appropriate compensation for overtime work and annual leave in accordance with labor laws.

Further information

Human Capital Report List of data (Employee well-being) (PDF/6,886KB)