ABSTRACT
The Japanese Government initially refrained from implementing measures to encourage mental health, but it has enacted various policies from various perspectives, from suicide prevention to active efforts to promote employee health and efforts to create comfortable working conditions. Too numerous to list, these policies include local suicide prevention measures, measures to prevent long working hours, recognition of a workers’ compensation claim for a work-related mental disorder, support so that individuals who have taken a leave of absence due to a mental health issue can return to work, and creation of a system of “stress checks.” From the perspective of Health and Productivity Management, those policies were intended to intervene in corporate management. Recently, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry has promoted Health and Productivity Management. In fact, some studies have indicated that improved working conditions (e.g. better scheduling of working hours and days off, improved work processes, improved communication between a superior and his or her subordinates) help to alleviate employee stress and improve labor productivity. Other studies, though, have indicated that psychotherapy interventions for individual employees can result in fewer days off.
Cases such as the Dentsu case have found employers civilly liable for health problems due to excessive work-related fatigue or stress. These cases have spurred policy developments and voluntary efforts by employers. Employers are currently engaged in efforts to encourage mental health for various reasons, such as avoiding the risk of a lawsuit, limiting turnover, maintaining the company’s corporate image, and improving labor productivity. However, many of the measures implemented are counseling for employees and training for managers. Even companies implementing measures to encourage mental health tend to leave those efforts up to EAPs. Few managers have sought to actually change corporate management. Even though “stress checks” are enshrined in law, few managers are seeking to analyze the results of those checks in order to make organizational or job improvements.
