No Smoking, Even While WFH, This Company Tells Its Staff

The company will close all smoking rooms that are managed by the Nomura Group by the end of December.

Nomura Holdings Inc. told its staff in Japan not to smoke during working hours -- even if they're working from home. The country's biggest brokerage sent a memo to employees outlining the new policy that will come into effect in October, spokesman Yoshitaka Otsu said by phone. The company will close all smoking rooms that are managed by the Nomura Group by the end of December. The rules will be based on mutual trust and don't include a punitive clause, Otsu said. The company doesn't plan to monitor whether employees working remotely are following the guidelines. Nomura is introducing the measures to create a favorable working environment, prevent secondhand smoking and promote employee health, it said in a separate statement on Wednesday. "There needs to be an environment in which everyone is healthy and can live lively in order for employees to fully demonstrate their ability, characters," it said.