SUBARU considers health promotion activities to be a management issue, and as of FYE March 2021, we have been reporting on health management issues and measures at the Executive Meeting, Executive Management Board Meeting, and at the Board of Directors, discussing these and operating a PDCA cycle. SUBARU is also advancing collaborative health in partnership with its labor union and its health insurance association. The Employee Health Promotion Section has served as a core driver of our unified SUBARU health promotion measures since FYE March 2022. This dedicated organization within the Human Resources Department coordinates weekly regular meetings with stakeholders such as the health insurance association, health promotion managers at our sites, industrial physicians, and other staff in charge of industrial health.

Health Promotion Framework Diagram

Targets and Metrics

SUBARU has set three indicators for health management as part of its efforts to contribute to management issues: reducing presenteeism, reducing absenteeism, and increasing work engagement. Health activities and company-led initiatives are classified into physical health, mental health, and organizational health. We support employee-led health initiatives and systematically implement company-led initiatives, utilizing the PDCA cycle.

Health Management Strategy Map

Final Health Management Targets and Metrics (SUBARU)

(FYE March)

Absenteeism:

A state in which work becomes difficult due to tardiness, early departure, or absence from work due to physical or mental illness.
Percentage of days of absence due to mental illness as a share of the number of scheduled working days.

Presenteeism:

A state in which a person is working while suffering from some kind of illness or symptom, and their ability to perform their work or their productivity is reduced.
Measured using the 80-item version of the new occupational stress check (The University of Tokyo, Single-Item Presenteeism Question).

Work engagement:

Measured using the 80-item version of the new occupational stress check.

Target Values and Results for Major Measures (SUBARU)

(FYE March)

Mental Health (Prevention of Mental Disorders)

For the prevention and early detection of mental illness among employees, we regularly implement stress checks and other measures that promote both “self-care” and “line care.” We have also set up a consultation service so that employees can receive follow-ups from industrial health staff, and for employees who took leave due to mental illness, we proactively support them when they return to their workplaces.

Stress Checks

SUBARU not only conducts surveys (stress checks) required by law, but also uses the results to improve the workplace. Stress check results are used to first provide feedback to each workplace, capturing an opportunity for managers to understand and improve the workplace environment. Furthermore, based on the risks calculated from the survey results for each workplace, industrial health staff and others intervene to improve workplaces identified as high risk. In FYE March 2025, we held seminars on workplace improvement, targeting departments with significant issues, and created action plans for departments deemed to be particularly high risk.

Self-care

We utilize self-care training and stress checks so that participants can learn how to self-manage their mental health, provide new employees with training, and provide young employees with education using internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT).

Line Care

We have formulated the Line Care Guidelines and include line care training in the twice-annual collective training for managers.
In order to further reduce absences and leave due to mental illness, starting in FYE March 2026, we will expand the scope of this training to include associate managers and other responsible positions, and will disseminate information on communication methods and ways to collaborate with industrial health staff to a wider range of employees.

Return to Work Program (for Return to Work on a Trial Basis and Gradual Return to Full-time Work), Recommending Mental Support Programs for Returning to Work

We have implemented a program to support the smooth return to the workplace for employees who have taken leave due to mental health issues. In this program, employees can return to work on a trial basis and gradually step up their hours as they return to full-time work. We also proactively encourage employees to participate in mental support programs for returning to work and strive to prevent the need to take mental leave again.

Physical Health

By encouraging employees to undergo regular health checkups, and by determining the rate of employees with checkup findings and supporting them in better dietary and exercise habits, we are striving to promote better habits and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases among employees.

Initiatives for Regular Health Checkups and Reexaminations

In addition to regular health checkups, we recommend 100% of employees who are subject to reexamination or require detailed examination to undergo medical checkups, supporting our employees in receiving appropriate medical treatment. We use the high-risk approach to provide those determined to be at high health risk with advice from public health nurses and provide guidance to raise their health awareness.

Activities for Better Physical Fitness and Dietary Habits

We use the population approach^* in our preventive activities, mainly for lifestyle diseases, and have introduced body composition analyzers at all sites to visualize not only BMI but also muscle mass and fat mass. We are also expanding activities throughout SUBARU to make people aware of the importance of balanced physical fitness. In addition, we have implemented a total health promotion plan (THP), visualizing physical fitness and proposing a variety of physical exercise programs for employees derived from this information, while also holding seminars to help them improve their dietary habits.

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The act of working to promote health and prevent disease to reduce the health risks to the population as a whole.

Increasing Employees’ Health Awareness at the Canteens

At all our canteens, we provide healthy dishes prepared under the supervision of registered dietitians so that employees can enjoy meals with a strong nutritional balance. We also provide low-salt, low-fat, high-protein, and low-sugar dishes alternatively from day to day, with a view to helping employees raise their health awareness by eating at the canteens.

Measures Against Smoking

As of FYE March 2022, we have launched a series of measures against smoking at SUBARU. Through FYE March 2025, we completely separated smoking areas from non-smoking areas at our sites, set a target ratio of smokers to below 25%, and have been systematically reducing the smoking rate.
Since April 2025, smoking has been prohibited on the premises of all our sites. We have closed smoking areas in all workplaces and will further promote measures to prevent secondhand smoke inhalation and improve the health of smokers.

Measuring Physical Fitness

Physical fitness testing is conducted at each business site to maintain and improve physical fitness so that employees can work vigorously for many years to come. Approximately 1,164 employees took part in testing in FYE March 2025. By starting with new, young employees, we are working to prevent industrial accidents and to maintain and improve future productivity by quickly identifying physical fitness issues and promoting the maintenance of physical fitness.

Organizational Health (Improving Psychological Safety)

We are carrying out praise, acknowledgment, and appreciation activities to improve employees’ intrinsic motivation and psychological safety. Using IT tools, we are working to create workplaces where employees can work with greater peace of mind and where they can take on challenges in their own unique way by strengthening peer bonds between employees and visualizing the exchange of appreciation in the workplace.

Improving Employee Health Literacy

SUBARU is also working to improve the health literacy of each and every employee. We have introduced an app that allows employees to view past health checkup results and watch free seminars, as well as an app for recording health behavior, and are actively encouraging employees to use these.
In addition, particularly for items with a deep connection to individual employees’ performance, it is important not only for the company to support its employees, but also for employees to autonomously think about and act regarding their own health. In order to promote the health of both employees and the organization, we have created SUBARU Health Six Stars and have been informing employees of this program since FYE March 2025. In FYE March 2026, we designated a Health Improvement Month with the aim of raising awareness among more employees and promoting independent health-conscious behavior.

SUBARU Health Six Stars

External Assessments

For the fifth consecutive year, SUBARU has been recognized as a Certified Outstanding Organization of KENKO Investment for Health Program in the large enterprise category for 2025 by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Nippon Kenko Kaigi (Japan Health Council). In addition, SUBARU was recognized for its support and promotion of sports activities for health promotion, and was certified as a Sports Yell Company for the first time in FYE March 2025.
Going forward, we will continue to accelerate a variety of health promotion activities with the purpose of improving the health of our employees—the people who bring happiness to our customers—and their families.