[Japan] Firms offer ‘hay fever allowance’ to improve employee productivity

In Japan, cedar pollen levels are soon expected to reach their highest in 10 years. To help ease workers' hay fever symptoms, some companies are providing employees with a “hay fever allowance,” while others are offering free medication, The Japan Times reports.

Tokyo-based healthcare data tech company Lafool covers the full cost of medical treatments and prescriptions for staff experiencing hay fever symptoms. A standard visit to a hospital or clinic for such cases costs about ¥5,000.

“I’ve always suffered from hay fever, so in the past I thought it was fine to just be patient and tolerate it with over-the-counter medication, but this system has made it easier to get professional help at hospitals,” Naoto Osawa - director of public relations at Lafool - said. “I think it’s helped a lot with motivation and productivity.”

Lafool reportedly began the programme five years ago to prevent employees from neglecting their symptoms and help improve work efficiency. Masks, eye drops and tissues are also distributed at the company.

Of Lafool’s 80 employees, around half receive the annual allowance which totals about ¥250,000 per year for the company.

System developer Japan Knowledge Space also reportedly subsidises medical costs for treatment and medication for up to ¥5,000 a year to help alleviate hay fever symptoms. Employees may also receive up to ¥5,000 each year for eye drops and other hay fever products.

Tatsukuni Matsuoka - Japan Knowledge Space's CEO - said, “We began implementing the hay fever program in 2019 because people on our staff had experienced severe symptoms that could only be treated with the right prescriptions. … I believe it’s helped us be more efficient since we don’t have to dwell too much on it.”

Food distribution and logistics company Hokuo Ryutsu provides drivers with nasal drops and other over-the-counter medications to prevent serious accidents that could result from untreated hay fever symptoms.

According to Japan’s Environment Ministry, long hours of sunshine and high temperatures in the summer of 2022 have caused cedar pollen levels to jump this year.

According to an estimate by Sankei Nishima - adviser to the Japanese Society of Allergology and director emeritus at Fukuoka National Hospital - hay fever and nasal allergies led to an annual economic loss of approximately ¥5 trillion caused by a decline in labour productivity.

"Labor productivity is calculated, for example, based on if a person works but then takes time off due to allergic rhinitis or conjunctivitis, meaning that the person was not productive or that the symptoms were so strong at the time that the person lost the ability to concentrate, thereby decreasing overall efficiency," Nishima said.

He reportedly added that this estimate for economic loss will need to be kept up to date with the latest information on demographics and the prevalence of hay fever. In addition to taking into account the development of effective new treatments like sublingual immunotherapy, in which a person takes small doses of the allergen under the tongue.

Source: The Japan Times

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

In Japan, cedar pollen levels are soon expected to reach their highest in 10 years. To help ease workers' hay fever symptoms, some companies are providing employees with a “hay fever allowance,” while others are offering free medication, The Japan Times reports.

Tokyo-based healthcare data tech company Lafool covers the full cost of medical treatments and prescriptions for staff experiencing hay fever symptoms. A standard visit to a hospital or clinic for such cases costs about ¥5,000.

“I’ve always suffered from hay fever, so in the past I thought it was fine to just be patient and tolerate it with over-the-counter medication, but this system has made it easier to get professional help at hospitals,” Naoto Osawa - director of public relations at Lafool - said. “I think it’s helped a lot with motivation and productivity.”

Lafool reportedly began the programme five years ago to prevent employees from neglecting their symptoms and help improve work efficiency. Masks, eye drops and tissues are also distributed at the company.

Of Lafool’s 80 employees, around half receive the annual allowance which totals about ¥250,000 per year for the company.

System developer Japan Knowledge Space also reportedly subsidises medical costs for treatment and medication for up to ¥5,000 a year to help alleviate hay fever symptoms. Employees may also receive up to ¥5,000 each year for eye drops and other hay fever products.

Tatsukuni Matsuoka - Japan Knowledge Space's CEO - said, “We began implementing the hay fever program in 2019 because people on our staff had experienced severe symptoms that could only be treated with the right prescriptions. … I believe it’s helped us be more efficient since we don’t have to dwell too much on it.”

Food distribution and logistics company Hokuo Ryutsu provides drivers with nasal drops and other over-the-counter medications to prevent serious accidents that could result from untreated hay fever symptoms.

According to Japan’s Environment Ministry, long hours of sunshine and high temperatures in the summer of 2022 have caused cedar pollen levels to jump this year.

According to an estimate by Sankei Nishima - adviser to the Japanese Society of Allergology and director emeritus at Fukuoka National Hospital - hay fever and nasal allergies led to an annual economic loss of approximately ¥5 trillion caused by a decline in labour productivity.

"Labor productivity is calculated, for example, based on if a person works but then takes time off due to allergic rhinitis or conjunctivitis, meaning that the person was not productive or that the symptoms were so strong at the time that the person lost the ability to concentrate, thereby decreasing overall efficiency," Nishima said.

He reportedly added that this estimate for economic loss will need to be kept up to date with the latest information on demographics and the prevalence of hay fever. In addition to taking into account the development of effective new treatments like sublingual immunotherapy, in which a person takes small doses of the allergen under the tongue.

Source: The Japan Times

(Link and quotes via original reporting)