Female Employee Counseling Office

Mazda Motor Corporation announced that they will establish a "Female Employee Counseling Office" on May 1, 1998. This effort is intended to advance human rights initiatives as well as to enhance the Company's work environment.

A professionally trained female employee of Mazda will serve a counselor at the Employee Counseling Office formed within the Equality Promotion Group of the Human Resources Development Department. In addition, internal and external phone "Counseling Hotlines" and an e-mail address will be available. All matters will be handled in the strictest of confidence, considering the privacy and dignity of every female employee.

President Miller of Mazda explained, "Sexual harassment in the workplace unjustly injures the dignity of female employees, degrades their work environment, and discourages them from demonstrating capabilities to the fullest degree. Such conduct undermines the dedication of the entire organization to its work, as well as subverts the ability of employees to work together in concerted effort. Sexual harassment, in any form, will absolutely not be tolerated." Therefore, The Female Employee Counseling Office is created to prevent sexual harassment and to address any other worries or concerns expressed by female employees.

"People are a company's most valuable asset. I firmly believe that mutual trust and respect among our employees will contribute greatly to the future development of Mazda," added president Miller.

Since 1980, Mazda has been taking positive steps to provide greater awareness of human rights matters to their employees. To address the issue of sexual harassment as one infringement of human rights, programs were instituted in 1990 to better educate management personnel.

Find more news and information at www.mazda.com