Human capital
Since we are a knowledge-intensive and development-oriented company and human capital is the source of our corporate value growth, we believe it is necessary to implement initiatives to increase employee engagement and provide a foundation for leveraging our human capital, such as employee health and safety and diversity.
The development of "active autonomous human resources"※1 that we desire and the exercise of their abilities in a direction consistent with the company's management strategy will stimulate business activities, including product development and sales activities, and provide an opportunity for our business to grow. On the other hand, if this is undermined, it is a risk of losing growth opportunities.
In addition, promoting a healthy and safe work environment where employees feel safe and secure is the foundation for increasing employee engagement, and promoting this is an opportunity for our business to grow. Failure to do so, on the other hand, risks losing growth opportunities.
Therefore, "promotion of human capital management" is essential to realize our medium- to long-term vision based on our corporate philosophy.
To achieve this promotion of human capital management,
(1) Fostering an organizational culture that shares the corporate philosophy and proactively participates in realizing the vision
- We will measure the current score during the period of this Annual Projections (FY2024) and set a target score for the next Annual Projections (FY2025-FY2027, FY2028-FY2030), and continue to implement measures to improve employee engagement (reviewing various systems, expanding work style options, expanding opportunities for 1-on-1 dialogue, etc.). We will continue to implement measures to improve employee engagement (review of various systems, expansion of work style options, enhancement of opportunities for dialogue such as 1-on-1, etc.).
(2) Recruitment and development of active and autonomous human resources
- Forecast to develop educational opportunities and curriculum necessary for "active and autonomous human resources" and have all employees take the courses.
(3) Creating an easy-to-work-in and rewarding work environment
- Forecast is underway to conduct an engagement survey to measure the percentage of employees who are satisfied with the company's culture and systems at a certain level (majority) or above, using the "Employee Engagement Score (under consideration)," "Childcare Leave Utilization Rate," and "Ratio of Female Managers" as indicators. Details of the survey items, including the level of satisfaction, will be formulated during FY 2024.
- Currently, all employees who wish to take childcare leave have taken it. We will continue to promote awareness and further penetration of the childcare leave system at opportunities such as explanations of our company's benefit programs.
- In addition to the continuation of the engagement improvement measures mentioned above, for female managers, we will consider and implement support through career support programs in conjunction with career recruitment.
We have formulated our human capital policy in line with the theme of "human capital management. With this policy, we aim to foster a corporate culture in which all employees proactively participate in management and realize human capital management.
Human Capital Policy
Occupational health and safety policy (internal environmental improvement policy)
- Labor Practices
We will adhere to the following guidelines to implement our policy in labor practices.
We respect the dignity of our employees* and various international norms, including their human rights.
* Employees: In addition to regular employees, contract employees, temporary employees, part-timers, part-timers, contract workers, and all others who work on the premises, regardless of whether they are directly employed or not.
(1) Employment Voluntariness
All work shall be voluntary and no employee shall be forced to work.
(2) Child Labor and Youth Labor
We do not use child labor, and we do not allow employees under the age of 18 to perform work that endangers their health and safety.
(3) Working Hours
Appropriately manage employee working hours, holidays, and vacations so as not to exceed the legal limits in each country and region.
(4) Wages and Benefits
We will comply with all laws and regulations related to wages and benefits and will not unreasonably reduce wages.
(5) Inhumane treatment
We do not engage in harsh and inhumane treatment, including harassment of employees, such as violence, gender-based violence, sexual harassment/abuse, physical punishment, mental or physical coercion, bullying, public insulting, showing or exposing, or verbal abuse.
(6) Discrimination
We do not discriminate against applicants or employees in hiring and employment.
(7) Freedom of Association
We respect the right of employees to associate freely in accordance with the law through sincere dialogue and consultation.
- Health and Safety
In addition to minimizing work-related injuries and illnesses, we aim to improve the quality of our products and services and employee retention and morale through a safe and healthy work environment.
We also provide ongoing employee information and education to identify and resolve workplace health and safety issues.
We will adhere to the following guidelines to implement our policy in labor practices.
(1) Workplace Safety
Manage risks to workplace safety through appropriate design, technology and control measures.
(2) Emergency Disaster Response
Identify and investigate the situation and possible events in the event of an emergency such as fire or earthquake, and prepare emergency response measures.
(3) Occupational Injuries and Occupational Illnesses
Establish and implement systems and procedures to prevent, control, monitor and report on occupational accidents and diseases.
(4) Industrial Hygiene
Identify and evaluate situations in the workplace where people come into contact with organisms and Chemicals harmful to the human body, as well as noise and odors, and control these situations appropriately.
(5) Physically demanding work
Identify, investigate and control physically demanding situations in which employees are placed in physically demanding situations.
(6) Safety measures for machinery and equipment
Evaluate manufacturing equipment and other machinery for hazards and implement safety measures and proper maintenance.
(7) Sanitary facilities, food, and housing
Provide sanitary toilet facilities and drinking water for employees.
(8) Health and Safety Communication
Provide education and information about health and safety in a language that employees understand.
- Health Management Initiatives
We have created an environment that promotes health in the workplace and participated in the Healthy Company Declaration activities organized by the Tokyo Federation of Health Insurance Associations, and in May 2023, we obtained the "Silver Certification as an Excellent Healthy Company". In March 2024, we were also recognized as one of the "Excellent Health Management Corporations 2024," and we are making company-wide efforts to promote health.
Specific Initiatives for Human Capital Management
Indicators, Targets, and Specific Initiatives Related to Human Capital Policy
The Company has implemented the following initiatives with respect to its human capital policy. All of these initiatives will be measured by establishing indicators and targets during the implementation period of the next Mid-Term Management Forecast.
- In FY 2023, we introduced a recruiting system in which each division head establishes the most appropriate personnel profile for the division and takes the initiative in recruiting. At the same time, we are revitalizing career recruitment with an emphasis on hiring a higher percentage of female employees and female candidates for executive positions.
- In addition, each department holds monthly "1-on-1" meetings to deepen the understanding of the human resources needed by the Company. In addition, we have been making all employees fully aware of our human rights-related issues, such as compliance, through company-wide emergency drills and other opportunities.
- The Safety and Health Committee is playing a central role in improving occupational safety and health by adhering to guidelines and enhancing quality, while at the same time expanding the range of work options available. As of FY 2023, 100% of our employees wishing to take childcare leave have done so.
Human rights
Human Rights Policy
Our corporate philosophy is to "use our chemical curiosity to benefit electronics," and our goal is to "become a fine chemical company that leads the electronics industry by facing social issues and demonstrating our diverse perspectives and unique ideas.
And we recognize that our business activities may cause or encourage negative impacts on the human rights of various stakeholders, and we understand that to achieve the aforementioned goals, such human rights violations must be avoided and the human rights of all people must be respected.
Therefore, we have established the following "Basic Policy on Respect for Human Rights", which all of our directors and employees shall comply with.
Basic Policy on Respect for Human Rights
Basic Stance on Human Rights
In order to promote respect for human rights and fulfill our responsibilities, we support and respect international norms on human rights, including the United Nations International Bill of Human Rights and Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which stipulate fundamental human rights for all people, and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of the International Labour Organization (ILO). We will support and respect these norms and strive to put them into practice. We will also comply with the laws and regulations of the countries and regions in which we operate, and pursue internationally recognized human rights principles when there are conflicting demands between internationally recognized human rights and the laws and regulations of each country or region.
Respect for Human Rights
We respect diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of birth, nationality, race, ethnicity, creed, gender, age, occupation, employment status, educational background, sexual orientation, gender identity, marriage, pregnancy, disease, disability, social status or family origin, or any form of harassment, including power harassment and sexual harassment. Forced labor and child labor are not tolerated.
Scope (of a document)
This policy applies to all officers and employees (including regular employees, contract employees, temporary employees, and temporary staff) of our company. We also encourage our suppliers and business partners to support this policy and work together to promote respect for human rights.
Initiative
(1) Human Rights Due Diligence
We have established a human rights due diligence mechanism and will continue to implement it to identify and assess negative impacts on human rights and prevent or mitigate negative impacts on human rights.
For details, please refer to the "Human Rights Due Diligence" section below.
(2) Remedies
If we are found to have caused or contributed to negative human rights impacts, we will work to redress them through appropriate procedures.
(3) Education
In order to ensure the effectiveness of this policy, we will provide appropriate education to our directors, officers, and employees.
(4) Complaint Handling Mechanism
We have established a reporting system to detect and address concerns, including negative human rights impacts, at an early stage. The anonymity of whistleblowers and the confidentiality of the content of their reports are ensured. Whistleblowers will not be treated unfairly because of their reporting.
(5) Information Disclosure
We will report the progress and results of our efforts to respect human rights through our website and other means.
Human Rights Due Diligence
In accordance with our Human Rights Policy, we conduct human rights due diligence on those affected by our business activities to identify salient human rights issues. In conducting our human rights due diligence, we refer to the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework and UNDP's Business and Human Rights in Asia "HRDD Training Progress Guide" (2021).
Specifically, we divided the major rights holders affected by our business activities into four categories: our own employees, suppliers, customers/end users, and local residents, and focused not on risks to us, but on risks to the people in these categories who are affected, to identify potential human rights risks. We identified potential human rights risks, focusing not on risks to the Company, but on risks to the affected people in these categories. We then determined priorities from two perspectives: the severity of the risk and the likelihood of the risk occurring, and organized them into the heat map below. In doing so, we focused our evaluation on severity rather than likelihood of occurrence.
Identification of salient human rights issues
The following human rights issues positioned as high priority in the above heat map were identified as salient human rights issues in our business activities.
- Conflict minerals
- Fair and equitable treatment of its employees
In addition, although they are of a lower priority than the prominent human rights issues, the following human rights issues will also be addressed, recognizing the risks involved.
- Health and safety in the workplace (own employees)
- Health hazards (customers/end-users and local residents)
The Company will continue to regularly conduct human rights due diligence and review outstanding human rights issues.
Measures to Address Prominent Human Rights Issues
We are committed to addressing salient human rights issues as follows
- Conflict minerals
- We use precious metals in the manufacture of precious metal plating chemicals. (Gold, palladium, platinum, etc.)
- In order to advance our efforts in conflict-free mineral procurement, we confirm that the company is LBMA certified*1 prior to procuring precious metals.
- In our procurement policy, CSR guidelines, and other guidelines, we stipulate our requests to suppliers for legal compliance and conduct periodic surveys of our business partners. If we determine that a problem exists as a result of our investigations, we request that the supplier make improvements, and if the supplier does not make sufficient improvements, we take measures such as suspending transactions with the supplier.
*1 LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) accreditation is an important certification related to the trading of gold and other precious metals in the financial markets, enabling certification that gold and other precious metals are not conflict minerals. It is an important mechanism for proving that gold and precious metals are conflict-free and establishes a standard for responsible trading in international financial markets.
- Fair and equitable treatment of its employees
- In response to the current situation in which long working hours are often observed due to the small number of employees and the nature of their work, the Company has initiated initiatives to improve the work-life balance of its employees.
(1) Childcare leave taken by all applicants
(2) Consider introducing remote work and flextime systems
- Our initiatives for the utilization of women are as follows
(1) Training of female managers (career recruitment and support through career support programs)
- Health and safety in the workplace (own employees)
- Although our company is small, we have a manufacturing department consisting of full-time, part-time, and temporary employees, and we have several Class I Health Managers as stipulated by the Industrial Safety and Health Act to manage and supervise safety and health at each workplace, as well as a Safety and Health Committee consisting of representatives from each workplace who, together with commissioned industrial physicians, conduct periodic workplace inspections to maintain and improve the working environment. The Health and Safety Committee, consisting of representatives from each workplace, together with commissioned industrial physicians, conducts periodic workplace inspections to maintain and improve the working environment.
(1) Encourage employees to obtain Type 1 Health Manager certification (2 employees enrolled as of June 2024)
(2) Workplace inspections by Safety and Health Committee members and industrial physicians (3 times a year)
- Health hazards (customers/end-users and local residents)
- We handle a wide variety of chemicals, some of which are classified as deleterious and poisonous substances. We have obtained the necessary qualifications and licenses for the handling of toxic chemicals, and have established strict procedures for the handling of chemicals in compliance with relevant laws and regulations, international standards such as ISO 9001/14001, and customer requirements, etc. We operate our business with integrity to avoid any health hazards to our stakeholders.
(1) Periodic check of updated information on relevant laws and regulations regarding handling of chemicals, etc. (conducted monthly)
(2)Encourage emergency drills (conducted annually)
Supply Chain
For details, see Quality Assurance System Product Supply System>Responsible Mineral Sourcing.
Public Interest Incorporated Foundation JPC Scholarship Foundation
For more details, please go to "Public Interest Incorporated Foundation JPC Scholarship Foundation". This is Japanese only.