Respect for Human Rights

The first item in the Code of Conduct within the Shinko Way, which expresses the values common across the Shinko Group, is “We respect human rights.” This is an explicit statement of our corporate stance of acting on the basis of a spirit of respect for human rights in all business operations. We strive to ensure that all Group employees show this spirit in their actions.
We uniformly use Global Business Standards (GBS) as guidelines for the Code of Conduct in terms of employee actions, and we share the concept of respect for human rights throughout the Shinko Group worldwide. The Shinko Group has established the SHINKO Guiding Principles of Respect for Human Rights in Employment. We continue to work for equal employment opportunities, respect for human rights, elimination of discrimination, and the prohibition of forced labor and child labor.

SHINKO Guiding Principles of Respect for Human Rights in Employment

With a view to realizing our growth and profits, respect for human rights must be an integral part of our business culture. SHINKO is committed to creating a culture in which employees respect the dignity and worth of individuals. To this end, SHINKO will strive to foster respect for human rights in all the countries and regions where we operate our business while providing an environment that encourages employees to understand and realize importance of human rights.

1. Equal Employment Opportunity and Respect for Human Rights
SHINKO strives to provide equal employment opportunities.
SHINKO is committed to treat our employees with no illegal discrimination based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, social status, lineage, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation and any other legally protected category that is unrelated to the legitimate interests of SHINKO.

2. Compliance with Employment Laws and Regulations
SHINKO adheres to the applicable laws and regulations of the countries and regions in which it operates in treating our employees.

3. Prohibition of Forced Labor/Child Labor
SHINKO will not use any form of forced or compulsory labor.
SHINKO will not use child labor.

4. Work Environment
SHINKO strives to achieve and maintain a healthy and safe work environment that motivates its employees.

Human Rights Education

Shinko promotes awareness of human rights throughout the year by providing rank-specific training on human rights, e-Learning to all employees, and through active participation in human rights workshops held outside the Company. Education on the Shinko Way is conducted every year for all employees to deepen their understanding of human rights. We provide training on harassment prevention using case studies for new managers, focusing on power harassment, sexual harassment, and harassment related to pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, and nursing care. During Human Rights Week in December each year, we post relevant articles to our intranet and conduct e-Learning to all employees to raise awareness of respect for human rights by creating environments where all employees consider and discuss human rights.
Through education and enlightenment on human rights, we are promoting the creation of an organizational culture that makes it easy for everyone to realize their full potential.

Human Rights Consultation Services

Shinko Group has established internal and external Corporate Ethics Helplines for consultation about human rights in Japan. In particular, we have also established consultation services in each plant for consultation about issues, such as sexual harassment, to make it easy for employees to seek consultation. In addition, we have established systems for reporting and consulting at all overseas sites through providing a multilingual whistleblower system for overseas sites.
All employees working in the Shinko Group can use these consultation services, and company rules clearly stipulate such matters as the protection of personal information and privacy when seeking consultation or blowing the whistle as well as the prohibition of unfair treatment of employees who seek consultation.
When employees contact the corporate ethics helplines for consultation about human rights or to report an issue, the call or e-mail is taken by a personnel department manager designated in advance as a person to handle consultations. If an investigation and response are deemed necessary, action will be quickly taken to check the facts with the relevant parties and to find a solution to the problem.
In FY2022, there were no serious cases of violation of workers’ rights reported to the Group’s internal whistleblowing helplines.