Together with Our Employees
(Human Rights and Labor Practices)

The Nippon Soda Group’s Long-term Vision Brilliance through Chemistry 2030, has identified Enhancement of cost competitiveness and efficiency, Expansion of overseas businesses, and Promotion of new product development and entry into new businesses as key issues. In implementing related strategies, our people are one of our most important management resources. We need to transform ourselves into an organization that further promotes innovation while fully utilizing the strengths we have built up over the years. We are committed to promoting diversity, developing human resources, and creating a rewarding workplace that employees can be proud of, with the aim of building an environment and organization that allows each and every one of our diverse employees to maximize his or her abilities, to grasp changes in society’s circumstances, and to work with a positive mindset.

Respect for Fundamental Human Rights

At the Nippon Soda Group, we support and respect international frameworks related to the protection of human rights—such as the ISO 26000 guidance on social responsibility—and ensure thorough compliance with human rights laws in each country, including those related to the prohibition of child labor and forced labor. We also understand workers’ rights to collective bargaining, and through discussions between labor and management we are building trustworthy, healthy cooperative relationships.

Promotion of Diversity

Diversity is one of our primary strategies for maintaining a high level of global competitiveness and sustainable growth. We believe that the creation of such a diverse work environment and organization that allows each and every one of our employees to demonstrate their abilities to the fullest extent, to grasp changes in the environment, and to work with a positive mindset will lead to innovation.

Diversity Policy

The aim of our Diversity Policy is to develop the Company by bringing together diverse people, regardless of gender, age, nationality, race, religion, and disability, while providing opportunities to gather and exchange ideas.
We believe that having a workforce with diverse values is essential for generating new innovations and increasing global competitiveness. In this context, we recognize the promotion of diversity as an important management strategy.
As part of these efforts, we are building a foundation with both tangible and intangible measures, including a shift to a personnel system that makes the most of diverse human resources, improvement of organizational climate, and improvement of the workplace environment. We aim to be a company where motivated and capable people from around the world can thrive and shine, and continuously grow and develop.

Major Activities in FY 2023

Utilize

Career Development Support Program

Objective

• To increase each individual’s motivation to take on challenges and help achieve autonomous career development by respecting their aptitudes and personalities and supporting their growth
• To maximize organizational capacity through the proper assignment of employees according to their growth

Results

• Posted a video presentation on the career development support system (July 2022)
• Career training (June 2021)
• Creation of career vision sheet, supervisor interviews (August–October 2022)
• Promotion of communication between supervisors and subordinates, career interviews (September–October 2021)
  Implementation rate of supervisor interviews for eligible employees (career track employees in 1st to 15th year at the Company): 98.3%
  Implementation rate of HR interviews for eligible employees (career track employees in 5th, 10th, and 15th year at the Company): 100%

Promotion of Women's Active Participation

• At Nippon Soda, in addition to promoting the creation of a workplace in which women can work comfortably, we are also aiming to build a working environment in which they can thrive. The General Employer Action Plan was prepared based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace. As a result of efforts under the action plan, we were certified as an “Eruboshi” company in August 2018.

Continue

• Continuous publication of articles on diversity in in-house newsletter (November 2016 onward)
• Provision of work-life balance and harassment lectures as part of level-specific training programs (all year)
• Development of measures to promote acquisition of paid leave at each worksite
• At Nippon Soda, we work to promote a healthy work-life balance. Based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children, we formulated an action plan to support a balance between work and childcare, and as a result we acquired the Kurumin certification in October 2020

Increase

• Enhanced recruitment (all year)
• Employment information meeting for women, update of the recruitment website, employment of disabled people

Embracing Diversity

We place emphasis on employing diverse candidates regardless of gender, age, nationality, race, religion, ability or disability, and regardless of whether they are new graduates or mid-career hires, so as to create a more diverse organization. A group consisting of people with different values should give its members the impetus to broaden their outlook and change their viewpoint.
We provide workplace diversity training programs designed for directors and executive officers, as well as other specific positions, with the aim of raising diversity awareness and to help them recognize diverse values and to empower individuals and organizations.

Number of hired persons (by gender) and retention rate

Number of disabled persons employed and ratio of disabled employees

Human Rights Initiatives at Workplaces

The Nippon Soda Group Code of Conduct, which sets out the requirements that all employees of the Nippon Soda Group must follow, clearly states our commitment to respecting human rights and nondiscrimination, and declares that we respect the individuality and personal characteristics of every employee and do not take any action that would result in discrimination. To maintain a healthy work environment free from harassment, we provide employees with position-based training on relevant issues. A harassment complaints office is also available.

Employee Training

In FY 2023, we offered lectures on harassment prevention as part of the training programs offered to new appointments at all levels.

Complaints Desk

At each worksite we have established a harassment consultation desk. Furthermore, in April 2020, we newly established an external consultation desk, the Nisso Harassment and Relationships Hotline, which we set up as a means to enhance reporter privacy.

Nippon Soda Group’s Human Resources Development

In order for Nippon Soda to continue to grow in the future, the development of human resources is essential. The theme for the Company’s human resources development is “developing autonomous personnel.” In addition to on-the-job training (OJT) at the workplace, the Company conducts a variety of programs, including position-based training, management training, specialized training by job type, and support for self-development to improve language skills and obtain qualifications as well as other programs.

Educational Programs (Position-based Training)

Rewarding Workplaces That Employees Can Be Proud Of

Improving Employee Satisfaction

The Nippon Soda Group focuses proactive efforts on creating a work environment in which each and every employee feels a sense of fulfillment and can maximize their abilities. We support employee growth, and encourage independent career development. At the same time, we gather feedback from labor unions and other channels on what systems and work environments are desirable to support employee growth, strive to reduce overtime, and take measures to address these issues. In addition, we also provide platforms for reviews so that those in management can work more efficiently. In these and other ways, we are working to build a better workplace environment.

Total annual working time per employee

• *Calculation period: FY 2023 (April 2022-March 2023)

Promoting Work-life Balance

We are working to create a workplace environment where our employees can continue working despite various lifestyle changes, such as childbirth, raising a child, and providing nursing care for ailing family members. We are revising our work regulations and advancing working style reforms in order to create a workplace where our employees can pursue their work without compromising their health, and achieve a good balance between their work and private lives.

Number of employees who take childcare and nursing care leave

Number of employees taking maternity and childcare leave and the return to work/retention rate

• *The number of employees who have taken the leave is counted in the period in which they started maternity/postpartum leave and childcare leave.
  The numbers in parentheses are the total numbers of men and women, respectively, at the end of each period. Retention rate is for employees who in that period were in their third year since returning to work.

Measures to Maintain and Improve Health

Nippon Soda conducts various initiatives related to health maintenance and improvement in order to ensure our employees work with healthy bodies and minds.

Physical health

We implement health programs jointly with the corporate health insurance society. Specifically, with the cooperation of occupational physicians, we conduct specific health examinations, specific health guidance, and health checkups for lifestyle-related diseases.

Mental health

Since prior to the 2015 amendment to the Industrial Safety and Health Act, Nippon Soda has been providing stress checks for all employees, and has a consultation service available through specialized physicians, clinical psychologists, and external organizations.

Labor-Management Relations and Improvement of Working Conditions

The Company views negotiations with labor unions as an opportunity to engage in dialogue with its employees, and to discuss how to create working conditions that are consistent with the times. We are creating an environment in which employees and management can discuss issues and problems in the workplace.

Number of labor union members

• *Nippon Soda (non-consolidated)