Our Position on Work-Life Balance
- ❶ To promote flexible approaches to work, while also reducing overtime hours and promoting the full use of annual leave entitlements, and encourage employees to devote the additional time available to worthwhile non-work activities, such as educational pursuits and activities related to family and communities.
- ❷ To offer a greater diversity of working styles that benefit employees who must deal with major life events, such as marriage, childbirth, and child rearing, and thus contribute to nurturing the next generation. We are deliberating and phasing in policies that will be effective in achieving these goals.
We have been enhancing each of our leave entitlement programs, including beginning in 2018 to allow employees to apply accumulated annual paid vacation in one-day increments for infertility treatment and cancer treatment. As for annual paid vacation, we had already expanded to 40 the number of accumulated unused days of annual paid vacation that may be carried over, and this was further expanded to 60 days in January 2020. We also adopted a system for annual time off based on hourly increments in January 2020.
From June 2020, eligibility for child nursing care leave was expanded from employees with children up to the third grade at elementary school to those with children up to the sixth grade, and use of accumulated annual paid vacation is also possible. Also, in January 2021, we enabled employees to acquire child nursing care leave and family care leave in hourly increments, so that these can be accrued either in ten-minute or one-day increments. Effective January 1, 2022, the number of annual days off for regular daytime workers has been increased by two days. As a result, the prescribed annual working hours have been reduced. We will continue to implement such initiatives as part of efforts to further promote better work-life balance.
Creating a Workplace Environment
Our Group is naturally providing each employee with education on preventing infections, as we put effort into establishing an environment in which we can work with assurance by reducing the risk of infection for our employees and for guests who visit our Company.
From January 2021, we introduced a work-from-home system for the entire company, and we are working to create an environment that allows employees to work from home regardless of what department they work in.
We are also recommending remote conferencing as a communication tool among customers and employees, and the environment is being expanded with the installation of dedicated private booths. While reducing infection risk in the future, we are working to make our operations even more efficient through optimum combinations of in-person and remote work.
In addition, in October 2021, a special paid leave system was introduced to support the child-rearing generation, providing a total of 21 employees with a total of 47 days off as of March 31, 2023.
Employee Support for Various Life Events
We are focusing on creating an environment in which our employees can achieve their goals for both work and life events (such as childbirth and childcare). We are also encouraging employees to proactively utilize various programs provided by our Group to help them deal with important life events, and since the implementation of childcare leave and nursing care leave programs, the proportion of employees returning to work after taking childcare or nursing leave has been almost 100%. The number of people who took childcare leave in fiscal 2022 came to two women and 10 men, while no employees took nursing care leave. We will continue to implement initiatives that exceed the specifications of legal standards in order to enhance employee support.
Next-generation Certification Mark:“Kurumin”
Programs Relating to Childbirth and Childcare
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Childcare leave after birth ystem | To encourage males to take childcare leave, up to 28 days of leave can be taken in two lots within 8 weeks after birth of their child (can be taken separately from childcare leave) |
| Childcare Leave Program | Childcare leave can be taken until children reach the age of 2 (until the day before a child’s second birthday) |
| Altering work start times for workers caring for children | Employees with children in the sixth grade at elementary school or lower are able to shift their work start time in 30-minute increments up to either 1 hour forward or one hour back with the provision that there is no change to the length of their set work day |
| Shorter working hours for childcare | Employees with children up to the sixth grade of elementary school may, upon request, shorten their prescribed daily working hours by up to 2 hours. (can be used with flex-time) |
| Child nursing Care leave | Employees with children in the sixth grade at elementary school or lower who have been employed at the Company for 6 months or more can take child nursing care leave in addition to annual paid leave the child satisfies any of the following categories
|
| Childbirth leave | Female employees are granted 6 weeks’ leave prior to giving birth (14 weeks in case of multiple pregnancy) and 8 weeks’ leave after giving birth |
| Outpatient leave |
|
| Exemption from overtime work | Eligible person: Employees with a child under the age of 3 who request it Details: Exempted from overtime work |
| Limitations on overtime work | Eligible person: Employees with a pre-school age child who request it Details: Cannot be ordered to work more than 24 hours of overtime per one month or over 150 hours per year |
| Limitations on late-night work | Eligible person: Employees with a preschool-age child who request it Details: Cannot be ordered to work late at night |
Programs Relating to Nursing
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Nursing leave programs | Employees are able to split leave up to three separate occasions for each situation where a family member requires care Total period of leave: 1 year |
| Change of work start time | Employees are able to shift their work start time in 30 minute increments up to either one hour forward or one hour back with the provison that there is no change to the length of their set work day |
| Shorter working hours for nursing | Employees providing nursing care for a family member requiring care may, upon request, shorten their prescribed daily working hours by up to 2 hours. (can be used with flex-time) |
| Nursing leave |
|
| Limitations on overtime work | Eligibility: Employees with a family member requiring care Details: Cannot be ordered to work more than 24 hours of overtime per 1 month or over 150 hours per year |
| Exemption from overtime work | Eligibility: Employees with a family member requiring care who request it Details: Exempted from overtime work |
| Limitations on late night work | Eligibility: Employees with a family member requiring care who request it Details: Cannot be ordered to work late at night |
Number of Overtime Hours Worked and Days of Paid Leave Taken by Regular Employees
| FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average number of overtime hours (per annum) |
157.7 | 131.0 | 102.8 | 121.9 | 117.0 |
| Average number of days of paid leave used | 13.4 | 14.4 | 12.6 | 12.9 | 15.1 |
- * “Regular employees” means our company (non-consolidated basis) personne working during daytime hours, excluding managerial personnel.
Feedback from a person who took leave system to support life events
Discovering the difficulties and enjoyment of childcare by taking childcare leave boosted my awareness of productivity after I returned to the workplace
My first child was born in October 2021, and after my wife and child came back from giving birth at her parent’s house, I took childcare leave for six months from January to June, 2022. I was concerned at first when thinking if six months off work was too long, but after I began caring for my child, I was busy every day, and the time passed so quickly.
I did have some preconceptions about how difficult it would be to care for a newborn, but I definitely realized just how difficult it is after having to look after my baby every day of the week, regardless of the time. It was a wonderful experience that I would never have had if I had gone to work instead of taking childcare leave over this period. Newborns also grow so quickly at this age, and I saw changes with my baby on a daily basis. The joy of being able to witness each and every step is certainly one of the most invaluable experiences in my life.
After I experienced first-hand during that time the amount of work and enjoyment that childcare brings, I found that after I returned to the workplace, I focused on ensuring that I produced the best results possible efficiently in the limited amount of time available, by limiting the amount of overtime and going home to look after my child. I must express gratitude to my company and colleagues for providing a system that allows childcare leave to be taken, and in return, I will be sure to focus on my work even more into the future.
Akira Wada
Corporate Finance & Planning Division, Accounting Department
I could take my first maternity leave with peace of mind thanks to the support of my supervisor and colleagues
I gave birth to my first child in October 2021, and took maternity and childcare leave for about 1.5 years before returning to work in April 2023. As this was my first time taking leave, I was unsure of what to do, but the staff in charge explained it carefully to me. My position is with sales, and my supervisor and colleagues assisted me from early on, so I was able to remain working stress-free until I took my leave.
My company allows for up to 2 years of childcare leave to be taken, but other mothers around me said they were unable to take enough leave. I was fortunate to take 1.5 years of leave, and I am so grateful for having had the opportunity to watch over my baby at the fastest stage of growth of her life.
I had so many concerns when I returned to the workplace, particularly regarding whether I would be able to perform my duties in sales despite shorter working hours. Yet my supervisor and everyone in my division showered me with warm words of support, and now I am able to focus on my work without any major worries. One thing I noticed after I returned was that I had a greater awareness toward working efficiently, no doubt in part due to restrictions in working hours.
While contributing to the company in the future, I would be more than happy to lend my support to anyone who is planning to take childcare leave like I did.
Yuki Taniguchi
HPP Business Division Material Solutions Sales Division Polymer Sales Department
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