We have formulated the Morinaga Milk Group Human Rights Policy, which was approved by the Board of Directors, based on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights of the United Nations and in respect to various international codes of conducts regarding human rights, such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights and United Nations Global Compact, to promote initiatives related to respecting human rights.The Director in charge of human resources at Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd. is responsible for the implementation of the Morinaga Milk Group Human Rights Policy and supervises its implementation.
Morinaga Milk Group Human Rights Policy
In April 2022, we established a Human Rights Subcommittee within the Sustainability Committee and commenced human rights due diligence activities, with the aim of identifying any risks of human rights violations relating to the Group’s business activities, so that we can take steps to prevent and mitigate such risks. The Board of Directors of Morinaga Milk receives regular reports on these activities and oversees the processes and effectiveness of measures.
Since 2022, the Morinaga Milk Group has been conducting human rights due diligence activities to identify the risks of human rights violations associated with business activities and take preventive and mitigating measures in order to advance the initiatives for respecting human rights stipulated in the Morinaga Milk Group Human Rights Policy. From April to June 2022, with the cooperation of external experts, we identified human rights risks throughout the supply chain in our business areas and identified and evaluated potential human rights issues that should be prioritized by the Morinaga Milk Group.
The Chairman of the Human Rights Subcommittee and representatives from related departments of the Morinaga Milk Group (14 departments which include the Human Resources, Sustainability Promotion, Corporate Strategic Planning, Production, Overseas Business Strategic Planning, Dairy Farm Services, Procurement, etc.) participated in a lecture given by an outside expert on global trends in business and human rights, which was followed by a discussion on human rights issues in our business activities. Based on this discussion, we will identify potential human rights risks that the Morinaga Milk Group should prioritize through research, analysis, and evaluation by outside experts. At first, we plan to conduct on-site interviews at the Kumamoto Plan of Furijiport Co., Ltd., a Group subsidiary, in the spring of 2023 to investigate the rights of foreign workers in Japan.
A Human Rights Impact Assessment was conducted from March 28 to 30, 2023 at Morinaga Milk Group's Furijiport Co., Ltd. Kumamoto Plant. This impact assessment evaluates whether or not the human rights of employees working at our business sites are impacted, evaluate the extent, and visualizes issues to facilitate required corrective actions. Human rights specialist Caux Round Table (CRT) was requested to conduct the impact assessment from the perspective of a third party, and involved interviewing a total of 20 employees working at Furijiport Co., Ltd. Kumamoto Plant—12 technical interns from overseas and eight temporary workers—as well as the Kumamoto Plant manager and the office manager. Members of Morinaga Milk's Human Resource Department and Sustainability Promotion Department also participated as observers. The assessment also included verification of the working environment and living environment of the technical interns. The human rights impact assessment used the Dhaka Principles for Migration with Dignity to check conditions, with the results released by CRT indicating that a comfortable work environment was provided to the foreign workers with no major issues present.
* This training is intended for employees of domestic group companies, temporary employees, part-time employees, and employees of subcontractors who share the same workplace.
The Morinaga Milk Group aims to respect human rights, including in the supply chain. In addition to preventing and mitigating negative impacts on the company, the Morinaga Milk Group has been examining a complaints handling mechanism (a mechanism for accepting complaints from clients and implementing appropriate corrective measures) to remedy negative impacts that have occurred.In October 2022, we introduced a complaint handling mechanism by joining the Japan Center for Engagement and Remedy on Business and Human Rights (JaCER), which provides a non-judicial grievance platform based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and provides expert support to member companies in handling complaints.
The JaCER complaint handling platform can be used on an anonymous basis by all internal and external stakeholders who are or may be adversely affected from the perspective of human rights in their relationship with our Group. In the event that it is identified from the report related to the Group that an adverse human rights impact has occurred or the content of the report has contributed to an adverse human rights impact, we will seek to remedy the affected parties with expert advice from JaCER and other means of support. We will continue to work on respecting human rights in our business activities.
The Morinaga Milk Group believes it is important to not only recognize diversity, but also for employees of differing backgrounds to fully realize their individuality, potential, and abilities and to continue creating enterprise value. Morinaga Milk has published its Diversity and Inclusion Declaration and implements a variety of company-wide measures in this regard.
Management and employees will:
Morinaga Milk has held briefings at business sites nationwide to ensure that all employees properly understand and implement diversity and inclusion. Since 2017, Morinaga Milk has held an annual diversity forum together with other food product companies at least once a year.
In FY2022, in addition to a lecture on the theme of "Diversity and Inclusion from the Perspective of Human Capital Management," we held a career seminar for female employees and an information exchange meeting among those in charge of the childcare leave system for male employees.
Co-ALIVE, Joint Project by Food Product Companies
Employees burdened with the dual demands of work and child-raising are able to actively engage in their work in various departments with support from the short-time work system, time-difference work system, etc.Morinaga Milk has had a paternity leave system since 2015 to raise awareness about the participation of male workers in child raising.In addition, for childcare leave at the time of birth (Papa Childcare Leave After Childbirth), which began in October 2022, we introduced a system that allows employees to take leave with 100% salary and bonuses, exceeding national standards.We regard the period of childcare leave as a valuable period for “raising a precious child and becoming a parent,” and we have given the period of childcare leave the special name “Hagukumi period.”In April 2022, Morinaga Milk established the Hagukumi Gift Money program which subsidizes a portion of the cost of childcare as a gift at birth or upon entering elementary, junior high or high school, and distribute our product "Baby's Bifidus" to employees who have given birth to children.By increasing the number of employees taking childcare leave regardless of gender, it is an opportunity to review work efficiency and individualization, and we are creating an environment where everyone can take a break and work comfortably regardless of the reason.In recognition of these actions, we were certified as a business that supports parenting at a high level and received the Kurumin certification mark from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Morinaga Milk has introduced programs including No Overtime Day System, My Holiday System, and Interval System to maintain and improve employees' mental and physical health. The latter program, introduced at all of our business sites ahead of a legislative mandate in 2014, secures more rest time for employees by ensuring a certain amount of off-time from the end of work, including overtime work, to the start of work on the next day.
We further introduced our Teleworking/Satellite Work System, Time-difference Work System, and Flextime System as programs to support flexible working styles. Employees can use the Teleworking/Satellite Work System, introduced in 2017, to balance work and personal life or to improve work productivity by effectively utilizing time resources, regardless of reason such as childcare or family care. In 2021, we set up a satellite space at the Saitama Branch, for use by Tokyo business site workers who live near the Branch.
By rethinking working styles in this way, we seek to ensure that employees of diverse backgrounds can fully demonstrate their abilities.
Morinaga Milk allows fixed-term contract employees to enter into an open-end employment agreement after gaining a certain amount of experience. We are working to clarify scopes of responsibility and expected roles in employee classifications, by means such as introducing a system of promotion to regular employees without a fixed period of employment, letting diverse employees play active roles. We further established an arrangement for rehiring former employees in response to requests from persons wanting to once again demonstrate their abilities at Morinaga Milk, letting them make effective use of experience and skills built up during their tenure and experience gained at other companies.
Morinaga Milk Industry has adopted a union shop system and organized the All Morinaga Labor Union as a forum for dialogue between labor and management. One-hundred percent of all full-time employees are members of the All Morinaga Labor Union, excluding managers and other types employees specified in the labor agreement.
In order for the company and the union to have mutual understanding and cooperation, the labor agreement requires holding management meetings, including joint management meetings attended by both management and union representatives (twice per year) and business site management meetings with union branch representatives. Occupational health and safety councils and management-labor councils are also held for safety measures and labor hour measures (twice per year for each). Discussions also cover wage raises and bonuses, improvement of other working conditions, etc. Finally, before revisions, etc. are made to internal regulations, a proposal is provided for discussion to the All Morinaga Labor Union. These efforts are part of maintaining close communications with the union.
In order to Practice our corporate philosophy "Contribute to healthy and enjoyable lifestyles through offering unique products derived from advanced milk technology," we believe that it is of utmost importance for the employees of the Morinaga Milk Group to be healthy themselves.
By promoting health and productivity management, we will maintain and improve the health of our employees and create an environment in which each employee can work energetically, thereby increasing the value that the Group provides to society.
In promoting health and productivity management, the Morinaga Milk Group has created a Health Management Strategy Map, identified health issues, and then implemented initiatives to resolve them. We have set goals for improving lifestyle habits, making effective use of health examinations, improving health-related knowledge, and improving the organization and workplace environment as major themes for solving these problems.
We aim to be a Group where employees can be healthyemployees can be healthy and active by raising their health awareness and changing their behavior.
Direction for Solving Management Issues | Initiatives | FY2025 Target | |
---|---|---|---|
Improvement of lifestyle habits | Health questionnaires | Percentage of members who are aware of proper eating habits | 80% or higher |
Percentage of members who exercise*1 | 50% or higher | ||
Percentage of members that sleep properly | 50% or higher | ||
Percentage of members with poor drinking habits*2 | Less than 5% | ||
Percentage of people at risk of high blood pressure age 40 or above | Less than 1% | ||
Percentage of people at risk of blood sugar issues age 40 or above | Less than 1% | ||
Percentage of people 40 years of age or older with poor management of diabetes | Less than 1% | ||
Rate of people of normal weight 40 years of age or older | 70% or higher | ||
Habit activities, athletic events, etc. | Habit*3 participation rate | 80% or higher | |
Free dental check-ups | Percentage of members who had dental check-ups | 70% or higher | |
Support for smoking cessation (smoking cessation week and subsidy for medical expenses) | Percentage of smokers | Less than 10% | |
Effective utilization of health check-ups | Recommendations for specific health guidance | Specific health guidance utilization rate | 50% or higher |
Follow-ups with persons at risk of a medical condition | Percentage of follow-ups completed with persons at risk of a medical condition | 100.0% | |
Efforts for early detection of cancer | Full medical checkup rate | 70% or higher | |
Improvement of health-related knowledge | Health seminar | Seminar participants (per year) | 1,600 or highter |
Line care training*4 | Training coverage for targets | 50% or higher | |
Improving the environment of the organization and workplace | Health management of members who work long hours (including working hours management) | Number of long working hours | Less than 180 |
Stress checks | Stress check completion rate | 90% or higher | |
Overall health risk score*5 | Less than 80 | ||
Rate of members with high stress | Less than 10% | ||
Establishment of an external consultation desk for mental health | Number of users of the consultation desk per year | 100 or higher |
*1 Light exercise twice a week for about 30 minutes each time
*2 More than three 180ml servings more than three times a week
*3 A special name for a lifestyle improvement and health promotion campaign sponsored by the Morinaga Health Insurance Society
*4 Training for managers to learn how to care for the mental health of their subordinates
*5 An index indicating the risk of health problems arising from the workplace environment (national average is 100 (the lower the number, the better the condition))
Health Management Strategy Map
Efforts to Prevent the Onset of Lifestyle-related Diseases
Health checkup Data Coordination and Follow-ups
Industrial health units (industrial physicians, public health nurses, nurses) and persons in charge of health management at each business site allows enhanced management of high risk persons, advocating for follow-up exams, and providing health guidance. Moreover, given the effects of oral health on overall health, we are also focusing on expanding our program of free dental checkups. Additionally, we are implementing an initiative to improve lifestyle habits using Morinaga Milk’s own supplement products for employees who are receiving specified health guidance.
Efforts to Prevent and Mitigate Mental Disorders
Mental health training is conducted by external EAP* institutions at Morinaga Milk and online training for management-level employees is also conducted.
Following stress checks, we carry out organizational diagnoses for all business sites, with individual follow-ups conducted by counselors as necessary.
In addition, we have partnered with an outside free mental care hotline to create an environment where people, including family members, can feel free to consult with us at any time.
Policy to Support System to Balance Ongoing Medical Treatment and Work
In order to help employees reconcile work with their medical treatment, Morinaga Milk has implemented the time-difference work system, short-time work system (working hours reduced by a maximum of 2 hours), and reduced working days system (4 days a week), so that employees requiring long-term medical treatment will feel confident to remain in their jobs. Also, the following programs have been implemented in support of employees returning to work from leave.
Morinaga Milk was founded over a century ago. Throughout its history, Morinaga Milk has fostered a positive corporate culture centered on a commitment to quality. While valuing the achievements of the past, Morinaga Milk believes it is important for our employees to take steps toward the future to evoke smiles from customers, colleagues, and themselves and to continue to grow as we head into the next 100 years.
In order to continue to be a business that customers choose, we believe that it is necessary to increase corporate value by simultaneously solving social issues and improving profitability.To this end, we must continue to be an organization that brings together the “knowledge” of each and every employee and creates unique value with a spirit that takes on challenges.The Group considers human resources, the source of these resources, to be important capital, and aims to create new value and achieve sustainable growth through further investment in our human capital.
In an employee survey conducted in 2021, employees characterized the Morinaga Milk Group as "conservative" and "solid," while many said that their ideal vision is of a Group that “has the spirit to take on challenges" and that is "ever-changing.”In order to realize that vision, we believe that it is essential for each employee to continue learning and to create an organizational culture in which diverse opinions are actively discussed.As a company that provides health value to society, we aim to contribute to the healthy and fulfilling lives of our employees and to form a highly specialized and diverse group of energetic human resources.
In order to realize the formation of the human resources group that we aim to create, it is important to approach it from both personnel and organizational standpoints. We believe that it is necessary to balance two approaches to human resource development (for "individual autonomy" and "exercising professional capabilities") and organizational development ("combining diverse values" and "creating a climate that celebrates challenges").
By instilling a culture of developing human resources at various workplaces, an ongoing cycle of training can be achieved. This is the approach to human resource development that Morinaga Milk believes is ideal, and under this style of thinking, we promote a variety of human resource development programs.
As part of these efforts, we are enhancing initiatives aimed at supporting the independence of our employees' careers. Increasing the level of career independence is viewed as being linked to a greater employee performance and sense of fulfillment, and to this end, we have been running new career development training sessions since FY 2023. We are providing the support required for employees to take a fresh look at the concept of Will, Can, Must, by building on the individual experiences they have built up, identifying ideal and worthwhile approaches, and assisting them to take action. To encourage development tailored to the changes in each individual's circumstances, we regularly release information on independent career development and e-learning programs to continue providing greater learning opportunities. An internal job posting system including more departments for internal transfers also provides more opportunities for employees to take action for independent career development.
Morinaga Milk is also focusing on developing and growing its global business with the aim of becoming a "global company that exerts a unique presence worldwide."
In addition to committing management resources, Morinaga Milk considers it vital to increase the number of and train its global human resources. To secure sufficient numbers of employees capable of playing a role on the international stage, the requirements for such people need to be clearly defined as we develop a pooling system for global human resources. Appropriate training is planned for candidates selected for each level and role to create a comprehensive global human resources training program.
The Morinaga Milk College is an internal educational institution in the Manufacturing Department tasked with transfer of technology and skills and with maintenance and improvement of quality technology, toward which it offers diverse employee educationto train various specialists with the view to maintaining and improving quality.
・Individual autonomy for human resource development
We are enhancing initiatives aimed at supporting the independence of our employees' careers. Increasing the level of career independence is viewed as being linked to a greater employee performance and sense of fulfillment. From FY 2023, we have also been running Career Development Training with the aim of providing support required for employees to take a fresh look at the concept of Will, Can, Must, by building on the individual experiences they have built up, identifying ideal and worthwhile approaches, and assisting them to take action. To encourage development tailored to the changes in each individual's circumstances, we regularly release information on independent career development and e-learning programs to continue providing greater learning opportunities.
An internal job posting system including more departments for internal transfers also provides more opportunities for employees to take action for independent career development.
・Exercising professional capabilities for human resource development
Morinaga Milk is focusing on developing and growing its global business with the aim of becoming a global company that is a unique presence.
Increasing the number of global human resources and training them is considered vital. To secure sufficient numbers of employees capable of playing a role on the international stage, the requirements for such people has been clearly defined as we develop a pooling system for global human resources.
Appropriate training is planned for candidates selected for each level and role to create a comprehensive global human resources training program.
The Morinaga Milk College is also an internal educational institution in the Manufacturing Department tasked with transfer of technology and skills and with maintenance and improvement of quality technology, toward which it offers diverse employee education to train various specialists with the view to maintaining and improving quality.
・Combining diverse values for organizational development
The Morinaga Milk Group believes it is important for creating ongoing corporate value to not only recognize diversity, but also for employees of differing backgrounds to fully realize their individuality, potential, and abilities. To this end, a range of initiatives related to diversity and inclusion are organized for combining diverse values.
See Topics "Diversity & Inclusion" for more details.
・Creating a climate that celebrates challenges for organizational development
The Morinaga Milk Group holds the internal awards system Morinaga Milk Awards (MMA) with the aim of becoming a company that is always looking to take on challenges.
MMA features multiple award categories and presentations of results, as well as awards for actions and processes to support employees pushing boundaries.
This helps to create a climate that celebrates challenges.
The Morinaga Milk Group considers occupational health and safety as one of the most important foundations of its corporate activities, and to this end established the Basic Policy on Health and Safety for employees as well as all persons working at business sites.
In the event that an occupational accident does occur at the company, details are provided to the head office, who will provide support and guidance for identifying the cause and implementing countermeasures, and will provide on-site guidance if required. Details on the accident are shared and deployed horizontally across all business sites in the Manufacturing Department through alerts or monthly bulletins, to prevent similar accidents from occurring and ensuring measures for safety.
Basic Policy on Health and Safety
・Health and safety audits
The Morinaga Milk Group uses a health and safety audit checklist (with 166 items) to carry out internal audits of documents and manufacturing operations at each business site overseen by the Manufacturing Department every half year in order to prevent work-related accidents, ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and enhance the level of safety and health activities. Head office safety officers also carry out main audits of all business sites at least every three years, and in FY 2022, these audits were carried out directly at 11 business sites, while taking sufficient measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In FY 2023, these audits are planned to be carried out at 11 business sites.
For internal health and safety audits conducted at each business site, an assessment system has been developed with internal auditors who have been trained at the head office. The purpose of this is to raise the level of knowledge and understand what items should be given attention and measured for evaluation.
・Ensuring safety at new facilities
Morinaga Milk conducts equipment safety inspections before starting up a new plant, when new equipment is brought in, or when major changes are made to building structures or manufacturing processes. Preliminary checks are performed with a focus on lessons learned from past accidents and on compliance with laws and regulations in order to verify that operations can be started properly and safely.
・"Keep safe!" activities
The Morinaga Milk Group promotes “Keep safe!” activities at its manufacturing departments.
“Keep safe!” activities refer to the mindset of giving priority to safety and health, and is a phrase meant to be used in place of ordinary greetings in Japan such as “Good morning” and “Thanks for the hard work.” The underlying idea is to warmly encourage coworkers and others to start the day by putting safety first so they can return home in the same condition as they arrived. “Keep safe!” activities also serve as a safety reminder to each employee to avoid getting injured and to prevent causing injury to others.
・Health and safety education to employees
1. Safety training with danger simulation devices
Morinaga Milk lends out devices for safety education (three machines) in rotation to manufacturing sites of the Manufacturing Department. The devices simulate dangers such as those from pinching and entanglement, compressed air, and electrical shock (in FY 2022, these danger simulation devices were used for education at 12 business sites, with use at another 12 business sites planned for FY 2023).
2. An e-learning program developed by safety officers at the head office was provided over five sessions for a total of around 18,000 employees during FY 2022.
3. A KYT basic four-round method* is being established with a main focus on manufacturing department business sites. The KYT basic four-round method helps improve risk sensitivity and reinforces basic safety actions for predicting danger before beginning work. External instructors are invited to help educate internal trainers in order to create a system for teaching the KYT basic four-round method at our business sites (training was held nine times in FY 2022, with 64 selected attendees from each plant. Ten sessions are scheduled for FY 2023).
* A method of conducting hazard prediction training that uses four procedures.
※1 Target of Morinagamilk group (including overseas offices)
Local communities are an important part for Morinaga Milk Group's corporate activities. We have developed a variety of programs aimed at meaningful communication with communities and the sustainable development of communities.
One such program is plant tours. Our aim is to give people a real sense of Morinaga Milk's safety- and reliability-based approach to manufacturing through a first-hand look at how our products are made.
While direct plant tours are currently suspended, in the hope of giving local residents who are waiting for tours to resume and distant customers who have yet to visit something to look forward to, in February 2022 we launched a new online tour of our Kobe Plant in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture.
The Kobe Plant began operation in 2006. It manufactures about 40 products, including milk, cup-type beverages, and yogurt. The plant is also undertaking initiatives with consideration of the global environment, including the introduction of biomass equipment, wind, and solar power generation.
We will continue to strengthen such initiatives, and will work toward communication with local communities that leads to the creation of a sustainable society and toward support for the growth of the next generation.
The Morinaga Milk Group has concluded comprehensive Partnership Agreements with local governments to resolve social issues faced by local communities, aiming to coexist with local communities. Through our products and services, we are engaged in initiatives that contribute mainly to the health of local people, including extending healthy life expectancy.
In addition to comprehensive partnership agreements, we have concluded individual agreements on cleaning and cooperation in the event of a disaster at more than 15 locations throughout Japan and are striving to contribute to local communities.
No | Location | Detail | Month and Year When Agreement Was Entered |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ayase City, Kanagawa Prefecture |
The Morinaga Milk Group concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement with this city to extend healthy life expectancy and raise health awareness among children and the elderly through the products and services of the Morinaga Milk Group. | February 2023 |
2 | Sapporo City, Hokkaido Prefecture |
The Morinaga Milk Group concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement with this city to extend healthy life expectancy and raise health awareness among children and the elderly through the products and services of the Morinaga Milk Group. | December 2022 |
3 | Nonoichi City, Ishikawa Prefecture |
The Morinaga Milk Group concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement with this city to provide support for child-raising and the elderly, and to educate people about health information through the products and services of the Morinaga Milk Group. | August 2022 |
4 | Nagasaki Prefecture | The Morinaga Milk Group concluded comprehensive partnership agreements with Nagasaki Prefecture, the University of Nagasaki, Nagasaki Shimbunsha, and Goto City. A comprehensive partnership agreement was concluded to investigate and analyze the relationship between the current state of lifestyle habits and health conditions in Goto City through joint research, disseminate information on the results obtained, conduct cooking classes with the theme of health, and conduct dietary education activities. |
November 2021 |
5 | Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture |
A comprehensive partnership agreement was concluded to solve health issues through research, products, and services of the Morinaga Milk Group, and educate the public about health information using digital technology. | November 2021 |
6 | Higashiyamato City, Tokyo Prefecture |
The Morinaga Milk Group concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement with this city to provide support for child-raising and the elderly, and to educate people about health information through the products and services of the Morinaga Milk Group. | July 2021 |
Our Matsumoto Plant in the city of Matsumoto celebrated its 80th anniversary.
In 2013, we began joint research related to health promotion, the results of which are being used to communicate information of use in health promotion for Matsumoto residents. In October 2021, we further expanded the scope of the partnership and signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with aims that include the resolution of regional issues through the use of our products and services, and the promotion of regional industries. Through our research, products, and services, we will undertake these activities with a focus on resolving health issues and provision of health information education using digital technology.
We are further strengthening ties with regions. We concluded an agreement on health promotion with the city of Kumamoto (Partnership Agreement on Health Promotion) in January 2021, and an agreement on joint research aimed at extending healthy lifespans with the city of Goto in Nagasaki Prefecture, University of Nagasaki, NAGASAKI SHIMBUNSHA, and Nagasaki Prefecture (Comprehensive Partnership Agreement in Nagasaki) in 2021.
From here on out, we will continue our efforts toward local community health promotion and revitalization through the activities, products, and services of Morinaga Milk Group.