Promotion of Diversity

Basic Concepts

KOKUYO aims to create a work environment where many positions and values are mutually recognized and where various work styles are permitted, thus making it possible for each and every employee to draw on his or her innate abilities. We have identified the following four basic themes related to diversity.

Communicate the value of diversity

  • Communicate the value of an employee-friendly workplace
  • Communicate the value of an empowered workplace

Support work-life balance

  • Create a workplace culture that supports work-life balance
  • Build a motivated, productive workplace

Provide organizational support

  • Establish organizational practices to support workplace flexibility
  • Entrench these practices throughout the organization

Support diversity and inclusion

  • Unlock the potential of all employees, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, gender, age, creed, or academic background
  • Empower women in the workplace

Systems

Measures for supporting employees with family commitments*

As part of our diversity efforts, we exceed regulatory requirements in helping employees balance work with commitments such as childbirth, parenting, or eldercare. In the table below, underlines indicate provisions that exceed regulatory requirements.

Leave/work types Description
Maternity leave Pregnant employees are entitled to a leave of absence for a period lasting from six weeks before the due date (14 weeks if a multiple pregnancy) to eight weeks after.
Spouse’s leave Employees whose spouse is pregnant are entitled to two days leave around the due date.
Parental leave Employees are entitled to a leave of absence to care for their children until the child’s 2nd birthday (if the child’s second birthday falls in April, until the end of that April).
Sick child leave Employees with children who are yet to enroll at elementary school are entitled to five days of leave a year or, if they have multiple applicable children, 10 days of leave a year (the leave can be taken on an hourly basis).
Eldercare leave Employees are entitled to take, for each care dependent, up to three periods of leave totaling no more than 183 days.
Short eldercare leave Employees are entitled to take, for each care dependent, five days of leave a year or, if they have multiple elderly dependents, 10 days of leave a year (the leave can be taken on an hourly basis).
Shorter hours Childcare: Employees with children are entitled to take shorter work schedules until the children complete grade 3 of elementary school.
• Eldercare: Employees with elderly dependents are entitled to take shorter work schedules for up to three years for each dependent.
Work from home We currently allow a mixture of home and office working.
Returnship We run a returnship program to help reintegrate into the workplace people who resigned because of marriage, childbirth, childcare, eldercare, spouse relocation, overseas study, charity work, a career change, or other valid reasons.

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* These measures apply in KOKUYO and its major subsidiaries (as a rule, flexitime is available for all employees without any predefined core time).
* View data on childcare and eldercare leave uptake

Employing people with disabilities

KOKUYO has been an active employer of people with disabilities ever since 1940. In that year, KOKUYO started recruiting students from a school for the deaf in Osaka (now known as Chuo School for the Deaf). The students were employed in the company’s factory in Imazato, which stood on the site of what is now our Head Office.

A turning point in our policy for employing people with disabilities came in 2002, when we unveiled a program of structural reform. This reform program involved spinning off our business units into new companies. A question we then faced was how to provide jobs in the new group companies for people with disabilities. In September 2003, we founded KOKUYO K Heart as a “special subsidiary” (meaning a disability-friendly employer that is counted as part of the parent company). In December 2006, we founded Heartland, a subsidiary devoted to employing people with mental disabilities. As of June 1, 2020, people with disabilities make up 2.3% of the group’s workforce. As part of our effort to promote diversity and inclusion, we have launched an organization-wide project to encourage employees to overcome their differences, accept one another, and unite around the common goal of sustained growth. This project involves an organization-wide effort to give employees with disabilities (members of KOKUYO K Heart) opportunities to participate in workflows.

Participating in the Iku-boss Corporation Alliance

KOKUYO has been member of the Iku-boss Corporate Alliance (Sponsored by Fathering Japan) ever since the program began in December 2014.

This alliance advocates for “iku-bosses”—business leaders who encourage employees to actively participate in family life. This project requires a change of attitudes in management. Recognizing that employees have much of their time taken up by the demands of childcare, eldercare, and dealing with sickness, managers must provide an understanding and supportive environment so that employees can balance family and work commitments and perform at their best level. This alliance puts us in touch with other companies that share the same commitment to achieving work-life balance for all employees.

Together with these companies, we discuss ideas about the modern leadership qualities that define an “iku-boss” and how our organizations can foster such leadership. Our aim is to gain insights for improving our own approach to diversity management and reforming workplace culture, as well as for improving the workplace solutions we offer customers.

Initiatives in 2020

KOKUYO Logitem: Smaller teams

In fiscal 2020, KOKUYO Logitem, as part of its vision for 2030, introduced a small-team approach to encourage a new workplace culture that motivates and empowers employees.

The smaller teams contain a mix of members from across the organization, spanning organizational functions, hierarchical layers, age, career track, gender, and place of work. Each team has a flat structure, as opposed to a hierarchical structure, to encourage the diverse members to actively engage in the team’s project, which might concern future working patterns, diversity, or the introduction of digital technology.