Labor Practices
Policy on Labor Practices
The SG Holdings Group aims to be a corporate group in which all employees act autonomously and their respective abilities and individuality can be utilized by enhancing engagement (connection between the company and employees) through initiatives for creating a comfortable work environment and empowerment based on respect for human rights.
Personnel Vision
The Personnel Vision established in 2012 describes clearly an organizational culture aimed at developing human resources and diversity of work styles and emphasizes the importance of each employee working with autonomy.
Initiatives
Provision of a Friendly and Fair Working Environment
Group-wide Human Resources Systems
The SG Holdings Group has initiated the Group-wide human resources systems aimed at leveraging human resources across the Group’s companies in Japan. The goal is to train highly competitive human resources by effectively promoting employees to achieve self-development.
Impartial Appraisal Systems
We have introduced an evaluation system for the purpose of properly evaluating employees based on their contribution to our business and their performance of the role and action required of their function-based grade level. In addition, we have introduced a results-based bonus system for some employees.
Employee Benefit Systems
In addition to the social insurance systems required by law, we have various other employee welfare measures in place. The SGH Family Welfare Association provides welfare services to employees of Group companies in Japan, offering benefits, insurance services, and various discount services, as well as hosting experiential, interactive events, based on three concepts to ensure that employees can work with a sense of security and live healthily and happily throughout their whole lives. In this way, by creating environments where employees feel a sense of fulfillment and promoting life support for employees and their families, our aim is to boost employee loyalty.
Further, we also operate the OB&OG Association for retirees and those who have stayed on post-retirement as commissioned employees, and are working to create connections with the Group through the publication of bulletins and the hosting of exchange meetings.
*The hosting of group events was suspended from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2022 from the perspective of preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic
Systems to Support Work-life Management
We have instituted systems to support employees who are working in various stages of their lives.
| Systems | Marriage | Pregnancy | Birth | Childcare | Nursing care | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leave before birth 6 weeks before due date |
Leave after birth 8 weeks after birth |
Childcare leave Until the day before child’s 3rd birthday |
Leave for nursing care Up to 180 days |
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| 7 days marriage holiday | Birth leave 3 days for men |
Childcare leave 10 days per year per child*1 (Can be taken in one-hour units) |
Nursing care leave 10 days per year (Can be taken in one-hour units) |
Special treatment leave for the number of days approved by the company for treatment*2 |
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| Reduced working hours | Reduced working hours Until the end of fourth grade |
Reduced working hours Three years, from date of initiation |
Working from home Anyone is eligible Homeworking allowance is paid for the number of hours the employee worked from home. |
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| Treatment of various conditions | Exemption from late-night work hours | Exemption from late-night work hours | ||||
| Adjustment of break time | Less overtime work | Less overtime work | ||||
| Going to hospital during work hours | Exemption from overtime work | Exemption from overtime work | ||||
| Wedding gift (cash) | Relaxation of commuting Adjustment of up to one hour per day, up or down |
Birth gift | Monetary gift for starting elementary school | Leave for nursing care mutual-aid benefits | Injury and sickness allowance | |
| Babysitter benefits | Home helper benefits | |||||
| Nursery school at workplace SGH Kids Garden |
Condolence money |
*110 days/year for one child; 20 days/year for more than one child; leave can be taken by the hour
*2When suffering from a disease specified by the company, employees are granted leave for the number of days required for recuperation and hospital visits
Supporting Childcare
Distribution of Childcare Support Guidebooks
We have published the "Working Papa and Mama Guide," our guidebook for supporting childcare (one version for employees, another for managers), detailing the support systems the company offers for childbirth and child-rearing. We want to create an environment where people are comfortable continuing to work. In recent years, to encourage male employees to take time off for child-rearing, we newly added pages dedicated to supporting childcare participation by male employees
"SGH Kids Garden" In-house Nursery School
The SG Holdings Group has established the "SGH Kids Garden" In-house Nursery School for the purpose of supporting early reinstatement of female employees after taking maternity leave or childcare leave and supporting the balance of employees work and home lives. At the nursery school, we provide a safe environment and education at the same level as a licensed nursery school, to support Group employees returning to work, and to help support the spouses of employees who also wish to advance in society.
Raising the Efficiency of Back-office Operations
The SG Holdings Group is promoting more efficient back-office operations of the entire group, which include RPA*1, AI-OCR*2, Chatbot and other technologies. SG Systems, the operating company managing IT for the Group, is spearheading the efforts.
*1RPA: Robotic Process Automation, where software robots automate operations/processes.
*2OCR: Optical Character Recognition. Technology for reading written and printed text with a scanner and converting this into digital text.
Initiatives to Support Employee Engagement
Communication within the Group
We provide information on a daily basis through SG HEADLINE, an internal web-based newsletter that brings together information from all SG Holdings Group companies. Our aim is to build a platform that publishes messages from management and a wide range of articles on topics such as business information about each company and employee benefits.
Dialogue between Management and Employees in the Workplace
The SG Holdings Group is engaged in initiatives to reflect opinions from the workplace in management, ensure management goals and strategies are understood by employees, and enable each person to do their work with a positive awareness of goals.
Sagawa Official Communications (SOC)
Sagawa Express is implementing Sagawa Official Communications (SOC), which refers to efforts to achieve direct exchanges of opinions between management and employees in working locations. Through this dialogue, we deepen mutual understanding by communicating the company’s management strategy to the front-line workers, and exchanging opinions on employees’ concerns and anxieties about work.
Personnel Training Initiatives
Building an Organization of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion