Human Rights
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Basic Concept
Human rights are universally valued rights that all people are born with. In today’s world, there is a growing awareness that businesses can have a great impact on human rights.
As a company with global business operations, Konica Minolta specifies respect for human rights as one of the most basic requirements in its business activities in the Konica Minolta Group Charter of Corporate Behavior, Human Rights Policy, and Supply Chain Code of Conduct. Under these policies, the Group conducts human rights due diligence and respects human rights.
- Konica Minolta Group Charter of Corporate Behavior
- Konica Minolta Group Human Rights Policy
- Konica Minolta Supply Chain Code of Conduct
In addition, Konica Minolta supports and respects the following internationally accepted standards:
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- International Conventions on Human Rights
- The International Labour Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
- OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
- United Nations Global Compact
- ISO 26000
Management System for Human Rights
Human Rights Due Diligence Process
In compliance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Konica Minolta has created a human rights policy, it conducts human rights due diligence, and established a remedy and grievance mechanism to promote its initiatives.
Policy
The Konica Minolta Group Human Rights Policy was established based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Based on this policy, the Konica Minolta Group asks its business partners and other parties connected to the Group’s business not to violate human rights.
Human Rights Due Diligence
Konica Minolta has created a human rights due diligence system to identify potential and actual human rights risks that its business activities may pose to stakeholders, to review and implement measures for the prevention and mitigation of adverse human rights impacts, and to disclose information on progress status.
When making new or additional investments, the Group include human resource-related checks in its due diligence process to assess investment suitability.
Remedy and Grievance Mechanism
Using a system that enables employees to report human rights concerns, if there is a clear indication that Konica Minolta directly caused or was involved in any adverse impact on human rights, it will promptly investigate and take corrective action through appropriate internal and external procedures.
Stakeholder Engagement
Konica Minolta will also engage stakeholder dialogue to enhance its efforts to respect human rights.
Human Rights Due Diligence
１．Identifying and Assessing Adverse Human Rights Impacts
(Impact Assessment)
First, the Group identified stakeholders who are subject to actual or potential negative impacts and any existing human rights issues caused by its business activities and transactions.
Identification of Human Rights Issues and Stakeholder Relationship
Next, the Group assessed the impact of the adversely affected stakeholder who was identified and their human rights issue, and then identified the human rights issues that are considered high priority. The assessment is periodically reviewed, and the human rights issues that are identified as high priority are set as targets, and the departments in charge of human resources, legal affairs, procurement, quality, IT, and sustainability consider measures and implement them.
Human Rights Issues Identified as High Priority
•Group employees
Protection of working hours, health and safety, wages and benefits, and privacy, prohibition of harassment and discrimination
•Employees of our suppliers, partners, and others
Prohibition of forced labor, human trafficking, child labor, harassment, and discrimination, protection of working hours, health and safety, wages and benefits, and privacy, freedom of association, right to collective bargaining
•Local Communities/Indigenous Peoples
Prohibition of forced labor, human trafficking, child labor, harassment, and discrimination, protection of working hours, health and safety, wages and benefits, freedom of association, right to collective bargaining
•Customers
Prohibition of forced labor, human trafficking, child labor, and discrimination, and protection of privacy
２．Integrating and Acting upon the Findings
Group Employees
To prevent health problems caused by overwork, an email instructing the worker to curb their overtime is sent to employees who work 30 hours or more during the month and to their supervisors to control long working hours. Supervisors are required to submit a Work Improvement Plan of their employees to prevent them from working long hours for two consecutive months.
Furthermore, to create a healthy, safe, and comfortable working environment, the safety and health management regulations seek to ensure the safety of Group employees (directors, employees, contractors, temporary employees, and part-time workers) and onsite contractors (contractors and subcontractors who perform work on Group premises) and strive to prevent workplace accidents.
To prevent all forms of discrimination, sexual harassment, and abuse of power, the Group prohibits discrimination and harassment in its "Guidance for the Charter of Corporate Behavior" and "Compliance Manual." In addition, Konica Minolta has established "Sexual Harassment Prevention Guidelines" and conduct harassment prevention training to educate its employees. Thanks for measures such as rigorous age verification when hiring in each country, there have been no cases of child labor. Similarly, there have also been no cases of forced labor. The Group also educates its managers on sexual harassment and abuse of power.
Employees of Our Suppliers, Partners, and Others
To fulfill its social responsibility across the supply chain, Konica Minolta has created a system throughout the Group to promote the Development of CSR Procurement.
CSR procurement is based on the RBA framework, with CSR assessment using self-assessment questionnaires, and risk assessment and remediation through CSR audits. The CSR assessment using the self-assessment questionnaire is ranked into three levels of A through C according to the questionnaire results, with Group production sites receiving an overall rank of A and suppliers receiving an overall rank of B or higher. Even if the target rank is met or fulfilled, the Group asks that voluntary improvements be made if any items receive a low assessment, including labor (human rights) issues.
CSR audits include the Konica Minolta CSR audit conducted by Konica Minolta employees and the RBA third-party audit conducted by RBA-accredited third parties. Remedial support is also provided based on the results of the CSR assessment and CSR audit to verify the status of corrective measures.
Local Communities/Indigenous Peoples
The mining of tungsten, tantalum, gold, and tin mineral resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding areas has been identified as a potential source of funding for conflicts. Konica Minolta deals with conflict minerals according to the OECD's Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict and High-Risk Areas under "A Five-Step Framework for Risk-Based Due Diligence in the Minerals Supply Chain.”
Customers
Konica Minolta has established a Companywide system to promote product security headed by the person in charge of quality and is working to prevent serious security incidents in all products and services through its business divisions under the supervision of the Quality Division. The Company has established “Product Security Guidelines” to achieve secure development and operation and is promoting secure development and operation processes for products and services Groupwide.
Development and operation in compliance with the Product Security Guidelines, in principle, apply to all products and services of the Konica Minolta Group, and is implemented throughout the entire product and service life cycle, from planning and proposal to disposal and termination of service, as well as activities in the supply chain, such as development and operation contractors and suppliers.
In addition, Konica Minolta regularly convenes the cross-sectional “Product Security Promotion Committee” to discuss product security issues and share information on best practices both inside and outside the Company to continuously improve product security.
Furthermore, to ensure the appropriate use of AI, we have established the Responsible AI Office, a cross-company organization consisting of all divisions involved in AI use. The Responsible AI Office, in cooperation with the persons responsible for promoting AI use appointed to each business division, supports developers to conduct appropriate risk assessment at the product planning stage, and conducts educational and awareness-raising activities for all employees.
3．Tracking Responses
Group Employees
The total annual working hours per employee is kept at around 1,700 hours each year to prevent employee overwork and create a healthy and comfortable workplace with a work-life balance. In fiscal 2023, Konica Minolta will revise its health checkup appointment system that facilitates checkups for employees who work long hours with the aim of further reducing the number of such employees.
In fiscal 2022, no serious accidents *1 occurred. Nine incidents causing absence from work occurred. Six occurred in Japan (5 male and 1 female victims) and three overseas (3 female victims). The frequency rate of lost-worktime injuries*2 was 0.21 in Japan, 0.14 overseas, and 0.18 in Japan and overseas combined. The severity rate of accidents causing absence from work*3 was 0.0010 in Japan and 0.00042 overseas.
The average frequency rate of lost-worktime injuries in the manufacturing industry in Japan in fiscal 2021 was 1.25 according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Survey on Industrial Accidents, while the average for the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry was 0.53, thus remaining below the average for similar industries.
*1:Serious accidents:
(1) Death, illness requiring (or likely to require) long-term medical care, injury resulting in (or likely to result in) disability, and specific infectious disease
(2) Accidents that result in the death, injury, or illness on the job of three or more workers at one time (including lost worktime).
*2 Number of workers absent from work per million of total hours worked by Konica Minolta employees
*3 Number of days of lost work per 1,000 hours of total hours worked by Konica Minolta employees
To comply with the minimum wage in each region and maintain a wage level that allows employees to feel rewarded for their work, Konica Minolta conducted a study on living wages in fiscal 2021. A living wage consists of basic living expenses and taxes, with the basic living expenses estimated using the Market Basket Method, but the Basic Needs Budget standard is used in some countries. Since regional differences in the same country must be considered, living wages are calculated by referencing the Japanese Trade Union Confederation and the Wage Indicator Foundation. No special issues were found among employees, business partners, contractors, and others.
To maintain a work environment where employees feel “motivated and willing to take on challenges (engagement),” the Company conducts a Global Employee Survey (GES) of its employees worldwide on their attitudes toward work and the workplace. The current state of its corporate culture is measured by the engagement score* , and each organization takes action to improve its score, thereby raising the competitiveness of the entire Group.
*The survey is rated on a 10-point scale to determine whether the workplace environment encourages performing individuals to thrive.
In fiscal 2021, approximately 90% of the Group's employees participated in this survey, which elicited over 160,000 comments and enabled each organization to delve more deeply into issues and continuously plan and implement improvements.
In fiscal2021, the engagement score for the Group was 6.4, up 0.3 points from fiscal 2017.
Employees of Our Suppliers, Partners, and Others
In fiscal 2022, 4 Konica Minolta Group production sites and 28 suppliers received CSR assessments. All the production sites received an overall rating of A, while all suppliers received an overall rating of B or higher, and no suppliers were rated high-risk.
The sites for Konica Minolta's final production of its mainstay digital workplace and professional print businesses are in Japan, China, and ASEAN countries. Konica Minolta emphasizes audits at these sites so that as a manufacturer it can perform high-quality manufacturing and CSR-conscious production activities. 88% of RBA third-party audits (VAP audits) and Konica Minolta CSR audits at MFP and printing equipment production companies have been conducted. Previous CSR audits have uncovered issues such as the management of total working hours, the providing of education about labor and ethics, and the creation of an internal audit system. For all seven audited companies, the Group has drawn up and performed required improvement plans for all these issues and has confirmed that improvements are complete through closure audits. In the RBA third-party audits (VAP audits) and Konica Minolta CSR audits, the rate of noncompliance was 15%, corrective action has been completed for 100% of all Priority items, and corrective action has been completed for 63% of all other non-compliances. Konica Minolta will continue to make improvements by turning the PDCA cycle.
Local Communities/Indigenous Peoples
The survey response rates to the Conflict Minerals Survey and the EMRT (Cobalt and Mica) Survey in the core Digital Workplace and Professional Print businesses were 96% and 90%, respectively. By performing due diligence on the Conflict Minerals and EMRT Survey responses, the Group identified 416 smelters, 256 RMAP-acquired smelters. The Group also confirmed that some of its major products (toner, optical lenses, and functional films) were not involved in conflict. No evidence of conflict involvement was found in any of the supply chains examined.
Customers
The Group has been working to eliminate serious information security incidents by setting “the number of serious information security incidents” and “major business losses related to information security” as KPIs. In fiscal 2022, as in the previous fiscal year, the Group again achieved the target. Konica Minolta will continue to pursue various initiatives to develop and operate secure products and services.
As an example of these initiatives, when we use AI in new products or services, each department conducts risk assessments at the product planning stage, and the results are discussed by the AI Ethics Review Committee in order to reduce the risk of problems arising from inappropriate AI use.
Since fiscal 2021, we have worked to improve employee literacy by proving in-house training for all employees of domestic Group companies to put our basic policy into action based on AI ethics-related issues occurring in society and our approach to them. To date, about 10,000 employees have taken the training.
In addition to continuing our annual training for all employees, we will provide specialized training tailored to the audience, such as training for risk assessment personnel, in order to improve the overall training.
4.Information Disclosure
Konica Minolta will regularly disclose the details of its initiatives on a timely basis via its website.
Remedy and Grievance Mechanism
Group Employees
Konica Minolta has established an Whistle-blowing System (Help Line) not only within the Group in Japan but also overseas. The Help Line is an anonymous reporting system, and whistleblowers are not subject to adverse treatment.
In fiscal 2022, of the Help Line cases reported that related to human rights (abuse of power /sexual harassment/discrimination/inappropriate treatment), 7 were domestic and 17 were overseas. In fiscal 2022, no material issues requiring public disclosure were reported to the Helpline.
Employees of Our Suppliers, Partners, and Others , Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples:
In addition to employees, we have expanded the Help Line to include suppliers in Japan, China, and ASEAN, and we are gradually extending it to stakeholders in North America.
Customers
Konica Minolta has established KONICA MINOLTA PSIRT* as a Companywide organization to manage information on the vulnerabilities of its products and services, and to pursue necessary measures. When KONICA MINOLTA PSIRT receives a vulnerability report from an outside stakeholder about Konica Minolta's products or services, it takes appropriate action in compliance with the international vulnerability handling process.
Stakeholder Engagement
In January 2023, we held discussions with domestic and overseas businesses and human rights experts as well as the UNDP on our human rights initiatives. Among the views expressed when we conducted our human rights due diligence were the need to promote initiatives that focus deeply on the issues and outcomes from the standpoint of rights holders. We will continue to pursue our initiatives based on the feedback we have received.
Business and Human Rights Experts who we Talked With
Since business and human rights initiatives impact a wide range of stakeholders including employees, business partners, and local communities, it is important to disclose the relationship between human rights issues and stakeholders. I look forward to combining the human rights perspectives with the everyday efforts of each division through in-house training along with the early detection and prevention of human rights issues through the grievance mechanism, stronger measures to deal with downstream supply chains, and the impact of the environment and climate change on human rights.
Akiko Sato, Liaison Officer for the Business and Human Rights project of UNDP
Alice Cope, Chief of Operations/Director, Pillar Two
Hideaki Umetsu, Partner, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto
Group Employees
Konica Minolta shows that it guarantees freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining through its participation in the United Nations Global Compact. Konica Minolta, Inc. has concluded a collective labor agreement, and regular meetings of the joint management council are held four times a year with the president’s attendance to provide an opportunity to explain the Company’s management situation to the labor union and give the labor union an opportunity to explain its policies to Company management. Many other Group companies also have their own labor unions and employee associations and have built good labor-management relations.
Employees of Our Suppliers, Partners, and Others:
Through supplier briefings and the procurement collaboration system, the Konica Minolta Procurement Policy is explained, procurement results and plans for the next fiscal year are reported, and targets and issues are shared. At the same time, the Group encourages its suppliers to further improve their quality, delivery, productivity, and environmental performance by commending suppliers for their outstanding achievements.
Customers
Konica Minolta has established call centers and web-based consultation services around the world for each of its products and services. Not only does it swiftly respond to inquiries and information on product defects received at each contact point, but Konica Minolta is also consolidating this information to monitor quality status and customer requests. The Company has also established an AI Ethics Review Committee with outside experts to verify the appropriate use and application of AI technology.
