Working environment
Working hours management policies and measures
At Toyota Tsusho, our basic policy is to reduce long working hours and eliminate unpaid overtime, in order to maintain and promote employee health, and help employees achieve a harmonious work-life balance, and we are committed to global compliance with labor-related laws and regulations. In Japan, we have introduced a Work Management System so we can track the hours worked by all our employees; in order to comply with the Labor Standards Act regarding overtime and holiday work, employees are required to submit applications if they wish to work more than 50 hours of overtime in a month, while we actively encourage employees with long working hours to consult with industrial physicians. Since 2017, we have been implementing various initiatives to eradicate overtime work, including turning off all company lights at 8 p.m. to encourage employees to go home early. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, we established an in advance overtime application system at each of our divisions; this enables managers to swiftly grasp employee working hours and work progress, distribute work in an appropriate manner, and so manage the health of their employees. Though the percentage of paid leave taken declined from the fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021 due to the travel difficulties and other impacts of COVID-19, the percentage of leave taken for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 improved to 66.1%, thanks in part to the easing of restrictions on activities in the wake of COVID-19 and the "Monthly Paid Leave Campaign," which we have implemented since the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011. Going forward, we will continue to encourage employees to take paid leave, promote workstyle reforms, and thereby create working environments that make it easier for paid leave to be taken. In June 2022, we reviewed our work-from-home system, and through the optimal mix of coming to work and working at home, we aim to improve individual and organizational productivity, contribute to customers, and promote a better work-life balance, self-fulfillment, and job satisfaction.
Work-life balance
Support for childcare and promotion of leave
Toyota Tsusho is promoting a variety of systems to help employees balance work and personal life, such as a flextime work system to support flexible working styles, a work-from-home system, and a system of reduced working hours that can be utilized until the employee's child completes the fourth grade at school.
We also distribute information on the intranet to support employees who provide nursing care and childcare at home while working. The company also facilitates opportunities for working mothers to meet and share information on childcare and careers. The family participation event "Welcome to Toyota Tsusho" and other activities are held to support employees providing childcare at home and promote employee work-life balance.
From 2016 onward, we held seminars on balancing work and childcare and sent individual guidance to male employees with newly born children and their managers to encourage them to take the childcare leave. In addition, from April 2023, we encouraged “childcare learning,” or learning from childcare, and making up to 20 working days of the childcare leave period paid. These efforts help employees understand the childcare leave system and foster a culture that encourages its use, thereby promoting male participation in childcare.
Initiatives for Career Support
An opportunity co-sponsored by labor unions and the Global Human Resources Department, to encourage one's approach to work and careers together with the CHRO
A panel discussion between the CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer) and employees provided an opportunity for participants to hear the thoughts of the head of HR and the various ideas of panelists working at the same company, offering them a chance to think about how to approach their own jobs and form a self-directed career.
Initiatives to reform workstyles
This new system expands workstyle options for employees, making it possible to pursue self-improvement, provide childcare and nursing, and make other choices that balance their work and lifestyle needs. The system is also expected to boost productivity, such as by allowing employees to choose work locations in accordance with their duties. We have started restructuring the office, aiming to make it a hub for communication.
Labor-management dialogue
Toyota Tsusho respects the worker's right to freedom of association, and based on the fundamental labor agreement between Toyota Tsusho Corporation and its labor union "the right of collective bargaining" and "the right to engage in dispute" are clearly protected. A total of 2,212(60%) Toyota Tsusho employees belong to the Toyota Tsusho Labor Union as of April 2024, representing 62% of the workforce. In principle, all non-managerial employees are required to belong to the labor union. "Labor-management Meetings" are held between representatives of the union and management in order to share the views of employees with the company and collaborate towards the creation of even better work environments through the introduction of various new measures.
- *A head of a group, including assistant manager level (M4) and manager level (M3), and assistant general manager (M2) or and those in higher levels are not entitled to belong to the labor union.
The Work Style Reform Review Committee, established by labor and management, worked together to reduce long working hours after COVID-19 and to determine the direction of office reforms to promote co-creation and collaboration, which are created by bringing together diverse human resources and engaging in dialogue.
For the agenda for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, we are considering the following:
- Reducing long working hours
- Examining systems and measures to ensure a secure and fulfilling work environment for human resources who are active on the global stage
We continue to encourage employees to take one day off each month. Additionally, we introduced a holiday subsidy system which offers a fixed amount of money to employees taking a "refresher holiday" of five or more consecutive days, with the amount dependent on duration of employment with the company. This helps employees take meaningful time off and have time to rest both physically and mentally. Toyota Tsusho also subsidizes Christmas social event expenses as a form of support for and cooperation with the labor union.
Employing people with disabilities
We have installed barrier-free elevators, multi-purpose restrooms, and Braille blocks to make our facilities barrier-free. In addition, we promote the employment of people with disabilities together with Toyotsu Office Service Corporation, a special subsidiary* under the Act to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, and Toyotsu Human Resource Corporation, an affiliated company*. As a part of fringe benefit for those who work with us, we have massage rooms where therapists with visual impairment who have been well-trained and eligible to work with a national license are able to work. Since 2016, we also have had special medical staff such as a certified clinical psychologist and a mental health social worker, who are capable of supporting those with disabilities.
Toyotsu Office Service Corporation has taken an initiative action to guide eligible 47 Toyota Tsusho Group companies to make their best efforts for the full-compliance with the statutory employment rate, with a view to steadily increasing the employment ratio of people with disabilities.
In addition, we are strengthening the recruitment of both new graduates and mid-career hires at our head office in order to instill and foster a culture of DE&I as the foundation for realizing "Be the Right ONE."
- *Special subsidiaries, affiliated companies: A subsidiary that, subject to certain requirements, is considered jointly as a single operating location for the purposes of calculating the parent company's percentage of employees with disabilities.
- *The statutory employment rate of the people with disabilities in the Group, including Toyotsu Office Service Corporation and Toyotsu Human Resources Corporation, accounted for 2.77% as of June 2023.
Continuous Employment for Retired Workers
Toyota Tsusho has set 60 as its mandatory retirement age. In the fiscal year 2006 we set up a “continuous employment for retired workers” system for employees who wish to work after retirement. Starting April 2020, we changed the name to the "partner system," and we restructured the compensation system to provide a broad compensation structure that recognizes the increasing diversity of continuously employed workers and compensates them according to their responsibilities and duties.
The program accommodates a variety of work preferences by providing a "retirement refreshment leave" that allows employees to take 10 days off, and by permitting shorter working hours and side jobs.