Workplace Environment
Basic Approach
In order to ensure a fair and open corporate culture and contribute to the growth of our customers and society, it is important to create an environment in which every employee—the primary actors in our activities—can feel a sense of fulfillment in their work and can maximize their capabilities. As the mobility of human resources increases, providing attractive workstyles and systems for employees will help to secure talented human resources. We aim to enhance corporate value by providing a comfortable work environment and ensuring the health and well-being of our employees.
Daifuku Group Health and Productivity Management Declaration
In view of the importance of the physical and mental health of employees, we adopted the Declaration of Group Health Management in April 2018. We are implementing various health promotion policies and organize events based on health issues toward creating a more stimulating and healthy workplace environment.
- Daifuku continuously promote activities to maintain and increase the physical and mental health of its employees. Considering the health of all associates as fundamentals to the sustainable growth of its business.
- Daifuku strives to provide a comfortable and hygienic workplace environments with the aim of raising the quality of the work and the lives of each employee.
- Daifuku, led by the Mental and Physical Health Promotion Committee, a companywide organization encompassing corporate and industry medical practitioners and public health nurse and labor unions, promotes to raise health awareness and the work-life balance of its employees by implementing health promotion measures.
Promotion System
To ensure that employees feel secure working in our facilities, we have established the following two cross-company committees.
Workstyle Reform Committee
We established the Workstyle Reform Committee in fiscal 2017. Labor and management cooperate in activities to reduce overtime work and encourage employees to take paid leave with the aim of improving productivity and achieving work-life balance. In addition to three cross-business unit subcommittees for sales and engineering, manufacturing and design, and construction and service job categories, the Corporate Functions subcommittee has been established directly under the Committee to improve issues and share information according to the characteristics of each job category.
Mental and Physical Health Promotion Committee
In 2006, we established the Mental and Physical Health Promotion Committee, a Company-wide cross-department organization that includes the Company, industrial physicians, public health nurses, the health insurance union, and the labor union, and formulated a medium-term action plan to continue our efforts to advance our Health and Productivity Management. We mainly plan events and promote various measures to promote the physical and mental health of our employees.
Major Initiatives
Workplace environment that motivates employees
Employee engagement
We define employee engagement as being satisfied with one's job, feeling an ease of work, and the achievement of a career in which employees and the Company can grow together, and we aim to improve each of these elements. In fiscal 2021, the Japan Group conducted an engagement survey and found areas of strength, such as being customer oriented and trusting management, while inter-organizational collaboration and support for individual employee career development were identified as challenges. We will work to improve employee engagement through a combination of Company-wide cross-sectional measures and improvement efforts in individual workplaces. In addition, in order for our Group to continue to grow globally, it is important for us to share and develop the corporate culture and values that we have built up and cherished over the years. In the future, we will expand the scope of the engagement survey to include offices outside of Japan and work to foster a corporate culture throughout the Group.
Workstyle reform
Our approach to workstyle reform is to achieve a work-life balance through the following action policies: (1) reduce the total annual working hours, (2) review and implement measures based on the results of the engagement survey, and (3) work toward achieving the KPIs of the Sustainability Action Plan. In the five years since the Workstyle Reform Committee was established, the average monthly overtime hours have decreased by approximately 30%, and the paid leave use rate has also improved year by year, reaching 73.3% in fiscal 2021.
Paid leave acquisition rateKPI
| FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid leave acquisition rate | 68.7% | 71.2% | 73.3% |
Major initiatives for FY2021
- Use of mobile work and remote work systems
- Improving operational efficiency through the use of digital technologies such as 3D tools and Robotic Process Automation
- Encourage employees to take paid leave by visualizing paid leave plans and results
- Improve workplace cleanliness and sanitation
- Reduce meeting time, and more
Remote work system
In fiscal 2021, we officially introduced a remote work system at the Company. This system can be used to improve work efficiency, productivity, and work-life balance.
Enhancement of systems for diverse workstyles
To improve the quality of work and life of all employees and enable the sustainable development of the Company, we are promoting initiatives towards a work-life balance. In accordance with revisions to the Labor Standards Act and the Act on Childcare Leave/Caregiver Leave, as well as the enactment of the Act on the Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace, we are revising our personnel system to accommodate diverse workstyles and promote their use.
For an overview of benefits, please see here. (Japanese only)
Main systems
| System | Content | |
|---|---|---|
| Employee refreshment | Flex-time system | We introduced a flex-time system to increase time consciousness through self-management, improve efficiency and productivity, and promote work-life balance. |
| Leaving work on time | We designate every Wednesday as Health Day and encourages employees to leave work on time. We promote this through an internal communications and regularly checking offices. |
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| Planned paid leave system | We encourage employees to take three days of paid leave (five or more continuous days including the weekend) between June and September every year. We monitor paid leave at the company with the union and aim for 100% acquisition rate. | |
| Long leave system | We have introduced a long leave system so that each employee can take a maximum of 60 accumulated days of leave for volunteer activities, treatment of non-occupational injuries, childcare, family care, and nursing care. | |
| Refreshment leave | We grant employees 20 continuous days of leave, including Saturdays and Sundays, to employees that turn 50 years old so that they can temporarily leave their work, design their future life plan, and return refreshed to their work. | |
| Childcare support | Maternity leave (employee's childbirth) | 6 weeks before childbirth (14 weeks for multiple pregnancy), 8 weeks after childbirth |
| Paternity leave (spouse gives birth) | 2 days when the employee's spouse gives birth | |
| Childcare leave system | Up to the end of the month in which the child turns 1 year old. (It is possible to extend the term up to 1 year and 6 months of age if daycare service is unavailable. The term can be extended up to 2 years of age if daycare service is still unavailable at the 1 year 6 months point.) |
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| System supporting early return to work after childcare leave | For employees who have returned to work early after taking childcare leave (not to exceed 11 months following childbirth) and are making use of a childcare service for a child under 1 year, we assist them with the associated costs. | |
| Shortened workday system | In cases where an employee is raising a child who has not yet reached the end of the third grade of elementary school, a shortened workday schedule can be applied for up to six years. (Otherwise, a flextime system with no set core time can be applied) | |
| Sick childcare leave | For a child in the third grade of elementary school or younger who is being treated for an illness, childcare leave can be taken for five days a year (for two or more children, 10 days a year). (earnings in full day or on an hourly basis are possible) | |
| Job Return Entry System | For employees who have retired for reasons of childcare, the company offers opportunities for re-employment under certain specific conditions. | |
| Other | We offer a system to support the cost of babysitting services, and a system offering information on entering a childcare facility or using outsourced welfare services. | |
| Support for family care | Family care leave system | A maximum of 1 year is available to provide care for a family member |
| Shortened workday system | For employees who are caring for a family member, a shortened workday program can be applied for up to three years. (Otherwise, a flextime system with no set core time can be used) | |
| Family care leave | 5 days per family member requiring care. 10 days if the employee has 2 or more family members requiring care. (earnings in full day or on an hourly basis are possible) | |
| Job Return Entry System | For employees who have retired for reasons related to family health care, the company offers opportunities for re-employment under certain specific conditions. | |
| Remote work system (based on caregiver leave regulations) | Employees may work at home for up to one year for each family member requiring nursing care. |
Promotion of Health and Productivity Management
We are working on a variety of measures having identified health issues and visualized the means and specific initiatives to solve them. In terms of lifestyle improvement and disease prevention, we set KPIs and aim to achieve our targets.
Strategy map of Health and Productivity Management
| Main initiatives | Details |
|---|---|
| Prevention of lifestyle-related diseases and cancer |
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| Prevention, early detection, and return-to-work support for mental health problems |
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| Early detection and prevention of serious dental cavities and periodontal disease |
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| Support to quit smoking |
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| Measures against infectious diseases |
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KPIs for lifestyle improvement and disease prevention
| FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 (Target) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate of people staying optimal weight* | 65.3% | 64.0% | 64.8% | 70% or higher |
| Rate of habitual exercise | 20.6% | 21.4% | 22.6% | 35% or higher |
| Adequate rest through sleep | 64.7% | 69.9% | 68.4% | 70% or higher |
| Rate of regular health check-ups | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Rate of full medical exam (secondary exam) | 52.2% | 70.2% | 71.2% | 100% |
| Completion rate for health care instructions | 48.1% | 36.1% | 44.7% | 50% or higher |
| Rate of persons with lifestyle diseases | 55.3% | 65.0% | 62.7% | 50% or less |
| Alcohol consumption habits | 59.5% | 56.7% | 55.5% | 53% or less |
| Rate of smokers | 26.5% | 26.1% | 25.2% | 23% or less |
- *BMI between 18.5 and 24.9.
Maintaining high rate of stress check testingKPI
| FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maintaining high rate of stress check testing | 93.6% | 96.1% | 96.7% |
Coordination with industrial physicians and public health nurses
Industrial physicians and public health nurses meet with employees at the Company with findings from the results of regular health checkups to provide health counseling and guidance. For employees at offices throughout Japan and stationed outside of Japan, public health nurses conduct individual interviews online to provide consultation on lifestyle and health issues. Moreover, for the purpose of early detection of employees with mental health problems, all transferees, assignees, new employees, and mid-career hires are interviewed by public health nurses, giving them an opportunity to talk about any worries or anxieties they may be experiencing at their new workplaces.
Raising awareness for better health
Lunch Walk
The Shiga Works holds walking events twice a month during lunch breaks, using the walking trails on the premises of the Works. A total of 7,667 people participated in fiscal 2021.
Exercise seminars
The Komaki Works has been conducting exercise seminars every Wednesday for six years in a continuous effort to eliminate physical inactivity. Special programs such as core training, Zumba, and boxercise are mixed in with the program to keep the participants engaged.
Health Report issued
We publish a Health Report, which presents health-related information and our initiatives for health for employees of the Japan Group.
Improvement in working environment
To guard against heatstroke and improve working conditions, we have introduced air-conditioned clothing for machine operators.
Smart Meal Certification
Our company cafeteria has been enriching its nutritionally balanced menu in order to use food to contribute to employee health. As a result of these ongoing efforts, the cafeterias at the Osaka Head Office, Shiga Works, and Komaki Works have acquired Smart Meal ★★★ Certification, which can only be obtained by cafeterias that meet standards for providing healthy meals and dining environments.
Massage room
We have set up a massage room for employees, with the aim of promoting health by focusing on recovering from fatigue and alleviating stress. We also have in-house physiotherapists available for employees to use, in an effort to expand the employment of people with disabilities.
Freedom of association and collective bargaining
The Daifuku Group recognizes and supports the freedom of association and the exercise of collective bargaining rights by our employees. The Daifuku Labor Union (formed in February 1948) covers all domestic employees apart from managers and those who are stipulated in the labor-management agreement. As of March 31, 2022, there are 2,668 union members, and the unionization rate of employees is 83.3%. Since the union was formed, labor-management relations have been very amicable, with labor and management cooperating in efforts, including regular consultations between management and labor union representatives, to develop Daifuku's business.
Major labor-management talks (FY2021)
| Times held | Main issues | |
|---|---|---|
| Regular labor-management talks | 12 |
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| Extraordinary labor-management talks | 2 |
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| Labor-management special committees | 10 |
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