Respecting and Protecting Human Rights
System to Promote the Respect and Protection of Human Rights
Focused around the Corporate Ethics Office and the Compliance Committee, Advantest strives to promote and set policies on human rights issues and deal with complaints about discriminatory treatment.
We share the Advantest Supply Chain CSR Promotion Guidebook with our suppliers, and endeavor to ensure that they are fully aware of the need to respect human rights (including the prohibition on forced labor, child labor, and discrimination).
Creating a Workplace that Respects Human Rights
Advantest believes considerations to human rights are a vital element in expanding businesses globally. We support international standards related to human rights such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights while complying with the laws and regulations in each country and region.
In addition, we have signed the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), a global sustainability initiative, and participated in Global Compact Network Japan, a local network in Japan. We support the "Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact," which are universal principles covering human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption that companies should abide by, and promote efforts in each of these fields.
The ADVANTEST Way incorporates a pledge that we will respect human rights without discriminating on the basis of race, gender, age, nationality, religion, social origin, physical disabilities, disease, sexual orientation or any other factors. We have established a manual for human rights and discrimination and prevention guidelines for harassment as well as promoted the protection and respect for human rights.
In fiscal 2013, we launched an e-learning program on the ADVANTEST Way for all Group employees. In fiscal 2019, this training was expanded to include all employees in the Advantest Group, both in Japan and overseas.
Harassment Prevention
Advantest created a manual to prevent harassment in July 1999 and worked to prevent all forms of harassment. We made additions and revisions to this manual about harassment to include pregnancy, childbirth and parental leave following amendments to the Equal Employment Opportunity Law as well as the Child Care and Family Care Leave Law in January 2017. This manual has been published on the intranet for employees to refer to easily.
The key points are as follows.
- Recent harassment trends
- Sexual harassment in the workplace
- Workplace bullying in the workplace
- Workplace pregnancy, childbirth and parental leave harassment
- Impact of harassment
- Harassment from a legal and regulatory perspective
- Harassment prevention measures
- Dealing with harassment
We are working to devise methods for self-checking that can be conducted in response to the issues above.
To enhance employee understanding of harassment prevention, every year starting from April 2006 the training provided for new employees and for new managers has incorporated training in harassment prevention as well as human rights education.
Labor-Management Dialog
Advantest respects the basic human rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. In countries and regions permitting the formation of labor unions, Advantest recognizes the right of a union to organize, the right for collective bargaining and the right to hold strikes through labor agreements. Even in countries and regions which do not permit the formation of unions due to laws and regulations or labor practices, we strive to build sound relationships and solve problems through dialogs between labor and management with the goal of fostering freedom of association and collective bargaining.
For Advantest Corporation (non-consolidated), labor unions currently representing our employees include company union JEIU, in which 68% of all employees and over 99.6% of our general employees are members, and industrial union JMITU. Advantest negotiates in good faith with each of these labor unions.
Additionally, the labor agreement with JEIU includes health and safety and claims management, and we work together to respond to issues regarding the operation of the health and safety committees, human rights issues and HR claims management.
Reporting and Consultation Framework for Human Rights Issues
We have set up a Corporate Ethics Helpline to address human rights issues and concerns that are not readily resolvable in the workplace, designed so that those facing such issues can draw on the support of our Corporate Ethics Office. Reports and consultations are handled mainly by the Corporate Ethics Office, and every precaution is taken to prevent those employees seeking help from suffering any disadvantage or retribution, for example, by protecting their anonymity. In addition, in fiscal 2019, we set up a contact point to an external law firm (lawyer) to make it easier for our employees to consult with or report to the helpline. These helplines and contact point can also be used from overseas.
Moreover, in Japan, we have established a Human Rights Protection Committee together with the labor union to handle consultations about domestic human rights issues. There were two harassment-related consultations across the board in fiscal 2019 (already resolved). The Human Rights Protection Committee is properly responding to all incidents to seek a rapid resolution after making every consideration to the privacy of the employees concerned.
Through this activity, Advantest aims to foster a stress-free environment where employees respect one another's human rights.