HOME>HOME>Sustainability>Social>Labour Practices

Labour Practices

Basic Principles

Amidst the rapidly changing business environment affecting both companies and individuals, the Group acknowledges the vital connection between management strategies and human resource strategies in achieving sustainable value enhancement. We consider human resources to be the most crucial aspect of management resources and view them as capital that can be utilized to maximize individual abilities and contribute to value creation.
In terms of maximizing human resources, one of the seven strategies for laying the foundation for realizing Medium-Term Management Plan 2025 is to “Develop Human Resources to Realize Growth Strategies.” To enhance each organization’s specialty and ability to create, we are striving to develop and acquire human resources capable of responding to new businesses and changes in the business and social environment, and to create a working environment in which a diverse range of human resources, including women, career professionals, and seniors, can play an active role.
The Group strives to promote wellbeing by creating an environment that encourages a willingness to learn and respects diversity. We work to improve engagement by deepening mutual trust through dialogue between employees and management. We will continue carrying out various human resources measures aimed at nurturing employees who embrace change and personal growth autonomously. Our aim in doing so is to build an organizational culture that drives innovation by fostering diverse values and an entrepreneurial spirit.
In order to contribute to solving social issues in the healthcare field, we will actively and continuously recruit and employ a diverse workforce with diverse work histories, regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, age, color, religion, creed/ideology, sexual orientation/gender identity, social status, or disability. We are committed to enhancing our organizational capabilities through fair, equitable, and open competition to maximize value.

 

  • For more information, please see the Diversity & Inclusion page.

Diversity & Inclusion

Wellbeing

We believe that employees who feel happy in themselves can have a positive impact on their families and on society as a whole and can contribute to the creation of sustainable value. With this in mind, the Group is committed to creating a workplace environment that empowers employees to lead lives that are physically, mentally, and socially fulfilling.
Through various measures aimed at realizing the Group’s organizational vision, we are creating an environment that responds to employees’ willingness to learn, respects diverse values and encourages employees to embrace challenges, with the aim of realizing their wellbeing. In this way, we are fostering an organizational culture in which employees themselves seek change and grow.

Penetration of Mission, Vision and Value

Opportunities for dialogue with management

The Group actively provides opportunities for dialogue between employees and management. ASKA Pharmaceutical aims to ensure that all people involved in the company, not just employees, respect each other’s diverse values so that it can become an organization that creates optimal solutions and innovation.
To this end, it provides the following opportunities for dialogue to improve employee engagement.

Dialogue between employees and top management (FY2023 results)
Number of dialogue held Time (hours)
74 times 110.5 hours

 

Work engagement (deviation)
FY2021 FY2022 FY2023
53.7 53.7 54.3

*Note: Deviation values are calculated based on 81 companies and organizations that introduced the work engagement survey, which was commissioned by the survey contractor.

Details of initiatives
Event Target Content
Town Hall
Meetings
All employees
(face-to-face)
Conducted with the aim of deepening mutual understanding between management and employees.
The President reported on the Group's vision, progress in the Medium-Term Management Plan, and business execution policies, etc., and engaged in dialogue with employees.

<Overview>

Period:April 1, 2024 - April 30, 2024

  • Place:Each of nationwide business sites
  • Time:12 times(60 minutes per meeting)
Roundtable Meetings Regular employees
(divided into junior employees, management candidates, and managers)
(face to face)
Held with the aim of shortening the distance between employees and management and improving employee engagement. These meetings are an open forum for top management to hear the thoughts and opinions of employees and for employees to directly hear the thoughts and messages of top management.

<Overview>
  • Period: November 1, 2023 - March 31, 2024
  • MethodThe president and vice president engaged in dialogue over lunch with employees who have different backgrounds in terms of position, age, and duties in charge. While confirming management policies and discussing future strategies, they also listened to employees' straightforward thoughts and opinions on the workplace to clarify the significance of the Company's existence.
  • Place: Head Office, Shonan Research Center, Iwaki Factory
  • Time: 23 times(60 minutes per meeting)
Dialogue with the labor union Labor union officers (all central committee members and central executive committee members belonging to each branch) Held with the aim of promoting discussion and deliberation between labor and management on the theme of the working environment and work styles at each workplace (branch).

<Overview>
    • Period: February 9, 2024
    • Method: Online
    • Time: 1 time per year

Employee Engagement

We believe that when employees can relate to our corporate philosophy, they will align also with our common vision and goals. Through their various roles, they will then independently develop initiatives that promote innovation. Based on this idea, the Group actively creates opportunities for communication with management, fosters awareness of diverse values and challenges, and improves the workplace environment and employee engagement. We have set indicators for employee engagement, consisting of “vitality, enthusiasm, and immersion” in work, and for mental toughness, which focuses on the “ability to solve problems” when faced with difficulties. Since FY2021, the Group has conducted an engagement survey of all employees, which we use as a vehicle for taking in direct feedback from employees. We aim to foster an organizational culture in which employees and management build relationships of mutual trust, working together to drive innovation.

In-house award system

The Group has established a system (the Group Award System) aimed at fostering a sense of unity and improving motivation within Group companies. Various challenges and achievements, such as cultural and social contributions, are selected from throughout the Group, and the President of ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings personally presents the awards. Each Group company also has its own award system aimed at increasing employee motivation. The president of each company personally presents awards to employees for their achievements, rewarding their initiative and ingenuity.

Basic Policy on Personnel Systems

In order to achieve our management vision, we believe it is essential for all personnel, including internal personnel, professional personnel, and senior personnel, to acquire new skills. The acquisition of new skills, in addition to the acquisition of short-term results, also has the purpose of improving the quality of training for young employees, and we believe that it will lead to faster development.
Moreover, in accordance with the rules for appointing core personnel to management positions based on the personnel system, we have decided to appoint appropriate candidates regardless of nationality, race, gender, age, or career experience, and we are actively and continuously recruiting and appointing diverse personnel.
We actively and continuously hire and appoint a diverse human resources with various work histories regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, age, color, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, social status or disability. In accordance with the Equal Pay for Equal Work guidelines, we determine compensation based on the basic role of the employee in the workplace, regardless of whether the employee is a regular or non-regular employee, and we do not provide any unreasonable differences in benefits or other forms of compensation.

Human Resources Development Policy

One of the strategies in the Medium-Term Management Plan is "Develop Human Resources to Realize Growth Strategies," and the Group is working to develop human resources with the goals of "developing and acquiring human resources capable of responding to new businesses and changes in the environment" and "creating an environment in which a diverse range of human resources, including women, professionals and seniors, can play an active role." Going forward, we will continue to implement human resource policies by promoting initiatives such as the development of a workplace environment and education and training programs that allow each employee to make the most of his or her characteristics and abilities.
Furthermore, we set a target for the ratio of female managers based on the recognition that it is important to ensure diversity in the management level, which plays a central role in management.

 

Education and Training

The Group promotes the development of an environment that responds to the individual's desire for autonomous learning and supports their growth. We have established an education and training system for the creation of new value, aiming to create an organization in which each individual has a diverse career aspiration, desires to grow, and acquires knowledge and skills on their own, and in which diverse human resources, regardless of age or attributes, can play an active role. We work to ensure that all employees can maximize their individual abilities by linking education and training with the human resource system. In designing training programs, we select and construct them based on the following human resource and organizational models: "Respond to change on one's own," "Promote diversity and inclusion," "Take on challenges," and "Act with integrity.
Specifically, in addition to mandatory Group-wide training and level-specific training to flexibly respond to the changing needs of departments and individuals, we actively introduce selective training (business skill selective training, external training courses, the latest e-learning, and correspondence courses) to provide IT skills, data utilization skills, business communication skills, business communication skills, language skills, etc.) as tools to support employees' autonomous growth and career development. In addition, we have incorporated career training by age group, selective training for female employees, and pre-transition training for older employees to promote the success of a diverse workforce.

In FY2023, we launched the APPLE Program*, a selective training program conducted throughout the fiscal year to develop the next generation of management leaders who will carry the future of our Group. In FY2024, we launched the GRAPE Program**, a global human resources development program aimed at fostering human resources who can lead globalization at an early stage.
* ASKA Pharma-HD Premium Leadership-skill Education Program
** Global Representative of ASKA Pharma-HD Education Program

We have also introduced a " fresher's leader system" and a "mentor system" for the purpose of training new employees and fostering next-generation leaders. The fresher's leader system, a unique initiative of the Company, allows new employees who have just joined the Company to participate in training and events planned by young senior employees and receive a variety of advice, thereby naturally acquiring the "expected image of human resources" and "attitude toward work" and becoming independent members of society at an early stage. At the same time, the program provides opportunities for young senior employees in charge of fresher's leader system to gain many insights, leading to improved coaching skills for them.

Education and Training Structure of ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings

Personnel System

ASKA Pharmaceutical, which forms the core of the Group, positions its human resource system as a system to encourage the achievement of our management vision. The three pillars of the personnel system, the grading system, the remuneration system, and the evaluation system, are closely linked to each other, and we will maintain consistency among them while constantly working to optimize their operation in order to maximize human capital.
In April 2021, we introduced a personnel system aimed at maximizing human capital in order to realize the growth strategy set forth in our Medium-Term Management Plan, which started in FY2021.
Under this personnel system, as measures to strongly promote the achievement of the Medium-Term Management Plan, we have introduced a role grading system, role transition rules, a single rate system for all grades, and the establishment of evaluation meetings, etc., and we are operating the system while constantly working to optimize it.
We also create opportunities for autonomous learning, aiming to see employees themselves desire to grow and acquire knowledge and skills.

Various Personnel Systems

Based on the belief that it is essential to create an environment in which diverse human resources can play an active role, we have introduced the following various systems. We promote the proactive career challenges of our employees, and through career self-assessment, an internal recruitment system, and strategic job rotation measures, we are working to revitalize the organization by fostering career awareness and strengthening cross-departmental collaboration among human resources.

Internal job-posting (career challenge) system and career self-assessment system

The internal job-posting (career challenge) system, which began in 2017, is a measure to respect employees' ideas on career development and to promote in-house job matching, the results of which are reflected in personnel changes. The number of applicants is increasing every year, and many employees are taking up the challenge.
In addition, in order to respond to the diverse career aspirations of our employees, we have introduced a career self-assessment system whereby once a year, employees consider their own future career plans and report them to the Human Resources Department and their superiors.

Job rotations

We implement strategic job rotations that contribute to human resources development in order to develop the skills of our employees as well as their broad knowledge and perspective on all aspects of corporate activities. By strengthening cross-divisional cooperation among human resources, we are able to promptly respond to various challenges we face.

Flex-time System

In FY2019, we introduced a flex-time system* that allows employees to work efficiently while maintaining a good work-life balance by deciding their own daily start and finish times and working hours.

*Excluding discretionary workers and Iwaki Factory workers

Telecommuting System

Our telecommuting system enables a diverse workforce to work autonomously and perform their duties flexibly. This shift was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to explore new work styles utilizing telecommuting.

Remote Work System

After promoting the telecommuting system, we have identified cases in which employees can fulfill their job responsibilities from remote locations without commuting to the office. As a result, we have introduced this system with the aim of creating a flexible working environment that allows employees to work under certain conditions.

Work Location Limited System for Medical Representatives and Four-day Workweek System

We have introduced these systems to support the balancing of work and childcare/nursing care.

Reemployment system for employees reaching retirement age

In this era of 100-year life expectancy, we provide training for employees to understand their roles, working conditions, and changes in the working environment, and to foster a mindset of contributing to the organization by supporting and training younger employees, as well as their own job satisfaction, so that they can continue to work for us even after reaching the age of retirement. In addition, as a system, we ensure equal and balanced treatment with regular employees by clarifying their roles and setting rational remuneration, while taking into consideration the realization of diverse work styles and health aspects.

Reemployment Registration System for Retirees (Welcome Back System)

We have introduced this system for those who have retired from our company owing to life or career plans, etc., to enable them to return to work and play an active role in our company.

Work support grant system

We have implemented a system to offer work support grants to employees who cover their colleagues' duties when they are forced to leave the workplace or take a leave of absence due to various life events. Our goal with this system is to promote a positive corporate culture that embraces and supports the life events experienced by colleagues in the workplace.

Support for balancing both work and private life to enhance work-life balance

We provide a work environment where employees can balance their work and life so that they can demonstrate their skills and abilities.

  • For more details, please see the other page "Support for balancing both work and private life to enhance work-life balance"

Support for balancing both work and private life to enhance work-life balance

Occupational Safety and Health Initiatives

The Group promotes safety and health activities at each of its business sites in accordance with the Company-wide Basic Policy on Safety and Health. We are actively working to ensure employee safety, prevent occupational accidents, maintain and promote physical and mental health, and create a comfortable work environment.

ASKA Pharmaceutical, the core subsidiary of the Group, holds the Company-wide Safety and Health Committee meetings. At the meetings, we share information on health matters, health management initiatives, as well as issues discussed by the Safety and Health Committee at each business site, and exchange opinions, thus promoting unified efforts. Based on the basic policy established by the Committee, each business site holds a monthly Health and Safety Committee meeting to promote activities.

ASKA Pharmaceutical FY2024 Safety and Health Basic Policy

  1. We will thoroughly inspect the work environment and provide safety education to achieve zero work- and commuting-related accidents.
  2. We strengthen traffic safety education and information provision to ensure safe driving. 
    In particular, for sales department that uses company vehicles, promote the reduction of the number of traffic accidents through e-learning and practical driving safety instruction for newly graduated medical representatives, and safe driving courses at each business site.
  3. We focus on implementing measures to prevent mental disorders that may arise due to changes in the working environment.  At the same time, we promote measures to prevent lifestyle-related diseases, follow-up measures for those with health checkup findings, and measures to maintain and promote good health.
  4. We share information on overtime work and other potential health risks with industrial physicians to ensure appropriate implementation of health management guidance, etc.
  5. As a safety measure for the increasing number of middle-aged and elderly employees, we promote awareness of the decline in physical and mental functions due to aging and implement workplace measures to prevent falls and back pain. 

Efforts to prevent work-related and commuting disasters

We aim for a workplace with zero occupational accidents and zero accidents during commuting. To achieve this, we conduct regular safety inspections of the work environment and remind workers to be cautious while commuting to and from work. In case of any accident, we have a system in place to prevent its recurrence by identifying the cause.

Traffic safety initiatives

To prevent and reduce the number of accidents involving our company vehicles, we have taken several measures. Firstly, we have installed in-vehicle equipment that records both inside and outside videos. Secondly, we have switched to vehicles equipped with high safety features. Thirdly, we have held study sessions to review near-misses. Additionally, all company vehicles are equipped with disaster prevention bags in case employees are forced to remain in their vehicles due to natural disasters or traffic restrictions.

Reduction of long working hours

We believe that maintaining a work-life balance is crucial for improving productivity. Thus, we strive to prevent overwork and promote good physical and mental health.  To achieve this, we introduced flexible working hours in 2019, except for some operations. In 2020, we went a step further and introduced super-flexible working hours with no core hours. As a result, we have renewed the attendance management system so that all employees can manage their working hours efficiently in an easy-to-understand way.

Countermeasures against Infectious Diseases

The Company recognizes that health problems caused by infectious diseases can be a workplace issue. When the COVID-19 was spreading, we quickly set up a task force to ensure the safety of all concerned, including employees and their families, as our top priority. We will continue to thoroughly implement basic measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases while preventing the spread of infectious diseases in the workplace.

Health Management Initiatives

Our group promotes health management from various angles so that employees, the organization, and society can mutually share the valuable happiness of "health. Based on our corporate philosophy, we believe that "human resources" are the driving force that propels our corporate activities, and we are committed to not only managing the health of our employees, but also to their physical and mental well-being, their autonomous growth, and the further enhancement of organizational productivity and creativity.
We appointed our Senior Managing Member of the Board of Directors,Representative Director as a Health Promotion Manager, and conducted various initiatives related to health management. As a result, we have recognized as a White 500 enterprise under the 2024 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program for six consecutive years since FY 2018. We will continue to maintain and promote the mental and physical health of all employees in cooperation with our industrial health staff, health insurance union, and labor union.
* During FY 2018-2020, ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was independently certified, and during FY 2021-2023, ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings Co., Ltd. as a group was certified.

  • For more information on our health management initiatives, please see the Health Management Initiatives page.

Health Management Initiatives

Related Data

Please refer to the ESG Chart Databook for the latest information.

ESG Data Book

External Evaluations

FY External Evaluations
FY2021 Kurumin Certification
(ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)

Based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare certifies companies that have formulated an action plan for general employers and meet certain standards as companies that support child rearing.
Top Hundred Telework Pioneers Certification
(ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has been recognizing enterprises and organizations advancing the introduction and utilization of teleworking as Telework Pioneers and selecting and announcing companies with sufficient achievements as the top hundred telework pioneers since FY2015.

ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. on a non-consolidated basis - As of each fiscal year end