Linking people to the future with OMRON’s perspective on cutting edge technology
Policy and initiatives to protect the fundamental rights of all
Basic Policy
Human Rights Awareness Promotion System
Human Rights Education
Prohibition of Child Labor and Forced Labor
Harassment Prevention
Freedom of Association
The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) adopted by the United Nations in 2011 make it clear that every business enterprise has a responsibility to respect human rights. Worldwide, the body of human rights-related laws, regulations, and rules for companies is evolving. In recent years, human rights initiatives in accordance with the UNGP have imposed progressively greater mandatory obligations on companies, and fulfillment of those obligations is becoming increasingly important from the perspective of business continuity.
From the viewpoint of the sustainable enhancement of corporate value, we established respect for human rights in the value chain as one of the material sustainability issues under SF2030. We believe that human rights initiatives throughout the entire value chain will become an indispensable component of enhancing corporate value.
Based on this background, we established a new human rights policy based on the UNGP approach in March 2022.
OMRON Group (hereinafter referred to as “OMRON”), which consists of OMRON Corporation and its subsidiaries, has established this OMRON Human Rights Policy (hereinafter referred to as “this Policy”), to fulfill its corporate responsibility in respecting human rights in accordance with “OMRON Principles”, and to ensure that our management practices and actions are always in line with those of the international community.
This Policy applies to all executives and employees of OMRON in order to ensure respect towards the human rights of all stakeholders involved in the OMRON Group value chain. We also expect all business partners of OMRON, including suppliers and distributors, to understand and support the content of this Policy, and will continue to work to ensure that this Policy is respected.
We declare that OMRON will carry out human rights due diligence in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and will avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts in our value chain.
To meet the above-mentioned commitment, OMRON respects human rights as those expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights, the International Labor Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. OMRON Corporation has also signed the United Nations Global Compact and upholds the 10 Principles of the United Nations Global Compact. We will respect the above internationally recognized human rights principles based on compliance with all the laws and regulations of each country and region in which we operate.
OMRON will identify human rights-related issues to focus on throughout all our business processes, including development, procurement, production, distribution, and sales, and take the appropriate measures to deal with them.
1. Discrimination or Other Unreasonable Treatment
OMRON does not tolerate any discrimination, acts that hurt the dignity of an individual, harassment or treat others in an unreasonable manner on the basis of national origin, citizenship, color, race, belief, religion, ancestry, marital status, gender, disabilities, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, place of birth, social status, or any other basis prohibited by local law.
2. Forced Labor and Child Labor
OMRON does not tolerate any forced labor or child labor including slavery and human trafficking.
3. Privacy and Personal Information
OMRON respects the privacy of all persons and will use all reasonable care to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of personal data. OMRON complies with the laws and regulations of countries and regions related to the protection of personal information and does not tolerate unauthorized disclosure of or access to such data.
4. Harassment
OMRON does not tolerate any action that causes physical or mental distress such as sexual harassment or power harassment*.
5. Occupational Safety and Health
OMRON will strive to create and maintain a safe and healthy working environment where persons working in each workplace can fully demonstrate their abilities.
6. Ethical Use of Technology
OMRON will take account of potential impact for human rights caused by technologies such as AI, robotics and IoT, and will take advantage of them appropriately to avoid problems, including but not limited to cause of accident, discrimination and invasion of privacy.
All persons at OMRON, from operation-level staff members to senior management, will work together to establish a system ensuring the execution of our responsibility for respecting human rights at the global level. As for the system to assume the responsibility covering OMRON’s entire value chain, the Senior General Manager of the Global Human Resources and Administration HQ and the Senior General Manager of the Global Procurement, Quality and Logistics HQ and the Senior General Managers of the related business divisions, who have been delegated authority from the President and CEO, will be responsible for promoting respect for human rights for OMRON companies and supply chains, respectively. Important points concerning our commitment fulfillment for respecting human rights will be decided by the Board of Directors. The execution status of this decision will be reported to the Board of Directors by the President and CEO and monitored and supervised by the Board of Directors.
To fulfill our responsibility for respecting human rights, OMRON will carry out human rights due diligence in accordance with this Policy. OMRON will assess impacts that our activities have on human rights and will commit to avoid or mitigate any adverse impacts identified. OMRON will strive to use its leverage in the impact of our business relationships on human rights that are directly linked to the operations, products or services of the group so that this Policy will be respected.
Should it become apparent that we have caused or have contributed to adverse impacts on human rights through any of our business activities, OMRON will provide for remediation through appropriate processes.
OMRON will implement activities set forth in this Policy through consultation and communication with various internal and external stakeholders.
OMRON aims to realize fair and transparent management practices. We will disclose results from and progress of the human rights due diligence we carry out as appropriate exercising the utmost care for the affected stakeholders and trade secrets.
In order to ensure that this Policy is embedded within all members across OMRON, OMRON provides appropriate education and training to all executives and employees. We will also encourage business partners such as suppliers and distributors to fully comprehend this Policy.
This Policy was formulated with the approval of the Board of Directors of OMRON Corporation. To effectively address human rights issues that may change in response to social trends and the changing business environments, this Policy will be undergone periodic reviews and revisions.
(Established: March 1, 2022)
OMRON references the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and fulfills its corporate responsibility to respect human rights by developing procedures to identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy adverse human rights impacts.
With the advice of an external consulting firm, we at OMRON conducted a human rights impact assessment in fiscal 2017 to determine where in our supply chain human rights risks were most likely to occur. As a result, we identified people working in our production plants and at suppliers in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia as being most at risk. Within these areas, we assumed the potential risk was particularly high for temporary workers, contract workers, and foreign workers involved in production.
In fiscal 2021, we reviewed our human rights initiatives under VG2.0, our medium-term management plan in operation from fiscal 2017 to fiscal 2020. We reassessed key human rights issues relevant to our businesses. We also assessed the impact of OMRON technologies on human rights. We clarified the results of these assessments as Specific Human Rights Issues in the Human Rights Policy established in March 2022.
Respecting human rights in the value chain is a material sustainability issue for us at OMRON. In fiscal 2022, we intend to conduct a human rights impact assessment that covers our entire value chain.
We at OMRON identified respect for human rights as a material sustainability issue in our 2030 Long-Term Vision. We set long-term targets through 2030, as well as targets under our SF 1st Stage medium-term management plan (fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2024). During SF 1st Stage, we will ensure that global employees are familiar with and understand the new OMRON Human Rights Policy. We will strive to establish a global human rights governance system, conducting human rights due diligence and establishing a human rights remedy mechanism in line with the UNGP.
In addition, we conduct risk management based on a common Group framework called Integrated Risk Management, and defined human rights risk as one of the significant Group risks. In fiscal 2022, we identified human rights risk as among the risks with utmost importance, or S-rank risks in our definition, and are stepping up efforts in this context.
We conduct annual assessments of our production sites and suppliers identified as having high human rights risks based on human rights impact assessments conducted in the past. We engage in corrective activities to address actual and potential human rights risks.
We at OMRON conduct surveys and assessments of the status at major production sites using the RBA Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) and other self-assessment tools. In fiscal 2021, we conducted surveys and assessments of the status of 19 OMRON production sites, mainly in Japan, China, and the Asia-Pacific region. In conducting these surveys and assessments, we used the RBA SAQ (Self-Assessment) and other self-assessment tools.
We conduct periodic surveys of suppliers as well to prevent human rights risks in the supply chain. Specifically, we ask suppliers to self-assess compliance with the OMRON Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines, including human rights compliance and labor practices. We then request any improvements required. Assessments are conducted annually for 50 critical suppliers and at least once every three years for other suppliers.
The Sustainability Promotion Committee assesses our efforts on sustainability issues annually, including human rights issues, submitting a report to the Executive Council and the Board of Directors.
We report our human rights initiatives to all stakeholders through our website, integrated reports, and annual securities reports.
In its Sustainability Policy, OMRON states: “We cultivate strong relationships with all of our stakeholders through responsible engagement.” In our human rights initiatives, we will engage in periodic dialogues with external human rights experts to deepen our understanding of respect for human rights in accordance with international standards and increase the effectiveness of our initiatives.
Compared to companies in certain other countries, most Japanese companies are only just starting full-fledged initiatives in terms of human rights awareness. In these circumstances, it is encouraging to see that OMRON is addressing human rights issues, focusing on the centrality of people based on its corporate philosophy. In order to strengthen OMRON’s initiatives, I believe two things are important: One is to value the “why” aspect: why it is necessary to address human rights issues. Another is to consciously incorporate the perspective of rights holders into business, considering whose rights and what rights are concerned in the course of management and business activities. Disclosure of human rights risks also leads to external evaluation that the company has identified the risks. Appropriate disclosure of what the company is doing, what it will do, and what it needs to do, rather than disclosure after implementation of all measures has been completed, will help build trust among stakeholders.
Kotonoha Sogo Law Office, Certified NPO Human Rights Now Akiko Sato
In Japan, to enhance human rights awareness more effectively and efficiently, the OMRON Group established the Basic Rules for Human Rights Awareness Promotion as common rules for all Group companies in Japan. In accordance with these rules, the Central Human Rights Committee chaired by Senior General Manager of Global Human Resources and Administration HQ has been established at OMRON headquarters. Under this core organization, a human rights committee has been set up at each OMRON Corporation site and each of the Group companies in Japan, working to raise human rights awareness among all employees in Japan.
The OMRON Group in Japan conducts human rights training for all employees, including part-timers and temporary workers, designed to raise awareness of human rights. Rank specific human rights training programs are also available for new employees, mid-career recruits, new senior managers, and directors and executive officers.
We conducted human rights training in fiscal 2021 via e-learning under the general topic of unconscious bias. Unconscious bias emerges as unconscious words and actions reflecting a person’s experience, knowledge, values, etc., and is not easily recognized by oneself. For participants to understand that everyone has unconscious bias that underlies harassment, the training included e-learning as well as group discussions based on short videos. Many participants responded that they gained empathy and awareness regarding their own unconscious bias, words, and attitudes.
We provide a human-rights related questionnaire to all participants after the human rights training, taking any necessary remedial measures immediately and as appropriate.
We also conducted human rights awareness training to a wider range of workers, providing onsite contractors with the same training for the Group employees. The Group widened access to remedies, such as human rights consultations and compliance hotline, to cover all onsite workers as well, announcing the availability via posters and other media. The OMRON Group will keep working so that everyone at the OMRON sites is treated with respect and dignity and can work securely and safely.
Each regional headquarters overseas takes the lead in human rights awareness activities. We provide the same training to contract employees working at overseas Group business sites that we provide to our own employees. We hang posters and use other means to make our compliance hotline and other remedy systems known to employees of subcontractors to facilitate awareness.
In order to promote effective initiatives in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, it is essential for top management to have in-depth understanding of international human rights standards and social demands regarding respect for human rights. In fiscal 2021, we invited outside lecturers and conducted human rights training for internal directors, internal members of the Audit & Supervisory Board, and executive officers. The lessons learned have been utilized in the planning and implementation of SF 1st Stage human rights initiatives.
The OMRON Group Human Rights Policy stipulates that the Group will not engage in discrimination, acts that offend personal dignity, harassment, or other unfair treatment of any kind, regardless of nationality, citizenship, place of birth, race, color, creed, religion, ancestry (ethnicity), marital status, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, social status, or other grounds specified by local laws and regulations.
The OMRON Human Rights Policy prohibits all forced labor and child labor, including slavery and human trafficking. OMRON Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines prohibit forced labor in our supply chain, including slavery and human trafficking, in our supply chain. We require all suppliers to comply with these guidelines.
The OMRON Group Human Rights Policy declares that we respect the privacy of each individual, handle personal information with the utmost care, comply with national and regional laws and regulations related to the protection of personal information, and that will not tolerate leaks or unnecessary attempts to obtain personal information.
Under the supervision of the director in charge of cyber security, the general manager of the Global Risk Management and Legal HQ is responsible for the management of confidential and personal information. Divisions established under the supervision of the general manager monitor trends in the laws and regulations of each country and the status of the OMRON Group, pursuing any measures necessary.
We conducted a human rights impact assessment in fiscal 2021 regarding the way our AI, robotics, IoT and other technologies affect human rights. Based on the results of the assessment, we will launch a study in fiscal 2022 on the appropriate use of technology.
We at the OMRON Group (in Japan) have established consultation desks for human rights at all business locations. We appoint sexual and power harassment advisors, human rights committee members, and those in charge of human rights issues from among our employees. By posting these contacts and departments through the intranet and business office bulletin boards, as well as offering one-on-one, telephone- or email-based consultation, we are working to create an environment in which anyone can feel at ease and comfortable to talk to.
When advice is sought, the Group works to solve issues based on the defined, prepared escalation process, specifically as follows:
The OMRON Group implements a Whistleblower System as the framework for monitoring ethical conduct across the Group.
In Japan, we accept notifications from a wide range of personnel, including executives, employees, and temporary employees, as well as families, retired personnel, suppliers and on-site contract workers. Besides handling whistleblower reports by a dedicated department within the company, we also have an external law firm commissioned to accept reports from whistleblowers. A whistleblower system is also available outside Japan, with contact desks in place at major sites in the Americas, Europe, Greater China, Korea, and Asia. This system is operated in accordance with the rules in Japan.
We at the OMRON Group disclose contact information on our corporate website to respond to inquiries from customers, shareholders, investors, and other stakeholders.
The OMRON Group has established a hotline to accept reports from suppliers on compliance-related problems involving OMRON purchasing departments, as well as their opinions, in order to ensure the strict maintenance of compliance in-house.
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