Respect for Human Rights

Basic ideas and policy

In 2021, we published a human rights policy that places respect for human rights at the core of our business activities in all countries and regions where we operate. This policy was formulated not only for all of our employees, but also for our business partners, including our suppliers, to understand and adopt. The Human Rights Policy is also reflected in the "Our Code of Conduct", newly formulated for the launch of Resonac, and we are working to disseminate it in all workplaces.
The Group is also steadily continuing and deepening its human rights due diligence in line with this Human Rights Policy.

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Processes for human rights initiatives

The Resonac Group Human Rights Policy

The Resonac Group aims to contribute to the sustainable development of a global society based on its significance of existence (purpose) of "changing society with the potential of chemistry."
The Resonac Group has human rights as the basis of its business activities in all countries and regions where it operates in order to realize a society in which the dignity of all people is ensured and everyone is equally respected without being left behind. We have clarified these ideas and attitudes, and have formulated a human rights policy (hereinafter referred to as this policy) here as a promise to our stakeholders.

Scope of human rights policy

This policy applies to all officers and employees (including contract employees) working in the Resonac Group (Resonac Holdings Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries). We also expect all business partners, including our suppliers, to understand and support the content of this policy, and will continue to work to ensure that this policy is respected by them.

Commitment to respect for human rights

We are aware that the businesses of the Resonac Group and all business partners including suppliers, directly or indirectly affect human rights in each process of the value chain from product development to procurement, manufacturing, distribution, use, final consumption, and disposal.
The Resonac Group is committed to prohibiting all discrimination and harassment, providing a safe working environment and reducing excessive working hours, ensuring minimum wages, and respecting freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. We also do not allow child labor, forced labor or human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation, especially in the field of supply chain management.

  • Support for international human rights principles
    The Resonac Group supports internationally recognized human rights principles (“International Bill of Human Rights”, the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) “Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at work”, “the Children's Rights and Business Principles”, etc.) and make them our own standards.
    In addition, as a UN Global Compact signatory company, we will respect human rights in all aspects of our business activities and strive to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts by operating our business in accordance with "the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact" and "the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights."
  • Remediation
    In the unlikely event that the operations, products and services of the Resonac Group and its business partners including suppliers, have an adverse impact on the human rights of our customers, local communities and other stakeholders, we will endeavor to provide for remediation through appropriate procedures.
  • Compliance with applicable laws and regulations
    In making business decisions, the Resonac Group will comply with all applicable laws and regulations in each country and region in which it operates. In the unlikely event that the laws and regulations of the country or region differ or conflict with the internationally recognized human rights principles, or when faced with conflicting requirements, we will pursue ways to respect the internationally recognized human rights principles. In the context of stakeholders and circumstances where the Resonac Group cannot control decision-making, we will strive to exert influence so that this policy will be respected, and will continue to work to avoid complicity in human rights violations.
Governance

In order to fulfill our responsibility to respect human rights, the Resonac Group will maintain an internal system to steadily implement human rights due diligence initiatives based on this policy.
In addition, we will reflect this policy in relevant policies, procedures and operations so that it can be properly incorporated into our business activities.

Human rights due diligence

In accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Resonac Group will establish a process to properly assess the impact of business decision-making and execution on human rights, identify, prevent and mitigate risks that cause or contribute to serious human rights violations, and strive to provide for remediation.
In addition, in order to verify whether the adverse impact on human rights is being dealt with, we will continuously track and evaluate the effectiveness of the response.

Grievance mechanism

The Resonac Group will establish grievance mechanisms both internally and externally with the aim of early detection of concerns, including adverse impacts on human rights, and the resolution of problems. The grievance mechanisms are available to all stakeholders such as employees, business partners including suppliers, and local communities. We will ensure the anonymity of the person making the report and the confidentiality of the content of the report. In addition, we will prohibit unfavorable treatment and retaliation against the whistleblowers, and will thoroughly protect them.

Stakeholder engagement

The Resonac Group recognizes that it is important to understand the adverse impacts on human rights from the perspective of those affected. Therefore, we will endeavor to utilize it in our efforts to respect human rights by continuously conducting dialogues and discussions with our stakeholders.

Information disclosure

The Resonac Group regularly discloses information on initiatives on respecting human rights and human rights due diligence taken based on this policy through its website and other means.

Dissemination / education

The Resonac Group will not only continue to provide appropriate education and training to all officers and employees (including contract employees) but also work on capability building necessary to put this policy into practice so that this policy will permeate the company.
In addition, we will strive to respect human rights throughout the value chain by thoroughly communicating the contents of this policy to our business partners, including suppliers.

Human rights policy formulation process and review.

This policy is informed by the advice of external experts who have expertise and practical experience in human rights and has been formulated based on internationally recognized human rights principles, "the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact", and "the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights" with the approval of the Board of Directors.
We will review this policy on a regular basis in light of changes in the social environment and dialogues and discussions with stakeholders, and strive to enhance efforts to respect human rights.

Resonac Holdings Corporation
Group CEO
Hidehito Takahashi
October 1, 2021

Promotion system

Human rights initiatives are implemented by the company-wide Human Rights Project led by a secretariat comprising organizations specializing in strategy, human resources, risk management, occupational safety, procurement and other sectors, and members selected from individual business units, etc., who are responsible for initiatives respecting human rights. Sustainability Promotion Meetings attended by the Group Chief Executive Officer (CXO), CEOs and business unit heads regularly deliberate on human rights issues.

Target

The following KPIs are being pursued as material issue KPIs.

Targets and results of KPIs on material issues

KPIs on material issues 2025 targets Results in 2022
Respect for human rights Established a human rights due diligence implementation framework
  • Initiated an investigation into human rights risks, including within our supply chain
  • Began raising awareness of Sustainability Procurement Guidelines that reflect our human rights policy

Due diligence for human rights

The Resonac Group is committed to fostering due diligence for human rights so that we can identify any events that might lead to the infringement of human rights and deal with the identified issues in an appropriate manner to prevent human rights violations and any complicit acts.

The human rights due diligence conducted in 2021 focused on a risk survey and a CSR procurement process survey of Resonac Group employees in Japan, given the importance of negative impacts on human rights in light of the company's own respect for human rights. For the human rights-related issues thus detected, we are raising its awareness through training, reviewing related rules, improving the procurement process, and conducting specific measures for improvement.
For this initiative, we are receiving professional advice from KPMG AZSA Sustainability Co., Ltd.

In 2022, in addition to the aforementioned measures, We also expanded our target of human rights due diligence in high-risk areas and in chemical companies to get an overview of the Group's risk profile.

In 2023, we will conduct employee assessments and supply chain human rights risk surveys both in Japan and overseas to identify high-risk areas/regions and consider remedial measures, as well as further instill respect for human rights within the company through training.

Human rights education

Following the formulation of our Group Human Rights Policy, we have educated employees on the basic concept of respect for human rights, important human rights issues, and the relationship between business and human rights through e-learning, workplace discussion meetings, and other training programs in order to better employees’ understanding of the Human Rights Policy and respect for human rights.
We plan to offer human rights education via e-learning designed exclusively for our company to personnel located in Japan and overseas by the end of 2023.

Human rights throughout the supply chain

To promote human rights-conscious business activities throughout our supply chains, we have also reflected our Human Rights Policy in our Sustainable Procurement Guidelines, which specify areas that the Resonac Group and suppliers must work together on, and we are sharing these with our suppliers.