Human Rights
Policy
The Company's human rights policy states that we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind based on race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, language, religion, politics or creed, nationality or social origin, poverty or wealth, birth, disability, etc. In addition to the executives and employees of the Company, the policy expects all stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and investees, to respect human rights.
Japan Post Insurance Human Rights Policy
1. Commitment to Respect Human Rights
Working to realize our management philosophy to "Be a trustful partner for people, always being close at hand and endeavoring to protect their well-being," Japan Post Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "the Company") recognizes that the respect for human rights is an important social responsibility and respects the human rights of all individuals, including its executives and employees, customers, and business partners. By promoting human rights initiatives through the business and social activities of the Company and Japan Post Group, the Company will contribute to the realization of a society that is safe, secure, and enriched.
2. Respect for International Norms
As a signatory company of the United Nations Global Compact, the Company complies with applicable laws in the areas where it operates its business, and upholds human rights by respecting the International Bill of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In cases where national or regional laws and regulations conflict with internationally recognized norms of human rights, we will seek ways to respect the international human rights norms while also complying with the respective laws and regulations.
3. Scope of Our Policy
This policy applies to executives and employees of the Company who will work to build stronger ties with our customers by engaging in all business activities with the customer's point of view in mind. The Company expects that all of its stakeholders, including customers, investees, and suppliers, will also respect human rights in the same manner based on this policy.
4. Human Rights Initiatives
The Company does not discriminate based on race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, language, religion, politics, creed, nationality, ethnicity, age, social origin, poverty or wealth, birth, disability, etc. We also do not tolerate human rights abuses such as forced labor, child labor, and human trafficking. In addition to not being directly involved in any human rights violations, the Company also aims to avoid indirect human rights violations.
5. For Our Executives and Employees
The Company respects the human rights of each of its executives and employees and ensures safe and comfortable working environments that are free from all forms of harassment such as sexual harassment, power harassment, and pregnancy harassment, as well as bullying and discriminatory language and behavior. We also respect freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, and promote diversity and inclusion to provide each and every employee with equal and fair opportunities to work and personal development. In addition, we support our executives and employees in improving their physical and mental health so that they can work with vigor and vitality. When hiring new employees, we are committed to a fair selection process.
6. For Our Customers
We will provide "safe and secure" financial services by preventing and mitigating negative human rights impacts in the provision of insurance products and services through the nationwide post office network and our digital services. Furthermore, we will strengthen the protection of privacy (information management) and reinforce the prevention of any involvement in money laundering. We also endeavor to improve the financial literacy of our customers and young persons so that they can use financial services appropriately.
7. For Our Investees
From the perspective of fulfilling our social responsibility through investment and financing, we will respect human rights in our stewardship activities, including how we make decisions on investment and financing, and engage in dialogue with the companies we invest in and finance.
8. For Our Suppliers
We request our suppliers to comply with guidelines and other rules that stipulate respect for human rights, and we promote efforts to address human rights issues throughout our supply chain.
9. For Regional Communities
We strive to respect the human rights of all people in the communities affected by our business activities.
10. Human Rights Due Diligence and Consultation Desk
We will appropriately carry out human rights due diligence in order to prevent and mitigate any negative impacts on human rights resulting from our business activities. In addition, we will continuously work to develop a system for receiving human rights-related inquiries from various stakeholders. If these efforts reveal any involvement on our part in negative impacts on human rights, we will respond appropriately.
11. Training and Awareness
In order to fulfill our responsibility to respect human rights, we will promote and stimulate training and awareness-raising activities on human rights issues, including the Dowa issue (discrimination against Buraku people), so that each and every executive and employee can deepen their awareness and understanding of respect for human rights and strive to avoid or reduce negative impacts on human rights.
12. Information Disclosure
We will publicize our initiatives to respect human rights on our website and in disclosure materials.
13. Governance
In formulating this policy, the Company makes decisions based on the discussion at the Executive Committee while taking into account the opinions of its stakeholders. The status of initiatives based on this policy will be reported to the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. The content of the policy will be reviewed as needed in light of changes in the business environment and dialogue with stakeholders.
August 25, 2023
TANIGAKI Kunio
Director and President, CEO, Representative Executive Officer
Japan Post Insurance Co., Ltd.
Promotion System for Human Rights Awareness
We have set up the "Work Style Reform Committee," chaired by the Executive Officer responsible for the Human Resources Department, for ways to promote human rights awareness in the Company, etc. as one of its major roles.
In addition, the "person responsible for management of human rights awareness" and "person in charge of human rights awareness" of each organization promote human rights initiatives, responding to problems related to human rights, and taking other actions.
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Human Rights Due Diligence
We have initiated human rights due diligence initiatives based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, among others.
This is an ongoing process to prevent and mitigate negative impacts on human rights in our corporate activities. We will strive to achieve respect for human rights and sustainable business by implementing this process on a regular basis, taking into account the opinions of outside experts.
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Identifying and Assessing Negative Impacts on Human Rights
We identify risks of negative human rights impacts that could occur not only on our officers and employees, but also on our customers, suppliers, and investees.
| Stakeholders | Examples of potentially serious issues |
|---|---|
| Employees | Harassment, gender discrimination and violations of women's rights, inadequate working conditions and environment, violations of freedom of association, violations of privacy |
| Customers | Violations of consumer safety and right to know, mishandling of personal information |
| Suppliers | Child labor, forced labor, human trafficking, inadequate working conditions and environment |
| Investees | Child labor, forced labor, human trafficking, inadequate working conditions and environment, violations of the rights of local ethnic groups and indigenous peoples |
(*1) We recognize that the prohibition of discrimination is an important issue for all stakeholders.
(*2) The table above gives examples of issues that we will continue to identify through our human rights due diligence efforts.
Stopping, Preventing and Mitigating Negative Impacts
We are undertaking various initiatives to mitigate negative impacts related to human rights.
Employees
・Training to raise awareness of human rights and prevent harassment, etc.
In addition to various level-specific training programs for officers, executives, all managers, and new employees, we also provide video training for all employees, e-learning training, study sessions at workplaces, and training for harassment counselors to improve their consultation response skills.
Customers
・Privacy protection (information management)
We have established a fundamental policy for protecting personal information (Japan Post Insurance Privacy Policy), and are committed to the appropriate protection and handling of personal information.
・Handling of policy procedures, etc.
To ensure that people with disabilities and others can complete procedures with ease, we provide braille, substitute reading, and written communication services.
Suppliers
We have formulated the "Japan Post Group CSR Procurement Guidelines," which include contents such as respect for human rights and occupational health and safety, and have informed our suppliers of the specific initiatives we require of them. We are also working to strengthen our supply chain management by including sustainability clauses on human rights, labor conditions, environmental protection, etc. in our contracts with suppliers.
・Questionnaires for suppliers
We have conducted a questionnaire survey of some of our suppliers, asking them to answer questions about the status of their efforts to respect human rights and encourage them to promote various initiatives.
Investees
・Investments and loans with respect for human rights
As a responsible institutional investor, we promote initiatives that take human rights into consideration when making investment decisions and in dialogue with investee companies.
We also endorse Advance, a collaborative stewardship initiative established by the PRI for institutional investors to act on human rights and social issues (*). As a responsible institutional investor, we will continue to consider human rights in our investment decisions and stewardship activities, with the goal of promoting positive impacts on human rights and social issues.
(*)The Japan Post Insurance Co., Ltd. is an endorser of Advance and does not participate in any engagement activities within Advance.
Human Rights Awareness Training
We help to raise awareness of human rights in various ways, such as training by job level for officers, executive employees, administrators, new employees, etc. as well as DVD training, e-learning, workshops in the workplace, etc. for all employees.
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Human Rights Awareness Slogans
Every year, we invite employees and their families to come up with human rights awareness slogans and make the best entries into posters to be displayed in all workplaces.
Anti-harassment posters and human rights awareness slogan posters displayed in all workplaces
Conducting Human Rights Checks
When creating external documents, advertisements, internal employee documents, etc., the checklist includes checking for problems in terms of respect for human rights. In addition, when necessary, our department specializing in human rights verifies to ensure that no expressions are included that may be perceived as discriminatory or offensive.
Initiatives to Eliminate of Harassment
We believe that harassment in the workplace is a problem related to human rights and not only deeply impacts the dignity of individuals and causes irreparable damage to victims, but also negatively affects the people nearby and prevents all employees working in the same workplace from making full use of their abilities. We have stipulated "Prohibition of harassment" such as sexual harassment and power harassment in the rules of employment and raise awareness through education as well as training to prevent harassment. In addition, we have set up a consultation desk to enable victims to consult us with a sense of security.
If we can establish that laws, regulations, or internal rules have been violated, then the perpetrator will be subject to disciplinary action, including punitive dismissal, in accordance with disciplinary rules, etc. Perpetrators will be dealt with strictly, and efforts will be made to prevent a recurrence.
[For reference]
| Japan Post Group | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases of harassment(*1) | 118 | 134 | 88 | 108(*2) |
*1 Number of disciplinary actions undertaken in response to harassment
*2 The incidence rate for all employees of the Japan Post Group (approximately 370,000 people) is approximately 0.03%.
(*) (Scope of aggregation) Japan Post Holdings Co., Ltd., Japan Post Co., Ltd., Japan Post Bank Co., Ltd., Japan Post Insurance Co., Ltd.
Relief Measures
Human Rights Consultation Desk
We have established a consultation desk for harassment and other human rights issues in the workplace. Consultants respect the privacy, honor, and other human rights of the people concerned, strictly maintain confidentiality of any information they learn, and give priority to the wishes of the people consulted. In addition, no disadvantageous treatment will be given to any person for consultation or cooperation.
- (1)
- Human rights consultation desk in the workplace
We assign human rights counselors to each workplace and post their names. - (2)
- External consultation desk
We provide counseling services by outside specialists for employees with various problems.
＜Main target of consultation＞
- Sexual harassment, power harassment, maternity harassment, consultation on human rights other than harassment
Other Consultation Desks
In addition to the human rights consultation desk available, we have established the following consultation desks to provide employees with advice on the workplace environment and work-related issues.
- Whistleblowing Contact Points
- Contact for reporting improper financial product sales
- Direct Suggestions to the President of Japan Post Group
- Direct Suggestions to the President of Japan Post Insurance
- Working hours consultation office
- Kampo women consultation service
- Gender Identity consultation service
- Consultation service for employees with fixed term jobs, etc.
- Consultation service for handling health information, etc.
- Mental and Physical Health Consultation Desk
- Japan Post Insurance total counseling program
- Multiple debt consultation service
