As a comprehensive electronics manufacturer, Panasonic Group develops, produces, sells, and provides services in relevant sectors through close cooperation with Group companies in Japan and abroad. All our business activities depend on the support of many people, including our Group employees*, customers who use our products and services, suppliers involved in procurement and sales, and our business partners. Therefore, our business activities may impact them positively or negatively. Under our management philosophy that “a company is a public entity of society,” we recognize that we cannot allow ourselves to develop the expense of these people, and that we have a responsibility to protect their rights and contribute to the well-being and happiness of these people.
Furthermore, as a global company operating worldwide, we comply with all applicable laws and regulations in our business activities while considering the human rights of all our stakeholders and respecting internationally recognized human rights as expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We strive to prevent, mitigate, and correct any possible negative impact our business activities, products, services, or related transactions have on individuals, workers, and society.
We also seek our suppliers and business partners to understand and implement our human rights and labour compliance policies; in cooperation with our partners, we strive to monitor supply chain risks and take appropriate measures to prevent, mitigate, and correct the occurrence of such risks.
Specifically, we conduct following activities, in consultation with external experts as appropriate:
- Formulating and reviewing human rights policies;
- Raising awareness on human rights and conducting human rights due diligence;
- Responding to human rights risks in the supply chain;
- Establishing and operating grievance mechanisms;
- Engaging with stakeholders.
Respect for human rights is one of the utmost material sustainability issues to the Group. For more details, see the “Materiality” section.
* Employees: All regular and contract employees having employment relationships with any Panasonic Group company, all temporary staff and seconded employees working under the control and supervision of any Panasonic Group company, and all board directors, executive officers, executive counselors, fellows, corporate auditors, supervisory board, and corporate advisors or equivalent person appointed by any Panasonic Group company.
The definition also includes employees of key companies subject to some Group HR and other systems.
Policy
Panasonic Group established the Panasonic Group Human Rights and Labour Policy (the “Human Rights and Labour Policy”), referencing the below international standards and incorporating external experts’ opinions. This policy states that, predicated on compliance with international standards and the laws and regulations of each country that apply to our business activities and transactions, we are committed to respecting internationally recognized human rights; identifying, preventing, and correcting human rights violation risks; promoting remedy and other measures for victims; creating a rewarding working environment; and engaging in dialogue on these issues with various stakeholders. Following this policy, we have established internal rules, developed a promotion system, and advanced specific initiatives for respecting human rights and creating a rewarding work environment.
Moreover, the Panasonic Group Code of Ethics and Compliance (“Code of Ethics and Compliance”) defines the commitments that all Group employees must fulfil and positions respect for human rights as our social responsibility. We strive to raise awareness of this responsibility.
Main international standards used as reference:
- The United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
- The United Nations’ International Bill of Human Rights (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
- ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and ILO Fundamental Conventions (Core Labour Standards)
We will regularly, and periodically as necessary, review and improve these policies based on the opinions of external experts, relevant stakeholders, and their representatives. Most recently, we revised our Human Rights and Labour Policy in August 2023 under the advisement of internal and external experts. This revision was meant to respond to the ILO’s adding occupational health and safety to its Core Labour Standards and to enhance and consolidate efforts to prevent forced labour in the supply chain. After reviewing the changes with the Group and its operating companies’ management and labour unions, the Group CEO approved and proclaimed the policy.
The Group’s Human Rights and Labour Policy is available in Japanese and English on our website.
We also demand that all our suppliers respect human rights by complying with the Panasonic Supply Chain CSR Promotion Guidelines.
Responsible Executive and Framework
As of August 2024, the executive officer responsible for the Group’s initiatives to respect human rights is the Group Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). Our operating officers’ compensation are linked to relevant KPIs which reflect their responsible filed in sustainability. In fiscal 2024, human rights and labour compliance initiatives is a part of our short- and medium-term performance-linked compensation metrics for Group CHRO. For more details, please see “Employee Well-being”
chapter.
The Sustainability Management Committee, chaired by the Group CEO, discusses crucial human rights issues and reports them to the Group Management Committee and the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors also oversees these issues. In fiscal 2023, the Sustainability Management Committee discussed the responses to legislation in various countries regarding human rights and labour, and in fiscal 2024, the Committee discussed the challenges in the Social-related information disclosure.
We have identified human rights and labour compliance and supply chain management as the Group Major Risks for fiscal 2025, with efforts to mitigate these risks at all business sites. For more on risk management, see the “Risk Management” chapter.
We have established an organization overseeing the Group’s day-to-day efforts to respect human rights through human rights and labour initiatives within the Strategic Human Resources Department* under the Panasonic Holdings (PHD) CHRO. This organization works with all Group operating companies to promote initiatives at business sites in cooperation with related functions but primarily with HR. For more details on our supply chain initiatives, see the “Responsible Supply Chain” chapter.
* Starting April 1, 2024, the Social Sustainability Department will oversee the Group’s human rights and labour initiatives after a reorganization.
Raising Awareness
Panasonic Group has translated its Code of Ethics and Compliance, which includes respect for human rights, into 22 languages and provides regular opportunities for employees to learn about it at the time of entry into a company and promotion. In fiscal 2024, we provided trainings for all employees, with 150,000 taking part. Furthermore, starting in fiscal 2023, the Human Resources Division, a critical relevant division, added human rights and labour compliance as a basic training elective for Group HR employees in Japan. We also provide training for all seconded employees, including management personnel, posted from Japan to overseas subsidiaries to ensure they understand the Group’s initiatives and Human Rights and Labour Policy, as well as international standards and the laws of each country regarding corporate responsibility to respect human rights (474 employees participated in fiscal 2024). Additionally, we have conducted training in Asian countries—the area where most of our manufacturing operations are located—for production and human resources managers (29 managers in China and 20 Managers in India attended in fiscal 2024).
Human Rights Due Diligence
To respect the human rights of the stakeholders in its business activities, products and services, and transactions, the Group conducts human rights due diligence based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and in reference to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct. We incorporate input from external experts and stakeholders in formulating related mechanisms and processes.
The Group recognizes the need to identify human rights issues across its business activities, including its value chain and has begun analysing priority issues. We operate globally in a wide range of business areas, so some of our businesses have extensive supply chains. We recognize the risk that workers in our Group’s manufacturing sites and these supply chains may be in vulnerable positions or unsafe working conditions in different countries or regions. Therefore, we begin with initiatives at our Group manufacturing sites and in our supply chains. For more details on our supply chain initiatives, see the “Responsible Supply Chain” chapter.
We engage in dialogue, discussion, and collaboration with relevant internal and external stakeholders regarding our established frameworks and their continuous improvement. Moreover, we adequately disclose our initiatives on our official website and through relevant reports and other communication channels.
▪Risk Assessment
Self-Assessment of Group Manufacturing Sites
In fiscal 2022, we conducted a detailed self-assessment of human rights and labour issues at almost all of our overseas manufacturing companies to gain a bird’s eye view of the Group’s risks. The questions we asked referenced the self-assessment metrics from the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) that applied to the Group. Through this process, we gained a general understanding of human rights and labour issues. However, we recognized that we need a more detailed understanding of issues to quickly address them.
In light of this recognition, in fiscal 2023, we reviewed and added questions to our list before conducting another detailed self-assessment of some manufacturing sites in Japan selected by our operating companies alongside the overseas manufacturing subsidiaries of our operating companies (a total of 127 companies and sites). This self-assessment aimed to identify potential and actual human rights issues for corrective actions. The operating companies completed corrective actions for the identified issues by March 31, 2023, following the improvement plans formulated by the relevant subsidiaries and sites.
In fiscal 2024, we conducted self-assessments, including progress checks of the corrections for issues identified in fiscal 2023, at all Group manufacturing companies and manufacturing sites in Japan and overseas. We also collected responses from almost all of them (completed at 202 companies and sites so far). PHD will evaluate the collected results, and the relevant subsidiaries and manufacturing sites will complete the correction of identified issues by the end of fiscal 2025, under the supervision of the operating companies.
▪Training
We conduct regional and thematic training to prevent issues identified through human rights due diligence. In fiscal 2024, we conducted training in Malaysia on preventing forced labour. The 240 participants included managers and staff in human resources, accounting, purchasing, legal, manufacturing, and other areas within our Malaysian and Singaporean subsidiaries. Additionally, we collaborated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to conduct training in Malaysia for 182 members of internal management teams and others on business and human rights, the basics of human rights due diligence, and the Group’s human rights initiatives, including our Human Rights and Labour Policy.
We will continue to identify priority issues and regions and conduct appropriate training.
See “Raising Awareness” for more on our efforts to raise awareness of human rights and “Responsible Supply Chain” for details on our supply chain initiatives.
Addressing Key Human Rights Risks
As Panasonic Group operates globally in a wide range of business domains, we face various human rights risks along the value chain, as described below. We consider that it is important to take a risk-based approach to address these risks. We consider forced labour and occupational health and safety as the specific risks to be prioritized at our manufacturing companies and sites based on their business characteristics and past self-assessment results. Our process for prioritizing identified potential and existing human rights risks is as follows:
1) List all aspects of human rights issues that the Group’s activities could adversely impact;
2) Evaluate the severity (scale, scope, and remediability) and likelihood of occurrence (based on publicly available data and past self-assessment results);
3) Collaborate with external and internal stakeholders to review the validity of methods and results.
In fiscal 2025, we will prioritize our efforts to address the above risks while continuing our efforts for those below.
Moreover, we will continuously improve our process for identifying material risks, and review the results of our efforts, especially in the event of imminent human rights risks, to ensure immediate prevention/mitigation/remediation of identified human rights risks as soon as possible.
▪Prohibiting Child Labour and Protecting Young Workers
Our Human Rights and Labour Policy includes a clear expectation to work toward the effective eradication of child labour.
When we hire employees, in addition to complying with all applicable laws, we also require the staffing firms, suppliers, and other companies we work with to do the same. We also do not permit any midnight work, heavy labour, or dangerous labour for workers under 18 years old.
Providing Employment Opportunities to Young People
We provide young job seekers with career education, human resource development with industry-academia collaboration, and employment opportunities through internships and other programs.
In Japan, the Panasonic Career Design Program provides young people with opportunities to think about their careers. We also offer students about to graduate an internship program to provide them with real work experience.
All our Group companies in China also offer internship programs and accept university students at business sites during their long holidays. These programs provide opportunities for students to learn about real business challenges and to propose ideas for solutions.
Efforts to Protect the Rights of Children
Through the programs below, we show respect for the human rights of children and supports their healthy growth.
- Programs supporting employees raising children
- Providing products that support people raising children
- Safe and secure, child-friendly product design that is conscious of healthy development (Japanese only)
- Corporate citizenship activities that safeguard and support the rights of children We are committed to fostering the next generation through corporate citizenship activities, such as funding scholarships and offering career education programs.
Details on corporate citizenship activities - Support for at-home learning: Panasonic Kids’ School (Japanese only)
▪Prohibiting Forced Labour
Our Human Rights and Labour Policy clearly states the prohibition of “any and all forms of forced labour.” We recognize that migrant workers who cross national and regional borders to work at our manufacturing sites and in our supply chain are particularly vulnerable. In light of this recognition, while Panasonic Group respects the human rights of such workers, we promote efforts to establish a recruitment and employment environment free from forced labour and unfair treatment, following all applicable laws, regulations, and internal rules and referencing international standards and guidelines the ILO and other organizations established. In fiscal 2024, we revised our internal rules to better clarify the procedures for initiatives to prevent forced labor throughout our supply and value chains and the roles PHD, Panasonic Operational Excellence (PEX), and operating companies should play in these initiatives. Specifically, in the unlikely event that the Group or a third party, such as a supplier or business partner, is found to be engaged in, or suspected of being engaged in, forced labour or any of the 11 ILO Indicators of Forced Labour*, our internal rules stipulate that we must promptly address the negative impact on human rights, including by working to cease, correct, or mitigate such conduct or providing remediation for the victims.
Malaysia is known for having many foreign migrant workers and a high potential for forced labour. Thus, management and human resources managers at our Group companies in Malaysia formulated policies and standard operating procedures for the ethical recruitment and employment of foreign migrant workers based on the expert advice, technical support, and training delivered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration Agency, and other experts. Through identifying and remediating issues by checking the on-site operational status of policies and manuals, they are working to establish compliance related to human rights and labour. Some specifics from this policy are as follows:
- Prohibiting companies from retaining passports and other personal documents;
- Prohibiting foreign migrant workers from paying recruiting and hiring fees;
- Providing safe and sanitary dormitories.
Furthermore, in fiscal 2024 under PHD’s guidance, we began to address human rights risks—particularly forced labour in our value chain such as service providers—and added to our contracts with business partners a requirement for compliance with respect for the human rights of employees in the value chain and the right for us to audit this compliance. In fiscal 2025, we plan to pursue capacity building for our suppliers with the support of IOM.
For countries with potential risks, we interview each manufacturing company about their efforts and use our experience in Malaysia to provide advice on and check the status of corrective measures. In fiscal 2023, we provided advice and guidance in Singapore and Taiwan. In fiscal 2024, we also held study sessions for human resources staff and issued notices to human resources managers in Japan to alert them to the risk of human rights violations in accepting foreign technical intern trainees.
In the supply chain, we make similar requests to our suppliers through the Panasonic Supply Chain CSR Promotion Guidelines. For more details, see the “Responsible Supply Chain” chapter.
* The 11 ILO Indicators of Forced Labour: abuse of vulnerability, deception, restriction of movement, isolation, physical and sexual violence, intimidation and threats, retention of identity documents, withholding of wages, debt bondage, abusive working and living conditions, and excessive overtime
▪Prohibition of Discrimination and harassment
Our Human Rights and Labour Policy clearly seeks to eliminate discrimination in the field of employment and occupation. Moreover, in our Code of Ethics and Compliance, the Group prohibits discrimination, behaviour that leads to discrimination, and harassment on the basis of age, gender, race, skin colour, beliefs, religion, social status, citizenship, ethnicity, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, pregnancy, medical history, viral infection status, genetic information, disability status, political affiliation or orientation, labour union affiliation, veteran status, or any similar status or characteristic. We also strive to raise awareness of this prohibition. By doing so, we work on creating workplaces where it is possible for diverse talents to form critical partnerships with mutual respect and work together dynamically.
In Japan, we are engaged in the following efforts to prevent sexual discrimination, including sexual harassment, as well as harassment based on power differentials, and to comply with the Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities in order to create a more fair, equal, and pleasant workplace:
- Establishing, publishing, and thoroughly implementing sexual harassment policies
- Distributing leaflets and manuals on sexual harassment
- Holding seminars and training on preventing sexual harassment and harassment based on power differentials, and workplace culture revitalization
- Conducting training for managers on not engaging in harassing behaviour and how to respond to reports of harassment
- Running LGBTQ-related training
- Distributing educational materials to help employees understand the difficulties of and necessary considerations for people with disabilities
For more details, please see the “Employee Well-Being” chapter.
About hiring decisions
We work to continuously improve awareness with reference to the laws and guidelines for each country and make sure we apply them consistently based on the appropriateness, ability, and desire of the candidate. After identifying issues, we strive to correct them in the short term while ensuring that we take measures to prevent recurrence through awareness-raising and education.
▪Respect for the Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining
Our Human Rights and Labour Policy clearly expresses our support for freedom of association and the effective recognition of the rights to collective bargaining. In each country and region, we make efforts to establish healthy relations with employees and to solve their issues by active dialogue with them. In addition, based on our Human Rights and Labour Policy, we pursue ways to respect internationally recognized human rights principles at our locations in countries that do not legally permit the formation of labour unions.
In Japan
PHD and each Group companies have stipulated in their collective agreements concluded with the labour unions representing PHD and Group company employees that unions retain the right to organize, collectively bargain, and strike, as well as prohibitions on discrimination against union members and interference with union activities. The union membership rate is 75.2% of all managers and employees, rising to 97.7% of all non-managerial employees.
Based on a common understanding that the Company’s sound development, improvements in labour and welfare conditions for employees, and social development are inseparable, the Company and the Union have established a system of Union participation in management based on equality and robust trust between labour and management. The Company and the Union discuss essential management matters in Labor-Management Council.
In Europe
Following an EU directive* adopted in 1994, we have set up a voluntary labour agreement to provide a venue for healthy discussion between labour and management. We have also established the Panasonic European Employee Congress (PEEC). Employee representatives and company representatives also meet to exchange opinions and discuss business issues including management strategies and living support for employees.
* EU directive: A directive that obliges all companies employing 1,000 or more employees in two or more European Union countries to establish a pan-European labour-management consultation committee.
In China
Nearly all Group-affiliated companies in China have labour unions (gōnghuì). We hold regular opinion exchanges and discussions surrounding compensation, welfare and benefits, training, and the like through initiatives including periodic labour-management dialogues, proactive joint labour-management recreational events, and advance briefings to unions concerning critical management decisions, with a focus on building good relations between labour and management.
▪Occupational Health and Safety
“Realizing a safe and healthy work environment” is also a priority, as stipulated in our Human Rights and Labour Policy. The fiscal 2024 revision of our Human Rights and Labour Policy was meant to respond to ILO’s adding occupational health and safety to its Core Labour Standards.
For more details, please see “Creating a safe, secure, and healthy workplace” in the “Employee Well-being” chapter.
▪Managing Working Hours
We have included provisions in our work rules related to proper management of working hours, break times, overtime work, holidays, leave, and other matters based on labour laws in each country and labour-management agreements (e.g. collective bargaining agreements). Our work rules also prohibit forcing workers to work overtime without their agreement as a form of present or suspected forced labour.
In Japan, the standard working day is set at 7.75 hours per day, and any extra hours worked are eligible for extra pay, going beyond the minimum required by law. We have also established internal working hour management standards that are even stricter than legal standards as part of our efforts to eliminate excessive overwork.
We also provide more annual paid leave than legally required, and employees may accumulate up to 50 days of remaining leave. We have made our system more flexible to accommodate individual needs for using annual leave, such as making hourly or half-day leave available.
On top of these system enhancements, we address the physical and mental health management of employees by allocating human resources in ways optimized for preventing uneven overtime workload distributions among specific employees, and by providing additional medical examinations for employees who have worked long hours.
▪Wage Management
We have established guidelines for compensation system design and aims to achieve competitive compensation levels, wherein we have set guidelines for appropriate wages, allowances, bonuses, and other types of occasional compensation or retirement pay, all based on national laws governing labour, labour-management agreements (such as collective agreements), and the like.
We also establish work rules for each country in compliance with all wage-related laws and regulations concerning minimum wages, statutory benefits, and overtime. We operate according to these regulations, pay employees directly for an agreed-upon period at agreed-upon time and provide employees with notifications of pay through pay statements or electronic data.
Furthermore, in countries and regions where the law permits monetary penalties, we recognize and allows these penalties as an option of disciplinary action. However, this permission is predicated on the penalty procedures and amounts being set within legal limits.
Grievance Mechanism
To ensure that complaints about human rights violations are addressed promptly and enable redress, Panasonic has established a global hotline (with service in 32 languages) for our employees, business partners, or other external stakeholders to report any compliance violations (including human rights or labour violations) they notice or suspect. This hotline uses an external, independent system that prevents the identity of the internal or external person reporting being revealed, and we have internal rules in place such that we are careful to protect the confidentiality of such reports and to make sure that the person reporting the violation does not suffer any acts of retaliation and detrimental treatment. For more details, see the “Whistleblowing System” in the “Business Ethics” chapter.
In addition, to encourage wider acceptance of complaints from outside our group, we participate in the industry joint grievance platform established by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) CSR Committee. For more details, see the “Systems for Whistleblowing and Seeking Consultation” section under “Responsible Supply Chain” chapter.
Participation in International and Industrial Partnerships
Panasonic Group has been a participant in the United Nations Global Compact since January 2022. In addition to declaring 10 fundamental principles in four different fields, including human rights, we are working to make our efforts related to human rights and labour reference international standards, and we fulfil our duty to communicate with the public by disclosing the progress and results of those efforts.
We also joined the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA)—an international CSR organization involved in the electronics, ICT, and automotive sectors—in October 2021 and utilize their self-assessment tools and guidance document for solving of issues. Furthermore, we participate in the Responsible Mineral Initiative (RMI) under RBA, for the promotion of responsible mineral procurement.
In 2023, the Group entered into a strategic global partnership with the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM)—a specialized UN agency with a proven track record of assisting in the responsible recruitment and employment of foreign workers in Malaysia—to improve the rights of migrant workers in the supply chain.
Panasonic Group is working to build a highly reliable management system through the above efforts.
The Group actively communicates its views on efforts to respect human rights through liaison with domestic and international organizations. In fiscal 2024, PHD personnel participated in the Business and Industry Advisory Council (BIAC; an OECD public advisory body), led the Corporate Sustainability Committee of the Japanese Business Council in Europe (JBCE) as vice-chair, and continued contributions to policies related to human rights and due diligence in Europe. PHD has also provided speakers at the Responsible Business, Human Rights and Decent Work in Asia conference co-hosted by the ILO and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and a human rights conference organized by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM).
