Employee Relations

Occupational Health and Safety

Funai Electric's Corporate Code of Conduct expresses the Company's commitment to respecting employee diversity, personality and individuality, and to providing an environment that is safe and conducive to work. We promote an amenable working environment, as we believe that ensuring employee health and safety is central to our development as a company. To this end, we have established the Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Charter. Based on the Occupational Health and Safety Policies outlined below, we conduct consistent and effective worker health and safety activities, centering on the Health and Safety Committee.

Occupational Health and Safety Policies

  1. We shall practice ethical management and comply with all laws and regulations with respect to occupational health and safety.
  2. We shall look into occupational health and safety risks both in and outside the workplace to prevent injury and illness to employees and visitors.
  3. We shall make ongoing improvements to occupational health and safety management, while making an effort to improve occupational health and safety performance.

Health and Safety Committee

With a membership comprising people with management responsibility, the health/sanitation supervisor, industrial physicians and representatives from each department, the Health and Safety Committee meets monthly to pursue action policies and plans related to health and safety at work sites and employee health management.

Through the committee's initiatives, we are working proactively to pre-empt workplace injury and pursue measures for maintaining or improving employee health.

Organization

Figure: Organization

Acquisition of OHSAS 18001* Certification

Our overseas production sites first obtained OHSAS 18001 certification in August 2005, followed by headquarters in December 2009. The certification is currently held by three overseas sites and headquarters.

* OHSAS 18001 is an international standard for occupational health and safety management systems. Certification based on OHSAS 18001 indicates that a our Occupational Health and Safety Management System complies with this standard, as verified by a third-party institution.

Health Initiatives

We are proactive on employee health management initiatives.

Our principal efforts are as follows.

  1. Provide low-calorie menus at the employee cafeteria
  2. Information related to food and heath provided by a managerial dietician
  3. All-employee participation in health drive efforts
  4. Provision of health-related information on the intranet
  5. Health management courses conducted by an industrial physician (themes: lifestyle disease, infectious diseases, etc.)
  6. Provision of health guidance for people with metabolic syndrome

Mental Health

We have drawn up its own mental health promotion plans based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Guidelines for Promoting the Mental Health of Workers. We have put in place an internal structure and set up a consultation desk as part of our mental health promotion measures.

1. Consultation System
We cultivate psychological consultants and industrial counselors who take charge of promoting mental health at our business sites. These people play the role of coordinators between the workplace, home and healthcare institutions.
2. Program to Support Return to the Workplace
We have established a Program to Support Return to the Workplace, based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Guide for Supporting the Return to Work of Employees Who Have Taken Leave for Reasons of Mental Health. The program aims to facilitate an employee's smooth return to work and continuation of business following absence for mental health reasons.

Measures to Counter Infectious Diseases

Influenza Countermeasures

As periodic outbreaks of influenza that affect employees can have a negative effect on manufacturing activities, we conduct health/safety measures at each of our facilities (various methods to prevent infection, including the enforcement of gargling, hand washing, the use of masks and disinfecting hands when entering buildings) and health/safety measures for traveling between facilities, as well as the timely introduction of measures based on alerts from the World Health Organization and governmental agencies.

Emergency Drills

We conduct regular drills, centering on our self-defense fire-fighting organization. These efforts, which assume a large-scale earthquake and outbreak of fire, include the communication of emergency information, initial evacuation and notification of fire, initial fire-fighting and evacuation guidance.

We are taking part in disaster training as part of the Osaka 8.8 Million Drill, which began in 2012.

As another part of our disaster preparedness measures, we have introduced a system to confirm the safety of employees in the event of a disaster.

Ensuring Diversity

We aim to step up its recruiting of people who have the interest and skills to work on a global stage. We also seek to cultivate a working environment that enhances the abilities of personnel to work together as a team, with each member making the most of his or her strengths, regardless of age, sex or nationality.

Employing People with Disabilities

We take a proactive approach to creating a workplace that welcomes employees with disabilities, as we aim to promote diversity in the workplace and encourage people with disabilities to take full advantage of their capabilities.

In June 2013, employees with disabilities accounted for 2.03% of the workforce, which exceeds both the statutory rate (2.0%) and the nationwide employment average (1.69%).

Employment of People with Disabilities

Graph: Employment of People with Disabilities

Employing Foreigners

As part of our workforce diversity efforts, we are taking an active stance toward employing foreigners. Our hiring and compensation decisions, for new recruits and mid-career hires alike, are irrespective of nationality.

Re-Employing Retirees

People who have retired from us often possess advanced skills and specialized expertise, and rehiring these people post-retirement enables us to better pass on such skills and expertise to the next generation of workers. Consequently, we have introduced a system to re-employ retirees.

Cultivating Human Resources

We recognize that human resources are its topmost management priority. Accordingly, we are placing an emphasis on education and training to cultivate global and professional human resources who can function autonomously.

Training System

Our training system includes both new-employee and management training. We periodically invite in-house and outside instructors to provide skill enhancement courses.

1. New-Employee Training
We conduct new employee training each April to acquaint recruits just entering the workforce with basic skills and working customs. Following one week of training at headquarters, new employees are sent to overseas factories to work as trainees for three months, regardless of their later position in the Company. This experience helps new employees understand the concepts underlying our proprietary manufacturing system, the Funai Production System (FPS).
2. Skill Enhancement Training

We provide skill enhancement training on a rolling basis, employing instructors both within and from outside the Company to motivate employee self-development and improve business and technical skills.

(Themes)

  • Business skills (Basic Accounting, Business Analysis, Communication and Leadership, Boosting Leadership Skills among Subordinates, Logical Presentations, etc.)
  • Technical skills (Serial Communications, Electric Power Circuits, Wireless LAN, EMC Basics, CAE, FMEA, Press, Reliable Data Analysis, Product Design, etc.)
3. Management Training

We periodically conduct level-specific training to enhance management skills among employees in administrative and specialist positions.

(Themes)

  • Management Basics, Coaching, Problem-Solving Skills, Logical Thinking, Management Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Organizational Skill Enhancement, Human Resource Cultivation, etc.
4. Language Training

We conduct various types of English-language training, including business English conversation, TOEIC courses and business writing, to raise the English communication skills of all employees and cultivate global human resources capable of business English conversation. In 2011, we introduced TOEIC scores as a promotion criterion, aiming to motivate employees to improve their English skills.

Photo: Skills trainingSkills training

Photo: English-language trainingEnglish-language training

Fair Evaluation and Treatment

Systems to Ensure the Fair Evaluation and Treatment of Employees

The Human Resource Department draws up systems for employee evaluations and treatment, and aims to promote fair evaluations and treatment.

Training to Encourage Fair Evaluation and Treatment

We have set up a consultation desk for responding to inquiries about evaluation and treatment results to promote their fairness.

Personnel Systems

We are working strategically to improve its personnel and treatment systems, with a view to maximizing employee potential.

Compensation System

In 2012, we introduced a new compensation system based on work roles and performance. This system is not affected by age, and compensates even younger employees based on results.

Personnel Salary System

In addition to enhancing work efficiency, the personnel salary system is designed to make better management use of personnel information. The system aims to employ human resource information to devise and implement strategic personnel measures.

As well as personnel information, the system makes information on work experience, the management of qualifications and personnel reviews more easily visible, which is helpful with human resource strategies that involve training, allocating and promoting personnel.

Work-Life Balance

We are promoting a work-life balance based on the belief that revising working hours can result in better harmony between work and home life and lead to productivity and performance improvements.

In addition to encouraging employees to take paid leave, as well as child-rearing and nursing-care leave, we introduced a regular “no-overtime day” to reduce overtime working hours.

We have also introduced a flex-time system and encourage employees to take advantage of our paid leave and leave-of-absence systems.

Balancing Child-Rearing and Nursing Care with Work

We cultivate an environment that encourages employees to continue working, balancing this with child-rearing and nursing care responsibilities.

Child-Rearing Support

System Description
Pre- and Post-Maternity
Leave-of-Absence System
Allows leave of six weeks prior to giving birth and eight weeks afterward
Child-Rearing
Leave-of-Absence System
Allows leave to be taken through the end of the month in which the child turns one year of age
Reduced Working Hour System Until the child enters elementary school, the parent may elect to be exempt from overtime working hours and take advantage either of staggered working hours or a reduced working hour system (six hours per day)
Child-Rearing Support
Bonus System
Lump-sum payment of ¥200,000 upon a child’s birth and ¥300,000 when the child enters elementary school
(System also provides ¥400,000 when child enters junior high school and ¥600,000 upon entry to high school)
Nursing Leave-of-Absence
System
Until the child enters elementary school, up to five days of leave per year to nurse child who is injured or ill

Nursing Care Related Support Systems

System Description
Nursing Care Leave system Allows up to one year of leave to be take
Reduced Working Hour System The employee may elect to be exempt from overtime working hours and take advantage either of staggered working hours or a reduced working hour system (six hours per day)
Accumulated Paid
Leave System
Up to 20 days can be taken to provide nursing care
Nursing Leave-of-Absence
System
Up to 10 days per year can be taken to provide nursing care

Encouraging Employees to Take Paid Leave

We have put in place a variety of systems to encourage employees to take paid leave. Every six months, we ask employees to fill out and submit a form indicating when they plan to take paid leave, cultivating an environment that facilitates leave-taking.

Introduction of a No-overtime Day

We have designated Wednesdays and weekend days as "no-overtime days" to discourage employees from working long hours and burning out from overwork.