Labor-Management Partnership at Toppan Inc.

Toppan Inc.’s labor union and management respect each other’s positions as partners with shared ideals. They have been working together on various issues on an equal footing. Business councils are convened as cross-divisional and operational-site-based forums to discuss wide ranging managerial issues. Several special committees are also convened to deliberate pertinent issues of the day. Standing committees meet to discuss issues such as working hour reductions, wages, and safety and health. Individual labor-management committees meet whenever necessary to discuss specially designated subjects, such as the creation of a working environment amenable to enhanced job satisfaction.

The Company has adopted a union shop system. In principle, all non-managerial employees belong to the labor union as members.

Health Management

We have formulated a structure for promoting “health and productivity management^®” by establishing a Health Management Promotion Council at Toppan Inc. The President & Representative Director oversees the council as the head of health management. Representatives from across Group sites and the health insurance union meet to establish key targets and key performance indicator (KPI) benchmarks for employee healthcare initiatives. The council members discuss, implement, verify, and improve various healthcare measures to achieve the targets and benchmarks.

Safety masters, safety personnel, employees in charge of engineering and safety, and other safety experts have been deployed to operational sites across Japan under the safety promotion structure of the Group. We organize comprehensive safety training for all Group employees, both regular and contract hires, in accordance with the Basic Policy on Safety, Health, and Fire Protection. The training takes many forms, from safety programs mainly for forepersons to risk assessment courses to enhance the intrinsic safety of machines and equipment.

Anzen Dojo

Anzen Dojo safety-training facilities outfitted to simulate and alert employees to workplace hazards have been operating at the Kawaguchi Plant in Saitama Prefecture, Takino Plant in Hyogo Prefecture, and Fukuoka Plant in Fukuoka Prefecture for years. More recently, new domestic dojos have been established at the Gunma Central Plant in Gunma Prefecture (in fiscal 2020) and the Shiga Plant in Shiga Prefecture (in fiscal 2021). Dojo facilities were also set up at two overseas Group sites in fiscal 2017, one in China and another in Thailand. We will continue to refine Groupwide safety promotion activities to prevent occupational accidents, with support from the five dojos across Japan and two dojos overseas.

Companies and organizations outside of TOPPAN come to train at the domestic dojo facilities. While most train at the Kawaguchi dojo, inquiries on the use of dojos at the other four plants are also welcome.

The Kawaguchi dojo is equipped with a virtual reality (VR) simulator to train employees and guests in the handling of workplace hazards. The dojo also uses mechanical simulators to familiarize trainees with the dangers of dust explosions and exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Operating Anzen Dojos Overseas

Two Anzen Dojo facilities were recently opened at Group sites outside of Japan: one at Siam Toppan Packaging Co., Ltd. in Thailand in October 2017; another at Toppan Leefung Packaging & Printing (Dongguan) Co., Ltd. in China in January 2018.

These overseas facilities leverage our expertise on safety training cultivated at similar dojos in Japan. Both facilities are equipped with safety-related displays and hazard simulators optimally selected for the working conditions at their sites. We foster onsite safety masters for overseas Group companies and regularly hold safety sessions for frontline operators according to the same operational scheme applied in Japan. Anzen Dojo tours with hazard simulators were conducted to ensure employee awareness of potential dangers in the workplace at four Group sites in the U.S. (May 2019), sites operated by Giantplus Technology Co., Ltd. (November 2019), and several Group sites in Indonesia and Thailand (May 2020).

On a cumulative basis, 38,712 Group employees and visitors from around the world have taken safety training since the dojo facilities opened. The number of trainees from companies and organizations outside of the Group has been limited to about 200 per year since fiscal 2020, mainly as a consequence of site closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notwithstanding the fiscal 2020 slowdown, a cumulative total of 6,363 visitors from 880 entities have been trained at the dojo facilities since they were launched.

We have also been using VR technologies to produce hazard simulation content since 2019. In total, 22,678 Group employees have been trained on simulated workplace hazards in Anzen Dojo VR tours organized at 55 operational sites across Japan. The innovations adopted at the dojos for remote hazard simulation training during the COVID-19 pandemic have heightened the safety awareness of Group employees overall.

Heightening Employee Safety Awareness

A Safety Project has been formed at Toppan Inc. with members from the Personnel & Labor Relations Division and the Manufacturing Management Division. Project members regularly visit Group sites to monitor their safety activities and carry out onsite patrols with a view to reducing the risk of occupational accidents at production sites across the Group.

The annual group training conducted at Anzen Dojo and other safety facilities for Japan-wide safety masters has been shifted to a web-based format to safeguard against COVID-19. Safety education and efforts to standardize safer work procedures have also been organized online in various forms for personnel at production departments throughout the Group. Web-based efforts include remote safety audits, basic training sessions for safety masters and employees in charge of safety across Japan, and subcommittees where site personnel discuss safety measures for their production processes. In parallel with the remote initiatives launched during the COVID-19 period, we have begun holding onsite, in-person safety meetings and training sessions in conjunction with onsite inspections across Group sites.

Data on Occupational Accidents

Under the “safety first” principle, we are creating safe, secure workplaces towards the elimination of occupational accidents throughout the entire Group.

Occupational Accidents

*

Period covered: January 1–December 31

*1

Number of occupational accidents requiring employee leave, per million cumulative actual working hours (reflects the frequency of occupational accidents)

*2

Number of workdays lost as a consequence of occupational accidents, per thousand cumulative actual working hours (reflects the severity of occupational accidents)

*3

Entities covered: 30 domestic subsidiaries under the control of either Toppan Inc. or its business divisions

*4

Entities covered: 30 domestic related companies

*5

Entities covered: 90 overseas affiliates

We work with industrial physicians and the TOPPAN Group Health Insurance Union to undertake various measures for the prevention of mental health problems at the workplace. The measures broadly cover “primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention” strategies, as well as prevention-focused approaches (“fundamental prevention”) to improving communication skills and enhancing physical and mental health through better sleep.

We develop in-house training programs and training materials attuned to our internal mental healthcare needs by making extensive use of diverse knowledge and expertise from outside of the Group. Training programs embrace theories and methods such as cognitive behavior therapy, clinical art therapy (via the Art Salon workshop), the five factors & stress (FFS) theory, and Adler’s theories of individual psychology, as well as front-line findings on physical and mental condition. Our training also takes many forms, such as training for new employees, rank-based training, division-based training, workshops at workplaces, and training for candidates for overseas assignments. Emerging challenges such as harassment prevention and special care for remote working are also addressed in our training regime.

In the case of unavoidable absences from work because of mental health problems, we carefully check and care for individual employees on leave to support their recovery step by step by having them concentrate on medical treatment, preparing them for a return to work, confirming their readiness to return to work, and extending supports for them. Careful, deliberative support helps employees maintain good balance between work and medical treatment and take steps to avoid any exacerbation or recurrence of mental burdens.

Developing 3D Stress Check & Support

We have analyzed extensive data from employee stress-checks and from specialists overseeing mental health problems at the workplace. The risk factors for mental illness identified so far include not only typical excessive stress, but also physical and mental conditions linked to unhealthy lifestyles and major changes in personal and working environments.

Based on these findings, we have developed our own 3D Stress Check & Support system that offers detailed risk assessments with an original algorithm and automatically prescribes tailored forms of mental hygiene support, such as video coaching programs that employees in need can access without surrendering personally identifiable information. Stress checks are also arranged two times yearly for graduates who have been hired in the last 24 months. These checks attest to our redoubled mental healthcare efforts for new hires.

Meanwhile, feedback on the group analyses performed using data from the 3D Stress Check & Support system is relayed to managerial staff to guide their efforts towards workplace improvements across the Group.

Overview of Mental Healthcare Activities

Labor representatives and management at Toppan Inc. have been engaged in a vigorous dialogue since 2019 to devise approaches to achieving flexible work styles. A remote work system was adopted on October 1, 2020, after the completion of a series of teleworking trials. This new system covers working arrangements of three types: working from home, working from satellite offices, and mobile working. The Company has also abolished the regulation requiring that core working-times be set for employees under the smart work system introduced in 2018. In parallel, its discretionary work system has been expanded to achieve full-time working from home. To spur innovation, the Company has revised existing working arrangements and introduced new systems to align with a new-normal work style suitable for the post-COVID-19 world.

Beyond these work system improvements, employees continue to receive training that encourages and equips them to establish their own work styles within the new-normal environment. Employees learn to set individual goals, commit themselves to completing incremental tasks towards their goals, and strive to actively collaborate with diverse people inside and outside of the TOPPAN Group.

Supporting Work-Life Balance

At the ongoing business councils and labor-management committees to support work-life balance, Toppan Inc.’s labor representatives and management exchange opinions and deliberate measures to further shorten overtime working-hours and comply with the revised Labor Standards Act of Japan. They have also been analyzing actual overtime practices, reviewing the use of recently adopted working systems, and examining the introduction of new systems.

Labor and management at each operational site also discuss approaches to creating more accommodating workplace environments that encourage employees to take leave. The measures they have devised and implemented are tailored to the actual working conditions at their sites. The target paid leave set by the Company is at least 10 days per year per employee. Employees who have worked for the Company for 30 consecutive years are honored with a reward for long service, along with a period of leave.

Annual Paid Leave Used (Toppan Inc.)

*

Average ratio = average paid leave used / average paid leave granted

Achieving a Good Work-Life Balance

Various systems and measures are in place at Toppan Inc. to balance work and life for employees and their families: worksite cafeterias and sports facilities, dormitories for single employees, and resort facilities at offsite locations; a system to encourage property accumulation through savings and financing; asset-building support through stock ownership and various types of collective insurance; enhanced support systems to maintain good work-care balance for employees with children and nursing care responsibilities; sick leave and extended leave; retirement benefits and corporate pension; and enriched systems for living support. The TOPPAN Group Fraternal Benefit Society, meanwhile, runs welfare programs for leisure, health promotion, and life design support. To assist diverse employee lifestyles, the Company’s spouse-related systems were revised to accommodate same-sex partners and common-law marriage on July 1, 2020. They are now granted leave for celebration and condolence and receive allowances, wedding gifts, and other benefits.

Announcing a Common Employer’s Action Plan

Toppan Inc. has been publishing its common employer’s action plan based on the Japanese Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children.

The common employer’s action plan aims to develop a working environment that supports balanced work and family life for employees with young children. Employers are expected to design a plan primarily to arrange varied working conditions for diverse employees, including those not raising children.

Housing for Single Employees

We are updating our housing for single employees to improve work-life balance by shortening commutes to our main Group sites and providing a secure, comfortable living environment. TOPPAN Heights Higashi Jujo in northern Tokyo is equipped with our newest décor products designed for comfortable living in a next-generation residential environment. As added amenities, a soundproofed theater room and common lounge facilitate communication among residents.

Main Leave Systems and Family Benefits

Leave Systems, Family Benefits, and Work-Life/Next-generation Support Measures (Toppan Inc.)

TOPPAN Job-based Personnel System

We are reforming our personnel systems to better reward human assets who have diverse skills and career backgrounds. Among its various aims, the reform seeks to promote support for the skill and career development of employees, the assignment of important roles to younger employees, the development of a scheme enabling veteran employees to demonstrate their accumulated skills, and the creation of a working environment where every person can take on new challenges.

We have restructured our personnel system from one that grades employees uniformly by position into one that grades them more granularly by incorporating job-specific elements. This new job-based system eliminates the seniority approach by abolishing the criterion of tenure, expressed as years in individual positions, from the evaluation metrics. The revision in the basic grading system for personnel treatment facilitates the promotion of human assets with diverse skills and career backgrounds. We have also added four new personnel evaluation metrics—“the creation of a sustainable society,” “diversity,” “respect for human rights,” and “social value creation”—in the hopes of guiding human assets through the processes of behavioral innovation and personal growth towards enhanced organizational performance.

Second-job and Side-business Arrangements

We allow employees to engage in second jobs or side businesses, as a basic rule, unless they are in any way unable to avoid prolonged work or fulfill their duties of security, confidentiality, non-competition, or good faith in their work at TOPPAN.

Fifty-two employees used these arrangements at Toppan Inc. in fiscal 2022 (36 employees in fiscal 2021).

Office Environments Designed for Diverse Work Styles

Our office environments have been adapted to a diversity of new and flexible work styles that drive innovation. Along with shared offices in-house, we have opened “Atte,” an office where people generate innovation by augmenting the value of face-to-face meetings. We have also set up ICT KŌBŌ™ studios across Japan* as bases that reinforce our system development departments, the driving forces behind our DX business. Nationwide studios will encourage human assets to choose diverse ways of working, create new businesses through interactions with local people and companies, and activate communities through increased local employment.

*

In addition to our existing studios in Nagano and Okinawa Prefectures, two studios opened in Fukuoka and Hiroshima Prefectures in 2022 and one opened in Hokkaido Prefecture in May 2023.