Our diversity promotion efforts began in FY2002/3, when the Company started its initiative to promote women's empowerment with the goal of creating an organization where women can demonstrate their abilities and play active roles.)
Later, in FY2013/3, Morinaga appointed the Diversity Promotion Team, and In April 2020, established the Diversity Promotion Office under the direct supervision of the President.
Based on the philosophy set out in the Morinaga Group Diversity and Inclusion Policy, we will promote the creation of inclusive workplaces that enable diverse human resources with various differences, not only in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, and presence or absence of disabilities, but also in values on work and life, individual character, and previous work experiences to give their strengths full play.
Morinaga Group Diversity and Inclusion Policy has been approved by the Board of Directors.
“Leverage each person's individuality”
To deliver happiness to ever more people, the Morinaga Group aims to be a sustainable company that keeps growing. Our employees are the driving force toward achieving that aim: implementing diversity and inclusion maximizes that force. Therefore, we place those values at the core of our management strategy.
We take the approach of “leveraging each person's individuality” and at the same time develop relationships of mutual trust. In that way, we will create conditions where everyone can demonstrate their strengths and play an active role. By enhancing our ability to respond to changes (resilience) and creating new value (innovation) through augmenting the diverse knowledge generated by various individuals, we will continue to address those customers' and society's challenges.
Established: April, 2021
Revised: April, 2024
The Morinaga Group respects human rights and diversity and is working towards creating an environment comfortable for diverse human resources.
For all employees to embody our Diversity and Inclusion Policy and the five guidelines, the Group is advancing initiatives to promote understanding and encourage concrete actions per the policy.
To promote understanding, we continue to conduct training to spread the Diversity and Inclusion Policy among supervisors, in addition to holding lectures on psychological safety, and organized training on unconscious bias for executives and all employees in an effort to improve basic skills and obtain knowledge useful for promoting D&I.
Regarding concrete actions, supervisors take the lead in confirming issues at each workplace and created action plans and put them into practice. Furthermore, to accelerate initiatives in the Production and Overseas Sectors, we conduct interviews with managers and followed up on the formulation of action plans.
In addition, as a prerequisite for promoting D&I, the Human Resources Division is focusing on various initiatives to advance self-sustaining career development and encourage the active participation of women and seniors to increase the momentum for all employees to play an active role.
The Diversity Promotion Office of the Corporate Strategy Division and the Human Resources Division will continue working together to advance D&I.
Morinaga has established a workplace environment in which employees in different life stages can demonstrate their abilities and play an active role, while feeling motivated to grow further. This environment was achieved through the implementation of various employee programs, including the childcare leave program that is available to both male and female employees, as well as other programs that reduce the workload of employees who have an infant, child, or parent who needs care.
Morinaga ＆ Co., Ltd. has been certified by the Japanese government as a "Childcare Support Company," since 2007, and has continued to meet the "Platinum Kurumin*" certification standards, since 2017.
Meanwhile, to increase the percentage of male employees who take childcare leave, we have been making efforts including revising manuals, cooperating with the All Morinaga Labor Union, and speaking individually with employees.
20% for ratio of female managers*
*Morinaga & Co., Ltd. (non-consolidated)
| Program Title （For Women） |
Scheme Outline |
|---|---|
| Outpatient/ morning sickness leave | A leave of up to 7 days if it is difficult to work during pregnancy or within 1 year after giving birth |
| Prenatal and postnatal leave | A leave of 6 weeks before and 8 weeks after childbirth |
| Program Title （Regardless of gender） |
Scheme Outline |
|---|---|
| Childcare leave at the time of birth | A leave of up to 4 weeks in total within 8 weeks after childbirth (can be taken in parts) |
| Childcare leave | A leave of up to 30 months (can be taken in parts) |
| Shorter work hour system for childcare | 4 working hours until the child reaches 18 months of age; 6 working hours until the child starts junior high school education |
| Child nursing leave | Employees who care for a child up to the age of junior high school age are granted 5 days of nursing leave per year if they have one child, and 10 days per year if they have two or more children. Nursing leave may be taken in increments of one day, half a day, or one hour |
| Long-term nursing care leave | Up to 1 year of nursing care leave can be taken for each family member in need of nursing care (can be taken in parts) |
| Short working hours for nursing care | 6 hours of work per eligible family member in need of care for up to 3 years |
| Nursing care leave | 5 days of nursing care leave per year for 1 family member in need of nursing care, and 10 days per year for 2 or more family members. Nursing care leave can be taken in 1-day, half-day, or hourly increments |
| Angel Return Program | Employees may rejoin the company after their voluntarly turnover |
Under the company policy of providing a place where each employee can demonstrate their personal qualities and skills, we have employees with disabilities playing an active role in a range of workplaces within the company from the Administration and Sales Divisions to the Production Division. In the future, we will continue to proactively create employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
With the decline in the domestic labor force, there is a growing need for seniors to play an active role at work. With this in mind, we began conducting unlearing training mainly for employees in their 50s in FY2022. After the training, individual interviews will be held to continuously follow up on behavioral changes. Furthermore, with the aim of grasping the current situation regarding the active participation of senior human resources, we surveyed the heads of each division about the degree of participation in the workplace by senior human resources ages 56 and older. We will implement initiatives to resolve problems based on the results.
Morinaga has introduced a retiree reemployment system. As a general rule, all retiring employees who wish to do so are reemployed for the period until they reach the age of eligibility for pension benefits. We have also introduced a senior ranking system and evaluation system in the expectation that employees will continue to demonstrate their expertise even after retirement age, encouraging motivation and the desire to take on challenges.
The Morinaga Group has developed a deeper understanding of, and respect for, sexual minorities, including the LGBTQ+ community, recognising them as an important part of diversity. The Group is working to create an environment in which diverse employees can be themselves and work comfortably.
Details
・Our group's D&I policy, human rights policy, and Code of Conduct and Standards of Behavior clearly state that we respect the human rights of all people, regardless of their various attributes, and do not discriminate against anyone or do not tolerate discrimination.
・Regarding leaves and allowances, we treat common-law spouses and same-sex spouses who have been certified by a public institution recognized by the company in the same way as legal spouses (since 2020).
・Morinaga & Co., Ltd. hire regardless of gender by giving consideration to the gender column in the resume at the time of hiring (since 2022)
・During “PRIDE Month,” we held seminars on LGBTQ+ themes with external LGBTQ＋ speakers.
・As part of efforts to visualize LGBTQ+ ALLY, we started to distribute LGBTQ＋ ALLY items in some departments.
・Installation of all-gender restrooms at the head office.
・Trial installation of contact points for consultations, including those related to LGBTQ+ issues.
In recognition of these efforts above, Morinaga & Co., Ltd. was awarded a “Silver” rating in Japan's first evaluation index, which evaluates workplace initiatives for sexual minorities such as LGBTQ+, the “PRIDE Index.”
Our new head office, the Morinaga Shibaura Building, which was relocated in March 2024, has accessible facilities. Additionally, there is a prayer room, an inclusive all-gender restroom, and the ANGEL ROOM, which is for working women-a multipurpose rest area for women that can be used to change clothes and manage their physical condition before and after childbirth.
We launched "Co-ALIVE," a diversity and inclusion promotion project, jointly with other food companies in 2016, and have held various events regularly.
As food companies, we share many common points in our business models, history, and organizational challenges. Therefore, we have promoted D&I beyond company boundaries, working to enhance corporate value and foster progress in the food industry.
(Six food companies: Sapporo Holdings Limited, Nichirei Foods Inc., Nisshin Seifun Group Inc., Morinaga & Co., Ltd., Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., and Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd.)
Specifically, in order to create a culture in which each employee can fully demonstrate his or her strengths, we hold D&I-related lectures for employees from a wide range of lifestyles, knowledge diversification programs focusing on specific themes such as LGBTQ+ and psychological safety, and career seminars for female employees.
In addition, by deepening exchanges among participating companies and exchanging information and opinions, we update information on D&I continually and use it to consider new initiatives and promote D&I in the organization.
For more information about "Co-ALIVE", please refer to the link below.
https://co-alive.jp/ （Japanese only）