Sustainability
Initiatives for employees
Policy
Creating a safe workplace environment in which it is easy for employees to do their jobs through respect for human rights and diversity, and the elimination of all discrimination and harassment, we engage in health-based management.
From GCI Group CSR Policy “Employees”
Creating an environment in which it is easy for employees to do their jobs; respect for human rights and diversity
- Workplace environment policy
- To ensure that the organizations in our group are able to make maximal use of their capacity, we provide, with a focus on workplace safety and physical and mental health, a workplace in which it is easy for employees to do their jobs by building a culture that respects diverse ways of thinking and encourages all employees to take on new challenges.
We engage in the following activities to optimize and improve our corporate working environment.
Physical health
Every year, employees take regular health checks with measures in place to ensure that expert referrals for re-examination or more detailed examinations are in place as required.
Additionally, employees who handle organic solvents and other specific chemical compounds have further specific health checks twice a year to prevent any potential health damage from such compounds.
Mental health
We engage in various annual activities under our annual Better Mental Health Plan.
- 1. New employee training
- We incorporate mental health training into new employee training.
- 2. Line care training
- We provide various types of line care training with managers and supervisors.
- 3. Antiharassment training
- We oblige managers and supervisors to take training courses, including e-learning.
- 4. Employee awareness activities
- We raise employee awareness of mental health issues through internal newsletters, leaflets, and other means.
- 5. Stress checks
- All employees are given an opportunity once a year to check their stress levels.
- 6. Contact and support organizations
- We provide a telephone hotline staffed by experts from external organizations who can provide employees with easily accessible advice from mental health issues.
We employ occupational physicians to provide lectures on healthcare and offer consultations to support the physical or mental health development of our employees.
Policies for the prevention of passive smoking
In line with the amendment of the Health Promotion Act in April 2020, we completely ban all smoking on the premises and during business hours to prevent unintended exposure to passive smoking.
Health Seminars
As part of our health promotion initiatives, the GCI Group holds annual health awareness seminars for all employees, inviting guest speakers from Gunma Yakult Sales Co., Ltd. Each year, the seminar themes focus on mental and physical well-being and are selected based on the results of preliminary employee surveys.
Work-life balance
A good balance between professional and private lives is essential for employees to make maximum use of their capabilities and work with motivation and enthusiasm.
The GCI Group supports employees during times when it is temporarily difficult for them to attend work, including pregnancy and childbirth, when looking after children or other family members, or when taking time off for illness, which allow employees to select from a diverse range of employment options, systems of shorter working hours, and opportunities for working from home.
Systems for leave for pregnancy and childbirth, childcare, and nursing care
For example, as a rule, childcare leave is available until the day before the child turns one year old, and shorter working hours for childcare are available until the child starts school. In addition, employees who are taking care of children who have not yet completed the third grade of elementary school can take leave to take care of their children when sick. Through these systems, we provide a range of childcare support.
Rates of childcare leave uptake
| FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | |
| Number of people taking leave/Number of people eligible for leave | 5/10 | 0/0 | 5/8 | 2/2 | 12/17 | 2/2 |
| Uptake rate | 50% | - | 63% | 100% | 71% | 100% |
| % returning to work after leave | 100% | - | 100% | 50% | 100% | - |
| % at work one year after returning to work | 100% | - | 100% | 50% | 100% | - |
- *Childcare leave uptake rate (men) = number of male employees who took childcare leave / number of males employees whose spouse gave birth x 100
- *Childcare leave uptake rate (women) = number of female employees who took childcare leave / number of females employees who gave birth x 100
- *If an employee’s period of childcare leave extends over two different fiscal years, the employee is counted for the fiscal year during which the leave began.
Overview of the system of the support for balancing work and childcare
Overview of the support system for balancing work and family care
Uptake rate for paid leave
The GCI Group promotes the uptake of annual paid leaves to allow employees to refresh the body and mind and address family circumstances flexibly. We are committed to creating a workplace environment in which it is easy for employees to do their jobs by establishing a system to promote the planned uptake of leave or allowing for the use of leave on a half-day or an hourly basis.
Kurumin Certification
In FY 2025, the GCI Group received Kurumin Certification as a company working actively to provide support for raising children from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children.
We have worked to create an environment in which employees can work at ease, including the introduction of a telework system, support for balancing childcare and work, and promotion of diversity.
This certification is the outcome of these initiatives, and we will continue to aim for sustainable growth of business and our social contribution through the creation of a workplace in which diverse employees can perform brilliantly.
Our stance on human rights
At GCI Group, we support the International Bill of Human Rights and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of the International Labour Organization (ILO). In accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, we work to respect the human rights of everyone involved in our businesses.
Human Rights Policy
Women's Empowerment
In accordance with Japan’s Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life, we are working to increase our ratio of female managers.
Promotion of employment of persons with disabilities
At the GCI Group, we employ persons with disabilities in accordance with the Act to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with Disabilities.
Percentage of mid-career hires
In accordance with the Act on Comprehensively Advancing Labor Measures, and Stabilizing the Employment of Workers, and Enriching Workers' Vocational Lives, we publish the percentage of our regular employees who were employed as mid-career hires.
| Percentage of regular employees employed as mid-career hires | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
| 25% | 31% | 63% | |
Publication date: March 15, 2025
Personnel development
- Personnel development policies
- At the GCI Group, our core values of a personal development are to train personnel who take responsibility for their results and always see things through, are able to act independently to instigate change, have a wide range of interests and are open to continued learning. Our goal is to foster individuals who can make the largest possible contribution to the group, while also fostering leaders who can make maximum use of our Group’s potential.
Our personal development policies include the following activities:
- 1.New recruit training, new recruit on the job training, new recruit follow-up training
- 2.Mid-level employee training
- 3.Foreign language training
- 4.Training for a new managers and supervisors
- 5.Career development training
- 6.Compliance training
- 7.Various training courses provided by internal and external lectures
- 8.Online learning
Employee proposal system
As part of our efforts to continually improve our business, we have adopted an employee proposal system. The system allows employees to provide a wide range of proposals and ideas that can contribute to an improved, more comfortable workplace and that leads to the further development and enhancement of our business. Such proposals may cover not only the workplace environment but also business processes, cost reductions, and equipment and facilities. Excellent proposals are evaluated as ranks A to D and proposal award.
