The TOPPAN Group regards human rights as a paramount principle guiding its business activities and sustainability initiatives.

We continue to operate our business under the foundational tenet of “respect for human beings.” A TOPPAN Group Human Rights Policy based on this tenet was formulated in October 2021. Respect for human beings, or more specifically respect for human rights, is required as the first behavioral norm set under the TOPPAN Group Conduct Guidelines. Basic Principle 1 of the guidelines includes protecting individual dignity, prohibiting discrimination and harassment, prohibiting child labor and forced labor, and promoting diversity and inclusion.

We have also been taking measures to avoid human rights violations that might adversely affect the lives of people living near Group sites in the course of business. Our environmental conservation initiatives, for example, are promoted based on the TOPPAN Group Declaration on the Global Environment and the Basic Policy on Biodiversity.

TOPPAN has established a Groupwide framework for promoting human rights initiatives led by the Human Capital Working Group under the supervision of the Corporate ESG Project, a cross-divisional team that drives sustainability activities under the Sustainability Promotion Committee chaired by the president & representative director. The Board of Directors supervises key human rights efforts, while the head of the Personnel & Labor Relations Division oversees their implementation. The Personnel & Labor Relations Division, Manufacturing Management Division, and Legal Division steer day-to-day human rights activities in collaboration with related departments throughout the Group.

Identifying Human Rights Risks in the Printing Industry

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We have categorized human rights issues by prioritizing human rights risks as they relate to the characteristics of our businesses, competitor trends, and international human rights standards. Five core human rights risks facing us have been identified through the process: the four risks shown above in red and “human rights governance across the Group” (not shown in the list).

Results of Human Rights Due Diligence

Fiscal 2023 Human Rights Risk Assessment at the TOPPAN Group

Follow-up Assessments

No significant risks requiring urgent actions and no violations of local laws/regulations or international norms were identified in a detailed analysis of the human rights risk assessment carried out in the previous year. Based on the analysis results, we have selected Group companies that appear to be at a higher risk of negatively impacting human rights. The following countermeasures were implemented during fiscal 2023 at eight designated companies in Japan and at one company overseas. TOPPAN will continue to address the identified issues in fiscal 2024.

Grievance Mechanism

Upon detecting a negative human rights impact caused or worsened by the business activities of the Group, TOPPAN will work to remedy the issue through appropriate means. If the negative impact is found to be directly linked to our corporate activities through business relationships, we will work with the relevant stakeholders to fulfill our role in remediation.

The TOPPAN Group Helpline has been established as an internal reporting system to be used by Group employees when an infringement of human rights is suspected or discovered. We also operate a Supplier Hotline open to business partners for the anonymous reporting of related matters.

TOPPAN organizes diverse forms of human rights training for Group employees based on a fundamental ethos of respect for human beings.

While new managers and supervisors have been given training on human rights issues focused on harassment prevention for some time, we have also introduced a program for the prevention of workplace harassment covering all Group employees (under the harassment prevention agreement reached with the Toppan Printing Labour Union in April 2020). Personnel & labor relations departments across the Group, meanwhile, have set up consultation desks to manage workplace harassment. The departments train counselors on methods to prevent harassment and strictly deal with every case. If any form of harassment comes to light, the departments will investigate the case appropriately, mainly through interviews with the parties involved, and strive to resolve the matter promptly through measures such as corrective or disciplinary actions against the persons responsible.

The Conduct Guidelines Promotion Leaders also present case studies on human rights issues as a means of disseminating the Conduct Guidelines at their assigned workplaces and enhancing the understanding of human rights across the Group.

Labor-Management Initiatives for Human Rights

TOPPAN undertakes various labor rights measures based on a basic policy arising from an agreement reached through consultation with the labor union and other stakeholders.

The agreement promotes stable labor-management relations, maintains and improves working conditions, and secures the corporate concord by establishing a fundamental approach between labor and management, the rules governing union activities and labor-management negotiations, and employment conditions pertaining to wages, working hours, etc.

Developing Appropriate Working Conditions

TOPPAN convenes labor-management committees every month to review the actual working hours of employees and discuss measures to regulate them at each Group site. The committees check and take steps to ameliorate cases of long working hours occurring either chronically or over extended periods. The measures for reducing overtime work range from direct communications, such as the sending of alerts to employees and their superiors through our work management system, to environmental adjustments, such as scheduled shutdowns for PCs and office lighting.

We also strive to adapt to the “new normal” in the post-pandemic world and develop appropriate working conditions that support the autonomy of individual employees on all fronts. Smart work and remote work systems have been introduced throughout the Group, along with smart devices that can be used in the same ways inside and outside of office environments.

Securing Occupational Safety and Health

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 framework of the Group. TOPPAN organizes safety training for all Group employees, both regular and contract hires, as prescribed by the Basic Policy on Safety, Health, and Fire Protection, a policy that prioritizes safety over all other considerations. Training content is extensive, including safety programs mainly for forepersons as well as the enhancement of intrinsic safety for machines and equipment through risk assessment. Anzen Dojo safety-training facilities outfitted to simulate and alert employees to workplace hazards are operated at seven Group sites around the world. A cumulative total of 39,968 persons have received dojo training since the facilities opened as part of an ongoing effort to refine Groupwide safety promotion activities for the prevention of occupational accidents. We also work with industrial physicians and the TOPPAN Group Health Insurance Union to promote prevention-focused healthcare activities aimed at securing workplaces free of mental health problems.

Pursuing Diversity and Inclusion

We position diversity and inclusion initiatives as a critical management strategy to further advance our progress as a group of corporations that create social value. Constant dialogue and heightened awareness have been facilitated to ensure mutual respect and create psychologically safe workplaces where every person can speak and act with dignity and without inhibition. TOPPAN provides employees with support systems to balance their work with childcare and nursing care burdens, promote the employment of people with disabilities, and take positive action to assure gender-equal treatment. These measures have led to increases in the percentage of persons with disabilities in the workforce and the number of female managers and supervisors.

We also implement various gender and sexual diversity (SOGI* and LGBTQ+) initiatives to incentivize every employee to create inclusive environments in which all persons can feel at ease. In addition to holding seminars open to employees across the Group, the TOPPAN ALLY initiative has been organized to encourage employees to express their alliance with sexual minorities. A system has also been introduced to extend the benefits granted to employee spouses to same-sex and/or common-law partners.

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Sexual orientation and gender identity

Paying Appropriate Wages

TOPPAN pays appropriate wages to Group employees by considering the local living costs and observing the minimum wages set under the laws and regulations of each country or region. In addition to providing the monetary remuneration and the welfare and benefits legally required, we offer non-monetary support such as programs for enhanced job satisfaction, self-actualization, and career development. The average annual salary at TOPPAN Holdings Inc. was 7.56 million yen in fiscal 2023. The Company’s remuneration system for determining employee wages is based on the individual’s competencies and roles and imposes no differential standards based on gender. Remuneration is also determined uniformly across the Group companies in Japan based on similar criteria. The 2024 self-assessment of our remuneration systems has confirmed that the fiscal 2023 salaries paid to the employees of TOPPAN Holdings and its Group companies in Japan exceeded the living wages outlined in the 2021 RENGO Living Wage Report* and the RENGO Living Wage list (2023 simplified revision) from the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO).

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The “RENGO Living Wage” is a unique calculation prepared by RENGO to estimate the basic cost that workers require to live healthy and cultured lives while maintaining their readiness to work and social dignity. The living wage is the minimum wage required to cover a worker’s taxes, social insurance premiums, automobile-related expenses, and expenditures on 10 essential items: 1) food, 2) housing, 3) utilities and water, 4) furniture and household utensils, 5) clothing and footwear, 6) health and medical expenses, 7) transport and communication expenses, 8) educational expenses, 9) culture and entertainment expenses, and 10) other expenses (i.e., social activities, pocket money).

Gender Pay Gap at the TOPPAN Group

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Calculated based on the provisions of the Japanese Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace (Act no. 64 of 2015). The calculation method applied to overseas affiliates conforms to the standards presented in the act.

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“Wages” include wages, salaries, allowances, and any other payments (whatever they are called) paid by the employer to workers as compensation for their labor.

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The totals for “TOPPAN Holdings Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries worldwide” are tabulated from the weighted averages reported by TOPPAN Holdings Inc. and its overseas subsidiaries. Those for overseas subsidiaries have been converted into Japanese yen using the rate as of March 31, 2024.

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The “Wage Disparity between Male and Female Employees” is calculated for the business year at each company, which may differ from the business year of TOPPAN Holdings.

Starting Salary at TOPPAN Inc.

The starting salary of new university graduates hired on April 1, 2024 was 233,500 yen (1,465 yen per hour) uniformly throughout Japan.

Providing an Open Recruitment Environment

We recruit diverse human assets regardless of nationality, gender, age, or disability by delivering information on working at TOPPAN to a broad range of people through company presentations, websites, and other media.

Personnel who interview applicants receive a recruitment manual and thorough training on fair selection practices. Questions deemed to be inappropriate in an interview setting are listed in the manual to ensure that the interviewers avoid any topics that could constitute employment discrimination. Our steps to protect the human rights of applicants during the recruitment process are comprehensive. The interviewers, for example, are required to sign written pledges regarding the handling of personal information.

Properly Operating Technical Internship Programs

Head office personnel collaborate with local general affairs staff in a fact-finding survey conducted to assess human rights risks for foreign technical interns working at TOPPAN Group sites across Japan. The survey teams used our original check sheets to verify the actual living and working conditions for the interns and whether the internship programs were being run in accordance with the requirements stipulated by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. We confirmed that technical internship programs had been introduced at five plants operated by two of our manufacturing subsidiaries in Japan as of fiscal 2023.

The survey also confirmed the following: that the employment contracts concluded with foreign interns were explained in either their native languages or in languages that they could understand, that there were no cases of unpaid wages or long overtime hours worked, that appropriate wages were paid in accordance with the hours worked, and that the living conditions provided to the interns were comparable to those provided to our employees.

Identifying Human Rights Risks in New Businesses

As part of the due diligence process associated with mergers, management integration, and joint venture formulation, TOPPAN conducts a risk assessment of human rights issues such as inhumane treatment, freedom of association, and occupational safety and health management. Any entity joining the Group is subject to this risk assessment and required to take steps to mitigate and prevent any risks identified.

No significant risks to be addressed were found in our fiscal 2023 risk assessment.