Work-Style Reform and Work-Life Balance

Toshiba Group has been promoting work-style reform since April 2019 to resolve social issues as an infrastructure services company and contribute to the further development of society. By encouraging flexible work styles, business reform and health and productivity management, we aim to reduce long working hours and deliver work with high added value so that each and every employee can work safely, happily and in health.

Toshiba Group stipulates Workplace in Article 16 of the Standards of Conduct for Toshiba Group, and strives to develop a working environment where officers and employees may perform their duties creatively and efficiently, as well as provide support to realize employees' work/life balance through various ways of working so that they can maximize their capabilities to the fullest extent. We also comply with rules regarding working hours specific to each country.

• Standards of Conduct for Toshiba Group  16. Workplace

We have set goals customized to factors particular to the business sector for hours of overtime work and are aiming to gradually reduce overtime work to rectify the long working hour situation and enable work with high added value. Toshiba is striving to transition to a style of work that does not depend on overtime work, so that more diverse personnel can be deployed and work-style reform is promoted.

In Toshiba, in FY2022, the average total annual actual working hours per employee was 2,003 hours, and the average annual overtime working hours per employee was 301 hours.

With regard to remote work, which was rapidly adopted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have applied working from home to all employees who can do so and promoted online meetings from the perspective of preventing the spread of COVID-19. In order to make working from home a common practice and improve its productivity, we distribute videos on how to communicate properly and even better when working remotely, and provide online IT skills training. In the post-COVID-19 era, we will aim to achieve an improved work-life balance by creating a worthwhile time away from work for our employees, such as the time for improving their health, the time spent with their family, the time to participate in child-raising and nursing care, and the time for themselves to study again. To do so, we will opt for a hybrid work system in which employees can combine working at the office with remote work, allowing them to work from home or use satellite offices during a business trip. In this way, employees will be able to effectively use the time that would have otherwise been used for commuting or traveling.

Although Toshiba Group had implemented measures to ensure the health and safety of employees, a labor issue arose in FY2019. We have taken this seriously and implemented the following measures to prevent recurrence.
Specifically, top management regularly sent out messages on health and safety. At the same time, we took measures to prevent overwork and to encourage communication within the workplace. We are also working to improve employees’ self-care and implemented initiatives to maintain and promote their physical and mental health.
In accordance with the Toshiba Group Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Management Policy and the Toshiba Group OHS Management Declaration, preventing the recurrence of labor issues continues to be the top management priority. We remain fully committed to creating an environment where Toshiba Group employees, including non-regular employees, can work with peace of mind.

Since the 1990s, Toshiba Group has been supporting employees to balance their work and personal life. Starting in 2005, in accordance with the Law for Measures to Support the Development of the Next Generation, we have implemented various measures and systems, which surpass the legal standards, and continue to make them more adaptable and flexible.
In FY2014, we revised our Hourly-Unit Annual Leave System. Now employees can take leave on a quarterly hour basis instead of hourly when they take a leave over an hour.
In accordance with the Act on Childcare Leave, etc., revised in April and October 2022, we started in April 2022 confirming with employees their intention to take childcare leave with the aim of encouraging them to take the leave, and began improving our environment by setting up a consultation center. In October 2022, we reviewed the number of times employees could take childcare leave separately, and also created the childcare leave system at the time of birth.

• Available for childbirth by an employee’s spouse, marriage, and bereavement. (In FY2022, we added the reasons of attending school events for children and receiving fertility treatment.)
  

• Sum of the figures for Toshiba Corporation, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation, Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation, and Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation

In order to spread the concept of work-style reform and put it into practice, we raise awareness through various means such as training programs and distributing brochures.

Toshiba Corporate Pension Plan: For full-time employees at Toshiba Group in Japan, we provide the Toshiba Corporate Pension Plan (defined benefit plan) and the defined contribution pension in addition to the old-age pension from Japan’s welfare pension insurance scheme to support their lives after retirement. Currently, around 60,000 employees from 83 business sites have subscribed to the Toshiba Corporate Pension Plan (defined benefit plan) and around 62,000 employees from 79 business sites to the defined contribution pension.

Health Insurance Association: Toshiba Group in Japan operates the Toshiba Health Insurance Association to which 160 business owners and approximately 178,500 people (including retirees and dependents) have subscribed. The Association strives to prevent illness and enhance the health and physical strength of the Group employees as well as supports medical expenses and provides benefits in the event of illness, injury, childbirth, etc. for Group employees and their families.

Teatime, a Selective Welfare System: Toshiba offers a selective welfare system called Teatime under which full-time employees can make choices according to their needs and receive support from a wide range of welfare benefits. This system has been introduced at 25 companies of Toshiba Group in Japan (approximately 42,530 employees). In addition to reimbursement for spending on self-development programs and health support, the system also covers support for childcare and nursing care, including costs for day-care centers, child-rearing, education, and nursing care, among others. Our wide-ranging support caters to the various needs of employees.

Other Welfare Programs: Toshiba Group in Japan has a program for medical, accident and life insurance for its employees that takes advantage of the Group’s scale to provide a range of insurance policies at low premiums, as a means for life with reassurance for Group employees. We also provide programs in Japan to support the financial independence of Group employees such as an accumulation scheme for purchasing homes and funding life after retirement.

In line with the 2022 revisions to the Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members (“the Act on Childcare Leave, etc.”), key Group companies have established, in April 2022, consultation services related to taking parental leave, and have appointed counselors to staff the services.
The Toshiba Hotline, the Harassment Consultation Center, and the Audit Committee Hotline, which are whistleblower systems and consulting services for employees other than those listed above, are listed in the Whistleblower System and Consulting Service under Respect for Human Rights.

• Respect for Human Rights