The JSR Group's approach to corporate ethics and legal compliance is propped by the two central principles of upholding the law and ethical action. Our Corporate Ethics Committee is active in encouraging employees to hold high ethical standards and to act with fairness and integrity.
The JSR Group has established the JSR Group Principles of Corporate Ethics as specific guidelines for corporate ethics. In July 2011, we revised the principles to reflect our Essential Elements, and positioned the new principles as a globally common standard for the entire JSR Group. We are now systematically promoting corporate ethics activities at all our Group companies both at home and abroad.
The JSR Group has produced English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean and Thai translated versions of the JSR Group Principles of Corporate Ethics in addition to Japanese version and distributed them to Group employees. We have thus ensured that employees at all Group companies worldwide can become acquainted with the JSR Group Principles of Corporate Ethics in their native language (or in a language in which they are proficient).
As an education-related measure, we have provided an e-learning program based on the Principles of Corporate Ethics for all employees of the JSR Group companies in Japan. We also conduct corporate ethics training for new employees and new management employees.
The JSR Group surveys all of our employees on their awareness of corporate ethics in order to identify problems and make improvements in areas related to corporate ethics. We previously conducted the survey every year since FY2012.
The JSR Group has introduced an internal reporting system called the Corporate Ethics Hotline. The system consists of an internal hotline for communicating with contacts within group companies and the JSR Corporate Ethics Committee, an external hotline for communicating with an attorney, and a hotline for communicating with an outside organization that provides support in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, and Thai to establish a structure that facilitates access by personnel at our overseas business establishments. We are informing our employees about these hotlines via internal newsletters and posters, and also promoting trust in the hotlines by ensuring confidentiality and prohibiting unfair treatment of hotline users.
| FY | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JSR | 13 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 8 |
| Group companies | 5 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
| Total | 18 | 18 | 18 | 12 | 14 |
On April 1, 2014, JSR Corporation introduced a Supplier Hotline at its Procurement Departments, an external reporting system for business partners with which the company has periodic business relations.
The system provides business partners with contacts to report violations of the law and of corporate ethics in business, or to identify questionable acts suspected of such violations early on and solve them.
Like the hotline for employees, we outsource contact service to a specialized external organization. We has expanded the scope of the system to cover the business partners of Group Companies in Japan by the end of FY2015.
The JSR Group established and put into operation a legal compliance confirmation system to reinforce legal compliance structures. Specifically, the laws and regulations that must be observed in each country are identified and yearly checks on the legal compliance status of JSR and all domestic and overseas Group companies are carried out and any necessary reforms are made. In FY2015, JSR has selected crucial legal risks that affect all group companies and begun proceedings to focus on resolving and reducing these legal risks that could have severe impact if we are in violation of such laws and regulations.
Compliance Handbook
As the society we live in adopts ever more advanced information and communication technologies, the JSR Group recognizes the importance of protecting personal information. Based on the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, we have formulated and implemented a privacy policy that sets out our basic approach to the acquisition, use and management of personal information.
Our Principles of Corporate Ethics set forth the Code of Conduct on Human Rights and covers respect for basic human rights, respect for workers’ rights in and outside of Japan, and denial of child labor and forced labor not only by our Group but also by our business partners and subcontractors.
We signed the Global Compact proposed by the UN and endeavor to act responsibly as a global enterprise in international society.