Human Rights

Policy and Basic Approach

Gunze's Human Rights Policy Statement We have inherited our founder’s mindset and shared it as our corporate philosophy for over the 120 years: People-oriented approach, commitment to quality, and harmonious coexistence.
The following "GUNZE’S HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY" is established in order to clearly express our commitment to ensuring the corporate philosophy to respect for human rights.

1. We endorse the UN Global Compact, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other international principles relating to human rights.

2. In our business activities, we respect the human rights, individuality, and diversity, and do not discriminate against people because of their race, nationality, gender, or other factors.
We strictly prohibit any child labor, forced labor and inhuman treatment including cruel disciplinary punishments.

3. We implement the initiatives as stipulated in our in-house "Sustainability Promotion Rules" to respect the human rights of all employees, identify the negative impacts on human rights and endeavor to remediate them, through appropriate processes such as whistleblower system.

4. We require our supplier to comply with "Gunze Group Supplier Code of Conduct" in accordance with the "Gunze Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines", gather information on any risks that could cause negative impacts on human rights, and work to prevent and mitigate the identified negative impacts.

5. We continue to provide necessary training for all employees to respect for human rights and deepen the understanding of employees on human rights issues.

Goals and Achievements

Actual Conditions of In-House Assessment

	Number of plants surveyed regarding non-Japanese technical interns^※
	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024
Domestic plants	Six plants ・Yanase Plant ・Miyazu Plant ・Yabu Apparel Ltd. ・Tohoku Gunze Co., Ltd. ・Tsuyama Gunze Co., Ltd. ・Kyushu Gunze Co., Ltd.	Three plants ・Miyazu Plant ・Tohoku Gunze Co., Ltd. ・Kyushu Gunze Co., Ltd.	Two plants ・Yanase Plant ・Tsuyama Gunze Co., Ltd.
Outsourced manufacturing plants			Fifteen plants

The survey was conducted at all six domestic plants and fifteen outsourced manufacturing plants that had technical interns working for them at the time of the survey.

Assessment Survey of Major Suppliers

	Number of suppliers surveyed^※
	From FY2022 to FY2024
Plastics field	14
Engineering plastics field	9
Medical business	5
Gunze Medical Limited	4
Apparel business	75
Textile materials field	12

In FY2022, the scope of surveyed suppliers was broad.
However, to standardize practices across business divisions, the scope of the survey was revised in FY2023 to include major suppliers that account for approximately 80% of the total amount of transactions. From FY2023, we received responses from almost all of the suppliers we asked to participate in the survey.

System GUNZE positions “people-oriented approach” as the foundation of its business activities. Through its Sustainability Committee and Risk Management Committee, the company promotes awareness throughout the organization and has established systems to address global human rights issues.

More details

Initiatives

Initiatives to Promote a Corporate Culture of Respect for Human Rights To promote a corporate culture of respect for human rights, we participate in external human rights organizations such as the Osaka Liaison Association of Companies Concerned with Dowa and Human Rights Issues. In addition, we strive to raise awareness of human rights through initiatives such as the "Human Rights Slogan" campaign during Human Rights Week.

Whistleblowing System The "Anything Goes Hotline" has been established as a whistleblower hotline under the direct control of the President. In accordance with the Company's Anti-Harassment Policy and Whistleblower Protection Policy, consultations and reports are handled with care and respect for the privacy of the whistleblower and other parties involved. The number of consultations decreased from the previous year, but the number of consultations related to harassment increased. There is no record of the number of consultations based on the Whistleblower Protection Regulations. The company continues to strive to respond in good faith from a fair and impartial standpoint. Efforts to Eliminate Workplace Accidents

Initiatives to ensure respect for human rights
(Human rights due diligence) Gunze’s founding philosophy emphasizes respect for human rights, and the Group has always valued the rights of all individuals associated with it.
In 2021, we established the Gunze Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines to clarify our policy on respecting human rights and other sustainability issues. We collaborate with our suppliers to address these matters.
Since the United Nations announced its Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies have been asked to better live up to their responsibilities to society.
Since FY2022, the Group has been enhancing its efforts and conducting the following assessments.

In-house assessments In light of human rights risk cases involving non-Japanese technical interns at other companies, the Gunze Group conducted a survey of six plants in Japan to assess the situation at these plants.
In FY2023 and FY2024, we conducted on-site inspections, including interviews of non-Japanese technical interns, to assess the hygiene conditions in their working and living environments.
In FY2024, we requested that 15 manufacturing plants to which we outsource operations in the apparel business that hire non-Japanese technical interns con- duct self-checks and confirmed that they are in compliance with labor-related laws and regulations.
We will continue to conduct assessments regularly to ensure these plants are operated properly.

Collaboration with external parties

Supplier assessments

Since FY2022, the Gunze Group has been assessing key suppliers in certain business divisions to identify, analyze and evaluate adverse impact and risks on human rights and develop and implement appropriate measures.
To assess the status of suppliers’ efforts regarding respect for human rights, environmental conservation and quality and safety, we asked suppliers to perform a self-assessment using the Global Compact Network Japan’s CSR Procurement Self-Assessment Questionnaire^* (the “Self-assessment”) and evaluated their responses.
In FY2022 and FY2023, we asked 115 major domestic suppliers in the apparel business, medical business, plastics field, engineering plastics field, and textile materials field to perform a Self-assessment of their performance.
The results of the Self-assessment showed that while large companies with capital of more than ¥300 million recorded high scores, small and medium-sized enterprises with capital of less than ¥300 million scored low, revealing a tendency for efforts to be insufficient.
In FY2024, we asked four key Gunze Medical Limited suppliers to perform a Self-assessment of their performance. For the first time, overseas suppliers were included in the scope of the survey.
The Self-assessments in the past three fiscal years revealed no issues regarding the working environments within our supply chain. However, our staff individually spoke with personnel at suppliers whose scores were low, and we are collaboratively working to improve their conditions.

* Self-Assessment Questionnaire for CSR procurement: Questionnaire developed by the Global Compact Network Japan to assess degree of understanding of CSR requirements.

Human Rights Due Diligence^* Implementation Flow

* A process for identifying negative impacts on and risks for human rights, analyzing and evaluating risks, and formulating and implementing appropriate measures

Declaration on Responsible Corporate Conduct in the Textile Industry and Clothing industry of Japan

In September 2023, we participated in the declaration for “Responsible Business Conduct for the Textile and Clothing industry of Japan” by the Japan Textile Federation. We hereby declare that we will actions, with the cooperation of all direct and indirect suppliers in our product supply chain, to respect the human rights of all workers involved in the manufacturing of our products, including foreign technical intern trainees.

Declaration on Responsible Corporate Conduct in the Textile Industry and Clothing industry of Japan (Japanese only)