ONO promotes the creation of an employee-friendly working environment where every employee can work comfortably with peace of mind. We are continuously committed to the development of support systems and working conditions that help employees work in various styles, as well as the improvement of their work-life balance, so that all persons in our diverse workforce can work energetically and demonstrate their full potential.

Promoting Work Style Reform

We have been reviewing work styles since FY2015. The objective of these are to enhance productivity by simultaneously enhancing work efficiency and creating an attractive working environment. In order to make this a company-wide initiative, we have appointed members from each division and are working to raise awareness, increase operational efficiency, and promote the use of paid vacation days. At the same time, we have been improving systems that make use of IT and introducing flexible working hours, telecommuting system, and interval work systems. In FY2020, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection, employees were required to work in a different way than before. As a result, the amount of work increased, resulting in an average of 15.3 hours of overtime per month and a 58.8% rate of paid vacation days taken. (Compared to the FY2014 before the start of reviewing work styles, overtime hours decreased by 3.8% and the usage of paid vacation days increased by 18.6%) In the future, we will further enhance new working styles, such as telecommuting, and enhance work efficiency. In FY2021, we will aim to increase the average monthly overtime work hours per employee to 13 hours, and the percentage of employees taking paid vacation days to 70%.

Regular feedback on evaluations for employees

We have adopted an interview system of activity goals for the purpose of improving employees' motivation to work and developing human resources. Through interviews with supervisors, employees set goals for their activities once every six months and align their goals based on our vision. In the middle of the term, the progress of the activity goals is confirmed, and the course is revised in an interim meeting with the manager. At the end of the term, feedback is provided about the overall performance of the activities, individual strengths and weaknesses, and evaluation results, and the next term activity plan, development policy, and future career development are discussed through the summary meeting and feedback meeting of the evaluation results. As described above, we are implementing the system by holding eight times a year interviews to increase employee satisfaction, leading to human resource development. Evaluation consists of performance evaluation and behavior evaluation; the performance evaluation evaluates the degree of achievement against individual goals based on the outcomes and process each employee used, and the behavior evaluation is based on how the employees behaved compared to the required behaviors determined according to each employee’s roles; results that combine the performance evaluation and the behavior evaluation are the final evaluation. In addition, multiple evaluators evaluate in principle, which ensures objectivity and fairness, and the results of evaluations are reflected in employee compensation.

Employee satisfaction levels (from an engagement aspect)

We believe that “People make the company.” Based on this belief, in order to flexibly respond to future changes in the business environment and suceed in this market, we strive to promote human resource development and diversity while at the same time working to develop the abilities of individual employees.As part of such efforts, with the aim of objectively measuring the progress of our efforts to strengthen our corporate infrastructure, which is one of our four growth strategies, and improving our organizational power, we have been conducting surveys every two years since 2014.We use the results of the organizational survey when planning new training programs and introducing various systems.

• Questions relating to employee engagement in the organizational survey are used as indicators.The questions and measures were changed between the previous survey (conducted in FY2018) and the survey of FY 2020. The ratio was 66% in FY2018 and 70% in FY2020, when calculated based on the measures of the previous survey.

In FY2020, we reviewed the question items in the organizational survey extensively to facilitate implementation of our future activities from multiple aspects. In relation to this, the number of question items intended as a measure of employee engagement has been increased, so that we can evaluate employee engagement from multiple perspectives, such as organizations, supervisors, and individuals. In addition, the measure scale has been made stricter to include the proportion of super-positive respondents with scores ranging from 6 to 7, as compared to scores of 5 to 7 on the conventional 7-point scale.
In the COVID-19 crisis, the engagement score has also increased, and we continuously contribute to the enhancement of employee engagement through initiatives linked with activities to disseminate the mission statement.

Childcare Support Initiatives

We believe that society as a whole should support families raising children and that creating an environment that supports childbearing and childrearing is one of the challenges that companies should address. In 2005, we formulated an action plan based on the “Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children” established by the Japanese government, and are working to support employees balance work and childrearing. As a result, in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2017, the company was certified by the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare as a standard-compliant general company, and the certification mark (Kurumin^*２) was acquired as a childcare support company.
Furthermore, in 2015, in recognition of the efforts made over the years, we received the Osaka Labor Bureau Director-General’s Award of Excellence in the Equal Opportunity Promotion Company Division and the Osaka Labor Bureau Director-General’s Encouragement Award in the Family-Friendly Company Division at the 2015 Equal Opportunity and Work-Life Balance Promotion Awards organized by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
After April 2017, we introduced a new childcare support system, “Encouraging Leave for Childcare Participation,” and as a way to promote understanding of the workplace among male employees who take childcare leave, child-rearing is a life event for both men and women. We are also promoting the creation of an environment where men can actively participate in childcare. In recognition of these activities to support a balance of work and childcare and create a supportive work environment, we were awarded the Platinum Kurumin certification in November 2019.

• Kurumin Certification:A certification by the Minister of Health,Labour and Welfare for childcare support company.

Continuing after April 2021, we set a goal of achieving a 75% or higher rate of male employees taking child-care-related leave to promote male participation in child-rearing, and promote initiatives to further support balancing work and family life.

Various Support Systems for Employees

In addition to the systems stipulated in laws and regulations, we have established various systems to create a pleasant working environment. We continuously develop systems so that employees can have many options in working styles, for instance, by listening to employees and constructing systems that meet actual needs, or by establishing systems that exceed legal standards. The following systems are applicable to all employees, in principle.
Furthermore, we have prepared a handbook that summarizes these systems and posted it on our intranet to ensure that employees are fully aware of their contents and methods of using them.

[Systems that exceed the standards specified by labor-related laws]

Childcare leave

The statutory period of childcare leave is, in principle, until the child reaches 1 year of age (maximum 2 years of age for certain reasons). However, our employees can take childcare leave until the last day of the month when the child reaches 3 years of age.

Shortened work hours for childcare

Although Japanese law stipulates that shortened work hours for childcare can be utilized until the child becomes three years old, we allow employees to shorten their working hours by up to two hours per day until March 31 of the year in which their child finishes the third grade of elementary school.

Nursing care leave

Although Japanese law stipulates that nursing care leave can be taken up to 93 days in total per family member in need of care, we allow employees to take nursing care leave for up to a year in total.

[Legally required systems]

Shortened work hours for nursing care

An employee caring for a family member in care-requiring condition may shorten his/her working hours by up to two hours per day for up to three years, aside from the period of nursing care leave.

Nursing leave system, nursing leave system

Within the law, employees can take care leave to care for a child who has not yet entered elementary school and to care for a family member in need of assistance. Furthermore, our employees can take sick/injured childcare leave until the end of March of the third year of elementary school. Our employees can take 5 days off per year if they have one family member, or 10 days off (unpaid) on a day, or half day basis if they have two or more family members.

[System that promotes flexible work styles]

Flexible working hours

We have introduced a flexible working hours system for the entire company, excluding some job types, departments and ranks. By allowing employees to choose diverse work styles, we improve their work efficiency and help them better balance work obligations and family obligations, such as childcare and nursing care. Since 2021, we have made it possible for employees to take summer holiday on any day between July and September, except for certain occupations, and have increased the flexibility of taking vacations.

Telecommuting system

We have introduced a telecommuting system on a company-wide basis to support work-life balance of employees who work while raising children or caring for family members. The system is designed to enable employees to work flexibly and efficiently in their own working style.

Hourly paid leave system

Although annual paid leave may be taken in half-day units, we have made changes so that up to three days’ worth (eight hours per day) of paid leave per year can be taken in hourly units. This system is designed to enable employees to work flexibly to suit their needs.

Selective retirement system

The retirement age is 60 years old, but under certain conditions, if they wish to retire when they reach 55 years old, a special surcharge will be paid in addition to the retirement allowance to support their life planning.

Support of the transfer

Under certain conditions, if they are between the ages of 45 to less than 55 retire for independent self-employment, a special surcharge will be paid in addition to the retirement allowance for the purpose of supporting the start-up of a new life.

[Various leave and subsidy systems]

While employees may take leave when they cannot come to work due to attendance to weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies of their own or their family members, moving for job transfer, and accidents, disasters, and other events of force majeure, we also have systems in which special paid holidays can be taken under other circumstances.

Accumulated leave

Under this system, our employees can set aside expired annual paid leave under certain conditions and use the time for reasons such as personal injury/illness, family care, infertility treatment, or secondary examination of regular health checkups. Some employees take paid leave for sudden diseases of children.

Childcare participation encouragement leave

We allow employees to take up to two days of leave for child-raising until the child reaches the age of 1. This system can be used in a wide range of situations such as regular health checkups and immunization.

Maternity protection leave

A female employee who is pregnant or within one year after childbirth can take leave up to the number of days specified according to the pregnancy period to receive health guidance or a health examination. Besides reasons such as health guidance and a health examination, this leave may be taken up to five days during the pregnancy period when work is not possible due to morning sickness, threatened premature delivery, etc.

Volunteer leave, and bone-marrow donor leave

To encourage employees to participate in volunteer activities, we have introduced a volunteer leave system, under which special paid leave of up to five days a year may be granted. We have also introduced a bone marrow donor leave system to grant special paid leave (necessary period for bone marrow donation) to employees who donate bone marrow.

Subsidies for day-care centers and babysitting

A subsidy is available upon application to eligible employees with preschool children whose spouse is also working when they use day-care centers or babysitting services. Even if the spouse is not working, a subsidy will be provided when such a facility or service is used due to the spouse’s illness.

Subsidies for sick child care

A subsidy is available upon application to eligible employees with children under the age of two whose spouse is also working when it becomes necessary to use a sick child care facility or service. Even if the spouse is not working, a subsidy will be provided when such a facility or service is used due to the spouse’s illness.

Support for medical checkup

Our employees who are 35 years of age or older can take a comprehensive medical examination in lieu of an annual legal health checkup, and we bear all expenses. Furthermore, we also support comprehensive medical examination for dependent spouses who are 35 years of age or older.

[Other systems and benefits]

Support for employees with cancer

Employees who are diagnosed with cancer will work in the midst of many challenges, including regular hospital visits, side effects from various treatments, and financial problems.To support employees who wish to continue working while receiving cancer treatment, we have established various systems, including a leave of absence extension system, an income guarantee system to eliminate non-earning periods, a system that allows employees to take their accumulated leave in half-day units, and a system that allows employees to work shorter hours for cancer treatment. Furthermore, we have established a workplace support system to ensure employees with cancer receive adequate support in their workplace. To disseminate this workplace support system widely to our employees, we have created a handbook and posted it on our intranet. We are also working to improve colleagues’ understanding and provide necessary work adjustments to enable employees with cancer to continue working while receiving treatment. Thus, we are implementing multifaceted initiatives to support employees with cancer.

Use of company cars to pick up and drop off children

MRs are allowed to use company cars for the purpose of drop-off and pickup of their children from day-care centers.

Day-care Center Concierge [day-care center enrollment support system

As part of efforts to support smooth returning to work after childcare leave, we provide information through an external organization to employees on childcare leave to help them enroll their children in day-care centers.

Reemployment registration system

We provide an opportunity for former employees who left the company because of difficulty in balancing work and family life due to major life events, such as marriage, childbirth, childcare or family care, to return to the company when certain conditions are met.

Temporary reemployment system

Employees who have retired after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60 may be reemployed as temporary employees up to the age of 65 when certain conditions are met.

Employee stock ownership association

When employees join the treasury stock investment association, they receive incentives from the company according to the number of reserves. We recommend it as part of employee asset management.

Using the Welfare Website (Fukuri Kosei Club)

Employees will be able to utilize a benefit package that includes international and local travel, hotel accommodations, leisure facility tickets, car services, interior accessories, shopping for items such as sundry goods, movie theater tickets, fitness, and restaurants at special prices and plans.

Use of contract recreation center

Contract recreational facilities such as Tokyu Harvest Club (31 facilities nationwide), Daiwa Royal Hotels (28 facilities nationwide), and Appi Kogen, etc. can be available.

Residential Support

A variety of residential supports for employees can be available including company dormitories for single employees, leased company dormitories, company housing for transferred employees, housing allowances, and housing subsidies.

Congratulation or condolence payment system

Payment supports for employees’ life events can be available, such as marriage congratulatory money, childbirth congratulatory money, and children's entrance congratulatory money. In case of illness and injury, these allowances, condolence money, and disaster condolence money, etc.

Efforts made regarding wages

We comply with the Minimum Wage Law and pay our employees more than the minimum wage. We protect the lives of our employees and promote the creation of workplaces where employees can work with peace of mind.

Safety and Health

We hold safety and health committee meetings on a regular basis to identify issues and continuously improve the working environment. At our production sites and research institutes, safety and health patrols are conducted, and the issues pointed out during patrols are shared and improvement proposals are discussed at the committee meetings to ensure appropriate corrective actions are taken. Check items in a safety and health patrol include the following: fire and disaster prevention measures/equipment, safe handling of machinery, implementation of safe work procedures and practices, transportation operations, and workplace cleanliness and tidiness. All our business sites are inspected annually.
At the ONO Headquarters and other company sites where a Health Committee is established the committee deliberates measures to maintain employees’ health, taking into account the results of workplace environment measurements.
In addition, the Central Safety and Health Committee meets every half term to share information and exchange opinions regarding the progress of health management initiatives, company-wide health issues, and the contents and issues discussed at the safety and health committee and the health committee of each business site. The Committee discusses and decides on safety and health activities to be implemented across the entire company. The lost-time injuries that occurred in FY2020 were caused by a fall outside the workplace, and we will continue to engage in educational activities to pay more attention.
Furthermore, in FY2020, we began working to increase employees' awareness of safe and eco driving by equipping all sales vehicles with AI-based telematics (in-vehicle device with communication facility) and detecting unsafe driving behavior. We aim to reduce CO2 emissions not only by ensuring the safety of employees, but also by reducing traffic accidents and violations and improving fuel efficiency through eco driving.

Number of lost-time injuries and lost-time injury frequency rate^*3

• * Scope of data collection: Employees at all worksites in Japan (excluding business vehicle accidents before FY2016)
• Lost-time injury frequency rate = (number of lost-time injuries / total number of actual working hours) × 1,000,000

Relationship with the Labor Unions

We have two labor unions: the ONO Pharmaceutical Labor Union, which is a nationwide organization, and the ONO Pharmaceutical Chemical & General Workers’ Union at the Joto Pharmaceutical Product Development Center. As of March 31, 2021, the ONO Pharmaceutical Labor Union had 2,063 members and the ONO Pharmaceutical Chemical & General Workers’ Union had 14 members. Both unions have good relationships with the company.

Composition of employees (non-consolidated)

The table below shows the number, average age, and average service years of our employeesof March 31, 2021.

Number of employees (Non-consolidated data)

As of March 31, 2021, the percentage of contract workers was 0.1% and that of temporary staff was 8.0%.
(Not included in the above number of employees)

Full-time employee turnover rate

The turnover rate (regardless of reason for leaving) for full-time employees in each FY year, as of the end of March, was as follows.

Support for Disease Prevention, Early Detection and Early Treatment

• All our employees are required to receive an annual health checkup once a year, of whom those aged 35 years and older are required to undergo a thorough medical checkup, instead of a statutory health checkup. The thorough medical checkup receipt rate was 99.5% in FY2020, up from 99.7% in FY2019, excluding those who had unavoidable reasons, such as leave of absence.
• We hold contracts with medical facilities nationwide for thorough medical checkups. The number of contract facilities as of April 2021 was 216. We work to make it easier for our employees and their family members to receive thorough medical checkups.
• We assist with expenses for cancer screenings. Many employees receive optional cancer-related screenings at the time of a thorough medical checkup. We provide mail-in cervical cancer screening kits to female employees under 35 years old.

• After health checkups, industrial health staff provide health guidance and recommend seeking medical attention, as required. They also advise employees with a high risk of lifestyle-related disease and their families to participate in specific health guidance sessions.

Mental Health Measures

• To promote prevention, early detection and early treatment of mental health problems, we conduct in-house training on mental health and individual consultations by industrial health staff. We also work in cooperation with industrial physicians to promote employees’ mental well-being.
• We conduct stress checks once a year for all employees. The ratio of employees who received stress checks was 99.8% in FY2019, and 99.5% in FY2020, approaching the target of 100%. After the checks, we conduct a stress check group analysis and work to continuously improve each workplace based on the analysis results.
• In addition to the stress check, which is performed once a year, we encourage employees to take the simple self-check, which can be performed whenever necessary.
• We have also established a free consulting service counter operated by an external company, and we have developed systems where employees can consult with mental health professionals either face-to-face or by telephone or email.

Measures against Passive Smoking and Promotion of Health

• Since April 2019, we have completely banned smoking on its premises. We also conduct in-house questionnaire surveys on tobacco and publicize the results to raise awareness and motivate employees to quit smoking. We are promoting awareness-raising activities systematically, including producing and displaying original posters that use illustrations written by employees.
• Also, to support employees who try to quit smoking, we provide subsidies for outpatient smoking cessation treatment and an online smoking cessation program. We are taking various anti-smoking measures to promote and maintain our employees’ health. The percentage of our employees who were smokers in FY2020 was 17.0%, down from 18.2% in FY2019. We aim to achieve 16.0% or lower in FY2021.
• We hold a walking campaign every year. In addition to all employees, employees' families, temporary employees, and subcontract workers are subject to this program. This program allows employees to participate voluntarily in teams not only by themselves, but also with their families and volunteers. Selected products from disaster-stricken areas are given to those who achieve certain goals as achievement awards. The activity is continued year by year, which leads to the habit of walking.
  The participation rate was 44% in FY2019 and 42% in FY2020, and we are targeting 50% in FY2021.
• Sessions to measure body composition, blood vessel age, bone density, etc. are held each year at major business sites. Participants can check the conditions of muscles and bones that are not made clear by health checkups alone, and they can also receive individual advice on diet and exercise from medical staff members. The number of participants is increasing year by year.

Number of participants in walking campaign

Health Management Support

• We have opened a portal site where employees can check the results of their thorough medical checkups and periodic health checkups at any time with their terminals. The contents of the portal site include information to help employees accurately understand checkup results and improve their lifestyle habits and personalized advice on lifestyle according to individual health conditions. We work to enhance the contents of the portal site to raise employee awareness of health.

Health Management Efforts

In March 2021, we were certified as “Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organization 2021 - White 500 (Large Enterprise Category)” jointly promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Nippon Kenko Kaigi^*4 for the third consecutive year. We were in the top 100 of the responding companies and received high praise. We will continue to work on health management through various activities.

• The Nippon Kenko Kaigi is an organization aiming to encourage workplaces and communities to achieve specific measures to overcome health-related challenges under collaboration among private organizations, e.g., economic associations, medical-care associations and insurers, and municipalitie.