Human rights due diligence initiatives
Murata implements a PDCA cycle, identifying and evaluating, preventing and mitigating, monitoring, and disclosing any negative impact in line with the methods described in the United Nations “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.”
Identification and evaluation of negative impact
(1) Identification of human rights risks in fiscal 2020
In fiscal 2020, we undertook an impact assessment, advised by the external experts at LRQA Sustainability K.K.’s, to identify Murata’s human rights risks.
The assessment covered the following divisions: Capacitor Division, EMI Division, High-Frequency Device Division, Communication Module Division, Power Module Division, Functional Devices Division, Batteries Division, Digital Promotion Department, IoT Business Promotion Department, Medical and Healthcare Equipment Group
These represent almost the full range of Murata’s businesses. We held interviews with a broad range of stakeholders about these businesses and evaluated their risks.
Interviews were held with the following stakeholders: persons responsible for each division, persons responsible for procurement, Murata’s four plants in China, Murata’s six plants in the ASEAN region, and Murata’s seven plants in Japan.
As a result of these discussions, we identified the following risks for Murata:
Among these, we identified the following high-priority risks: 1) Forced labor (especially toward foreign workers, minority ethnic groups, and student workers), 2) Long working hours, and 3) Occupational accidents.
Murata procures components and materials and engages in production at multiple proprietary plants.
We see our priority tasks as mitigating the identified human rights impact of our own plant operations and working to improve issues at our suppliers and the plants we outsource to.
Potential human rights risk mapping
(2) Evaluation of human rights impact for fiscal 2023 (direct dialogue with rights holders)
In 2023, given the effect of COVID-19, we conducted local surveys with the cooperation of The Global Alliance for Sustainable Supply Chain (ASSC).
The business locations surveyed by ASSC and an overview of the survey results are presented below.
We are implementing measures to address the matters indicated in the survey.
- Evaluation of human rights impact at MURATA ELECTRONICS SINGAPORE (PTE.) LTD. (October 2023)
This is one of Murata’s own overseas manufacturing bases, with an extremely high proportion of migrant workers.
It comprises two plants: the long-established MLCC business base and battery business base acquired in 2017.
ASSC checked on-site safety and health, and conducted interviews with migrant workers from China and workers commuting from Malaysia.
< Overview of the survey results >
- It was confirmed that the labor and living environment was explained to workers in detail during the recruitment process.
- It was confirmed that fees were not charged to workers at the time of recruitment.
- From the viewpoint of occupational safety, it was pointed out that it is necessary to improve emergency escape route explanation in multi-language and the evacuation drill to cover all teams.
- Evaluation of human rights impact at Izumo Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (November 2023)
This is one of Murata’s main MLCC production bases in Japan and has a high proportion of indirectly employed workers, including foreign workers. ASSC therefore conducted discussions with our partner companies and interviews with the employees of partner companies.
< Overview of the survey results >
- It was confirmed that environmental measures had been taken to ensure a safe working environment.
- Insufficient knowledge dissemination was indicated among employees at some partner companies regarding the rules for transitioning from fixed-term contract workers to regular workers.
- Evaluation of human rights impact at Tohoku Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (December 2023)
This large manufacturing base was acquired through M&A in 2017. We have continuously enhanced Murata’s safety and health environment, and this survey examined the actual situation from the perspective of the workers.
< Overview of the survey results >
- It was confirmed that a safety and disaster prevention system has been established and occupational accidents have been mitigated.
- The need was indicated to clarify the equipment inspection record and improve transparency, including open access to the inspection record, to further enhance workers’ safety.
Preventing and mitigating negative impact
Monitoring
Within Murata, we are monitoring working conditions and working hours, establishing forums for discussion with labor unions and others, and conducting employee surveys. We are also building systems for evaluating risk at our suppliers.
Disclosure and accountability
We disclose information through the Murata website and the Murata Value Report (integrated report).
Human rights training
In addition to implementing systems and mechanisms to reduce risk, we believe that it is important to train our employees whenever necessary. Toward that end, we have implemented various measures to prevent harassment, such as conducting annual harassment training for members of management and any employees that are responsible for managing a team.
Since fiscal 2019, we have been using e-learning to provide all employees with annual training on our basic policy on human rights and labor as well as on harassment of all types (including sexual harassment, workplace bullying, and SOGI* harassment). We have also been spreading awareness of our reporting service, in order to help prevent harassment. We treat these as valuable opportunities for managers and all other employees to recognize how important it is to prevent harassment. We also include temporary employees and contract employees in these efforts, with the cooperation of their companies.
We also conduct CSR-related training including human rights topics, and have established first-response guidelines on what to do if harassment may have occurred at a workplace.
We implement punishments based on disciplinary regulations if workers receive discrimination and harassments, and make public announcements based on the policy (without disclosing personal information that may aid in identification).
- SOGI: Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity
|
e-learning |
General training |
Manager training |
New employee training |
Consolidated (domestic) |
95.40% |
96.40% |
- |
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. |
98.80% |
97.50% |
100% |
- Employees only: New employee training only for sites that conduct e-learning, as e-learning is required only at some sites
Lecture meeting
A total of 250 individuals attended a human rights lecture meeting held online for domestic employees in fiscal 2022, on the topic of "Business and human rights - Considering the connections between human rights and business/work at Murata Manufacturing." During the lecture, Professor Sugawara from Osaka University of Economics and Law covered various topics including what is required of companies based on the basic concept of human rights.
Participants also attended a workshop tailored for circumstances at Murata, in which they exchanged opinions and became aware of how perspectives varied from person to person.
A questionnaire was given after the lecture meeting to gather feedback from participants. Based on this feedback, participants felt that it would also have been a good opportunity for members of management to learn, that they realized how important it is to learn about human rights, and that they wanted to take what they had learned about human rights and apply it directly to future issues at manufacturing sites. This suggest that participants themselves will take the initiative to expand their learning.
Example of global human rights training
Overseas, we conduct training on unique topics for each group company.
However, we continue to investigate training that can be deployed on a global level, under the belief that the concept of human rights is universal.
Training overseas:
Grievance mechanism
We have established channels that all workers can use for anonymous consultation both inside and outside the company. We implemented a system allowing the Compliance Promotion Office to respond appropriately should incidents of harassment or violations of human rights occur. Retaliation against workers and other interested parties who have used this service is prohibited.
We also created and distributed cards containing information on using the reporting service and are working on spreading awareness through e-learning, so that workers can more easily use the reporting service.
During fiscal 2022, there were 106 incidents of harassment brought up anonymously by employees and temporary employees, with the Harassment Consultation Desk. However, there were no incidents involving child labor, forced labor, or other major incidents that could result in litigation.
All incidents were tackled and handled with the cooperation of related departments, after taking the wishes of the individual reporting the issue into consideration.
Click here for information on the number of internal reports and consultations.
Link: Internal reporting system and consulting service
Other grievance mechanism:
Link: Consultation services for suppliers
Link: Inquiry form (use this to contact us regarding any other information on labor rights)
Track record of responding to human rights issues
Within Murata
Even outside the range of legal compliance, Murata is making efforts to establish corrections for long work hours.
Worker fatigue can result in reduced productivity, increased turnover, and increased potential for injury and illness. We are working to reduce risks associated with overworking by providing employees with healthy lifestyles, both physically and mentally.
For example, we consider engineers working long hours to be a human rights issue, and Murata Manufacturing management is working with labor to improve and correct issues based on the labor-management agreement signed with the labor union.
For example, we established a cooperative labor and management body for discussion between labor union members, business divisions, and the HR Department. We currently monitor business plan progress and working hours every quarter, in order to prevent engineers from working long hours during busy periods in important businesses.
As a result, we were able to reduce engineer overtime in applicable departments in fiscal 2021 to 84% of that in the previous year.
We continue to monitor working hours, and take measures if any increase in overtime is discovered, such as having discussions between labor and management.
In fiscal 2021, we increased paid leave for all employees by three days (Up to 23 days), in order to help reduce overall working hours.
Together with partner companies
Murata collaborates with many business partners at manufacturing sites. We consider our partner companies and their employees to be important stakeholders, and promote various initiatives with this in mind.
First, we work to spread knowledge and obtain compliance with Murata's policies through gaining the endorsement and signatures of partner companies, so that everyone working with or for Murata (including partner companies and their employees) understands and complies with our "Basic Policy on Human Rights and Labor" and "EHS Disaster Prevention Policy.”
Next, we conduct human rights and harassment prevention training through our partner companies, and have a system in place to share information on any comments, reports, or complaints regarding human rights or harassment, in order to ensure that our partner companies and their employees understand and agree with Murata's view of human rights.
We also have our business partners participate in SAQs, audits, and other processes to verify their compliance with our policies and identify any potential human rights risks.
Through these initiatives, we have discovered that the level of awareness for systems including maternity leave and childcare leave for foreign workers in Japan was insufficient. Even though they were capable of acquiring them, some workers did not know that they could be acquired at all. We have achieved familiarization by having business partners review education content to prevent similar cases from happening.
Additionally, we found that an agent recruiting foreign workers for our overseas factories had received deposits from workers to prevent them from canceling their travel. To prevent recurrence of this issue, we urged the agent to stop taking deposits from workers, and at the same time, interviewed the hired workers.
Link: Human Rights and Labor Policies
Link: EHS disaster prevention policy
Together with local residents and other rights-holders
As stated in our basic policy on social and local community contribution activities, Murata hopes to be "a company whose presence in local communities is a source of pride and joy to those communities." We consider our local communities and their residents to be important stakeholders, and promote various initiatives with this in mind.
One such initiative is that we strive to consider the impact on local communities while actively conducting local hiring to create employment in local communities.
We also provide periodic opportunities to exchange opinions with everyone in the local community in order to avoid human rights issues and other problems arising from Murata factories. If we receive complaints, we use these as opportunities for discussion. These also serve as opportunities for communication in order to prevent and correct any issues that might have a negative impact.
Due to the increase in foreign workers at Murata, we dispatch Japanese language instructors to elementary schools and donate supplies for Japanese language education, to make it easier for these workers to coexist with local communities. Since we have a lot of Japanese-Brazilian workers, we also support the endowment of Portuguese language courses at local universities and donate Portuguese books to nearby libraries. At Fukui Murata Manufacturing, we are currently conducting Portuguese language lessons for employees. This has become an ambitious undertaking, with the number of employees wanting to participate exceeding the class capacity. After participating, some participants have even indicated that they intend to start greeting their coworkers in Portuguese right away!
It has become especially difficult to provide foreign workers with enough information during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to language barriers. Factors such as lifestyle differences could make it even more difficult to communicate and reach a mutual understanding with members of the local community.
In response, we employed a grievance mechanism in the form of meetings to exchange opinions in local communities, in order to obtain feedback from members of the local community. We also worked with business partners on efforts such as sharing information in workers' native languages and approaching local stores and other businesses subject to restrictions under a state of emergency.
We hope that such initiatives will lead to more active communication between our employees and foreign workers. We will continue our efforts to prevent discrimination by respecting diversity and promoting mutual understanding.
Link: Coexistence with society and local communities
Creating fair workplace environments and personnel systems
We are working to create a workplace environment and personnel system free from discrimination, in line with the tenets of the “Human Rights and Labor” section of our CSR Charter.
We will respect the human rights of every individual and respond with dignity.
- We will prohibit forced labor, and will not permit any child labor be involved in any of our processes.
- We are completely uninvolved in human trafficking. We have confirmed that there is no risk of human trafficking in any of our processes.
- We comply with laws and regulations. We have also received no warnings from supervisory authorities with regard to major violations of the Labor Standards Act.
- We are working to go beyond the standards stipulated by law for working hours, holidays, rest periods, and minimum wage.
- Employees are thoroughly informed about wage structures and personnel systems, and wages are paid regularly in full and on time. Also, deductions are detailed in pay stubs.
- In accordance with the laws of each country in which we are involved, we will respect the right of free association and the right of workers to join labor unions, etc. and we will facilitate free communication between workers and unions. Moreover, even in countries and regions where the formation of labor unions is not allowed under the laws, etc. of each country, we strive to promote problem-solving through dialog between labor and management, which is the objective of executing the rights appended to the freedom of association and labor unions, etc. The union participation rate of each union belonging to the Murata Manufacturing Group Labor Union Association is 81.5% (As of March 31, 2023).
- In consultation with labor unions and employee representatives, we pay the wages necessary to maintain a standard of living.
- We do not discriminate against women in our personnel system, including the wage system. Regarding the issue of equal pay for equal work, we respect and comply with locally applied laws.
- We strive to reduce overwork so that employees may lead a life which is mentally and physically healthy.
- We conduct visiting classes so that foreign immigrant workers will properly understand their rights.
- We do not charge fees, security deposits, or any other kind of money, regardless of the means or under any name. If any such fees are found to have been paid by workers, such fees shall be repaid to the worker. Using audits and other procedures, we confirm that these policies are also being followed by our recruitment agencies, contractors, and supply chains.
- Based on Murata’s philosophy of Equity, we take reasonable accommodation for recruitment, wages, promotions, remunerations, and education training. (Example: Applying subtitles during promotion selections for employees with hearing impairments, etc.)
- During the last 12 months, there were not any public demonstrations, protests, or adverse media reports involving your facility’s operations or business conduct.
In addition, in order to boost our employees’ awareness of human rights, we have translated our basic policies regarding human rights and labor from Japanese to both English and Chinese, and are conducting human rights education as part of our stratified education programs. Our investigation was unable to find any incidents involving child labor or forced labor in any of our business sites or plants, including overseas.
- To abolish child labor, we have identification check during employment. for preventions.
Comparison between standard minimum wage versus regional minimum wage (Murata Manufacturing)
Regional minimum wage |
150,822 yen |
Standard minimum wage |
173,500 yen |
Percentage of regional minimum wage |
115% |
* Value for major manufacturing sites. Not an average.
* As of March 31, 2023
Responding to the UK Modern Slavery Act
In accordance with the Modern Slavery Act that came into force in the UK in 2015, we have released the following statement on slavery and human trafficking.
Link: Statement pertaining to the UK Modern Slavery Act