Diversity and Inclusion

In the efforts to promote the diversity of human resources, the HITOWA Group is placing its greatest focus on the advancement of women. In fiscal year 2020, women accounted for roughly 74% of all employees and roughly 37% of management personnel. At HITOWA Kids Life, a childcare business operator within the Group, women account for roughly 95% of all employees and roughly 74% of management personnel, the highest percentages within the Group.

The HITOWA Group does business in various fields in which female employees can achieve success, such as cleaning, nursing care, and childcare. The Group has systems such as maternity leave, childcare leave, and training and development systems that enable women to continue working after major life events such as marriage and childbirth, providing women with a more comfortable workplace environment.

HITOWA Social Works, a special subsidiary, promotes the employment of persons with disabilities as it aims to create a society in which everyone can work happily, energetically, and equally, leveraging their individuality and strengths.

Many persons with disabilities work in the HITOWA Group, which has an employment rate for persons with disabilities of 2.43% (as of June 1, 2020). Since 2021, in order to achieve the 70% reduction in workplace attendance requested by the government as a measure to prevent COVID-19 infections, HITOWA Social Works has implemented a work-from-home system, an unprecedented system for a special subsidiary.

HITOWA Social Works also conducts training sessions and lectures, both online and in person, about employing persons with disabilities. These training sessions and lectures are frequently requested by companies, welfare agencies, centers providing job placement support for persons with disabilities, and other organizations. Through activities such as these, HITOWA Social Works is deepening society's understanding of persons with disabilities.

Society's structure is changing due to the low birth rate and aging of society. Peoples' healthy lifespans are also growing longer. Against this background, the environments surrounding the employment of seniors and peoples individual mentalities regarding work are changing.

The HITOWA Group also wishes to leverage the wealth of experience and expertise of seniors and secure a sufficient workforce. Based on this thought, it raised the mandatory retirement age to 65 in 2017.

We will continue to create comfortable workplace environments in which our diverse members can thrive long-term.

Improving Work-Life Balance

We work to improve the work-life balance of our employees so that they feel motivated in their work while living rich lives and enjoying both mental and physical health. We also implement various measures to provide work styles that fit employees' life stages and individual needs, along with initiatives that promote long careers with HITOWA.

Thorough Overtime Management

We set limits on overtime and thoroughly monitor and ensure compliance with overtime rules. We use IT and other tools to increase operation efficiency and enrich our human resources in an ongoing process of workplace environment improvement in order to further lower overtime hours.

Reducing Long Working Hours and Promoting the Taking of Paid Leave

We set numerical targets for work hour reductions and paid leave usage and continuously work to improve our results. We use IT to increase operational efficiency and we raise productivity through measures such as creating better working environments in order to achieve further improvements.

Super-Flex Time (with core time for some departments)

We have introduced a super-flex time system so that employees can work efficiently while maintaining harmony between their personal and work lives. We are striving to improve employees' workplace environments and promoting long-term employee retention.
*Super-flex time scope: HITOWA Group head office employees

Work-from-Home System and Promotion of Telecommuting

In 2018, we introduced a telecommuting system that allows employees to work from home. It not only makes it easier to coordinate work and private lives, but also eliminates commuting. This workstyle contributes to greater productivity, so we're working to further improve our telecommuting work environment.
*Telecommuting scope: HITOWA Group head office employees

HITOWA Kids Life acquired Kurumin certification as a childcare support company on March 31, 2021.

Under the Kurumin certification system(*1), the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare recognizes companies that support childcare by preparing employment environments in which employees can advance their careers while raising their children, and by providing diverse working conditions to all employees, in accordance with the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children(*2).

Through the following initiatives, we actively provide childcare support to our employees.

• 100% childcare leave usage by both male and female employees(*3)
• Ongoing holding of "workplace reinstatement events for employees using childcare leave"
• Sharing of information about company conditions and the Group's childcare support systems to people on childcare leave to assist with a smooth and comfortable recovery to work after the leave period ends
• Allowances for unlicensed nursery schools to make up for price differences between unlicensed nursery schools and licensed nursery schools
• Special allowances for single parents given to employees raising children on their own

• * 1）The Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children was enacted in April 2005 in response to the rapid decline in the birth rate with the aim of creating environments in which the children who will go on to form the society of the future are born and raised in good health. It requires national and local public organizations to carry out initiatives to this end, and also requires companies to formulate General Employer Action Plans that enable employees to advance their careers while raising children.
  Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website "Overview of the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children" https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/kodomo/jisedai-suisinhou-gaiyou.html
• * 2）Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website "The Kurumin and Platinum Kurumin Marks"
  https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kodomo/shokuba_kosodate/kurumin/index.html
• * 3）According to a March 2021 study by HITOWA Kids Life

On April 9, 2021, HITOWA Social Works received Monisu certification as a small or medium-sized enterprise excelling in its initiatives related to promoting and securing the employment of persons with disabilities.

Under the Monisu certification system, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare certifies small and medium-sized enterprises excelling in their initiatives related to promoting and securing the employment of persons with disabilities.

At HITOWA Social Works, operation support staff and life/mental support staff work together in a two-person system to assist each individual person with disabilities in a comprehensive manner, by creating work that matches the individual characteristics of each person with disabilities and motivating them to take on various challenges, such as having them independently plan and carry out training. HITOWA Social Works also uses staggered working hours, work-from-home, and the like, providing a flexible workplace environment that reflects the needs of persons with disabilities. HITOWA Social Works meets the Monisu certification criteria of "maintaining a retention rate of 90% or higher for persons with disabilities over their first six months of employment for the past three years" and "maintaining a retention rate of 80% or higher for persons with disabilities over their first year of employment for the past three years"(*2).

• * 1）Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website "Certification System for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Excelling in their Initiatives Related to the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (Monisu Certification System)"
  https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/monisu.html
• * 2）Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website "Overview of Operations of the Certification System for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Excelling in their Initiatives Related to the Employment of Persons with Disabilities"
  https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/11700000/000848650.pdf

HITOWA Holdings and HITOWA Kids Life received Eruboshi Stage 3 certification from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, recognizing them as companies that excelled in their initiatives for empowering female workers.

The Eruboshi certification system is based on the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and consists of evaluations in five areas: 1) Hiring, 2) Ongoing employment, 3) Work styles, including working hours, 4) Percentage of management personnel that are women, and 5) Diversity of career paths. As both HITOWA Holdings and HITOWA Kids Life met the criteria in all five of these areas, they received Stage 3 certification.

HITOWA Holdings: Content of Specific Initiatives

• Keep average monthly overtime to 16 hours or less, set paid leave usage rate target to 60% or above, and regularly monitor status of overtime and paid leave usage in order to improve work-life balance
• Conduct awareness-raising activities in order to cultivate a workplace culture in which diverse human resources can thrive
• Provide career support to female employees

HITOWA Kids Life: Content of specific initiatives

• 100% childcare leave usage rate(*2)
• Ongoing holding of "workplace reinstatement events for employees using childcare leave"
• Allowances for unlicensed nursery schools and special allowances for single parents
• * 1）Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website "Eruboshi/Platinum Eruboshi Certification System for the Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace"
  https://shokuba.mhlw.go.jp/published/special_02.htm
• * 2） According to a March 2021 study by HITOWA Kids Life

HITOWA Holdings was presented with a Silver certification by "work with Pride," a voluntary organization, in its PRIDE Index 2022, an index that evaluates efforts made in the workplace with respect to sexual minorities (LGBTQ+).

In its diversity & inclusion efforts, the HITOWA Group has declared its commitment to creating workplace environments and a workplace culture in which diverse employees respect and help each other, working energetically together as one regardless of their age, gender, nationality, race, physical characteristics, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, career, or lifestyle. This commitment has been widely announced both inside and outside the company.

We have established an internal LGBTQ+ consultation desk to provide support to LGBTQ+ employees and allies. Furthermore, we periodically conduct employee attitude surveys and carry out employee awareness-raising activities, striving to create workplaces where diverse members can thrive.

On January 1, 2023, HITOWA Holdings' Silver Certification as a leader in health and productivity management (Silver Certification No. 1434-(1)) was renewed in recognition of the Company's active efforts to promote workplace health, such as its work environment improvements, based on its "Healthy Company Declaration." This was the third year in a row that it was selected for Silver Certification.

The Silver Certification for leaders in health and productivity management is granted by a system for recognizing companies that have declared their intent to promote health throughout the company and that have attained a certain level of achievement in these efforts as "leaders in health and productivity management." In order to create an environment that strives to promote healthier workplaces, HITOWA Holdings has declared that 100% of employees are to receive health checkups and that it will implement measures in the following six areas. The Company is actively implementing these measures.

1. Using the results of health checkups

2. Creating environments that foster better health

• The Company selects persons in charge of health promotion, holds regular discussions regarding health-related issues in the workplace, creates health promotion targets and plans, and puts these plans into action.

3. Food

• The Company provides information about the beverages consumed during working (especially the sugar content of the beverages), places beverages for specified health uses in vending machines, and makes beverages (primarily water) available within the Company for 50 yen.
• The Company places "Office Okans (Mothers)" and "OFFICE DE YASAI (VEGETABLES)," counters offering healthy meals and vegetables in offices and provides information about the Dietary Balance Guide to promote balanced diets.

4.Exercise

• The Company sends emails and puts up posters recommending stair use and provides information about the effectiveness of stretching and simple stretching exercises that can be done when working at home.

5.Smoking cessation

• The Company notifies employees about ill effects of smoking and the policy prohibiting smoking after 7:00 p.m., a long-standing company measure.

6. Mental health

• The Company offers health consultations and provides information regarding self-care.

On March 8, 2023, HITOWA Holdings was recognized as a 2023 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organization (SME category) under the Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program operated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Nippon Kenko Kaigi*. This was the third year in a row that it was selected by the program.

The Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program is a program through which the Nippon Kenko Kaigi recognizes outstanding large enterprises and SMEs that are implementing excellent health and productivity management based on regional health issues and the health promotion initiatives of the Nippon Kenko Kaigi. The HITOWA Group is constantly working to improve its workplace environments so that each and every employee can enjoy both physical and mental health and feel excited and motivated in their work.

• * Nippon Kenko Kaigi: As the Japanese birth rate is declining steeply and the country's population is rapidly aging, the Nippon Kenko Kaigi was established as an organization dedicated to enabling private organizations to collaborate and take practical actions to extend the healthy lives of everyone in Japan and provide them with appropriate medical care, backed by full support of the government. Economic groups, medical associations, private organizations such as insurers, and local governments work together with the aim of implementing concrete measures in workplaces and communities.

In July 2020, HITOWA Holdings was certified as both a Company Issuing a Declaration of Workplace Environment Improvements and a Company in Compliance with Management and Labor Criteria under the Company Labor Examination and Certification System operated by the Japan Federation of Labor and Social Security Attorney's Associations(*).

The Company Labor Examination and Certification System is a system under which labor and social security attorneys examine and certify companies that are actively complying with labor and social security laws and regulations and making improvements to their workplace environments in order to promote more sound corporate management. The HITOWA Group is constantly working to improve its workplace environments so that each and every employee can enjoy both physical and mental health and feel excited and motivated in their work.

• *Japan Federation of Labor and Social Security Attorney's Associations: This organization, licensed by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, is a federation of labor and social security attorneys' associations in each of Japan's prefectures. Its objectives are to maintain the dignity of the members of labor and social security attorneys' associations, increase their quality, and improve their operations by performing administrative duties related to providing instruction to and communicating with the labor and social security attorneys' associations in each prefecture and their members, performing administrative duties related to the registration of labor and social security attorneys, and performing administrative duties related to the Labor and Social Security Attorney Examination and the Dispute Resolution Procedure Proxy Service Examination.