Social Human Rights

The Hakuhodo DY Group aims to “create a society abounding in sei-katsu-sha’s aspirations and where they can live vibrant lives” through our creative human resources, who serve as our greatest asset. Respect for human rights is the foundation upon which the Hakuhodo DY Group is built, and we promote respect for human rights as the root of ethical, sustainable business. In order to fulfill our responsibility to respect human rights more thoroughly, we have formulated a Human Rights Policy for the Group based on the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework outlined in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).

The Hakuhodo DY Group’s Human Rights Policy (hereinafter referred to as “the Policy”) applies to all officers, employees, etc. (including all corporate officers, regular employees, contract staff, and temporary staff) working at the Hakuhodo DY Group (i.e., Hakuhodo DY Holdings Inc., hereinafter referred to as “the Company,” and its consolidated subsidiaries). We also expect all of our business partners to act in accordance with the Policy.

The Hakuhodo DY Group will respond with sincerity to the various impacts on human rights that may arise in relation to its business activities. We aim to create a society abounding in sei-katsu-sha’s aspirations and where they can live vibrant lives.

We have also made the following commitments in order to further promote the Group’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives.

We will strive to respect human rights in all of our business activities in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), based on our understanding of the human rights specified by the International Bill of Human Rights (an international standard for human rights); the basic principles relating to human rights outlined in the International Labour Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, as well as in the UN Global Compact; and the Children’s Rights and Business Principles developed by UNICEF, the UN Global Compact, and Save the Children.

We will comply with the domestic laws and regulations in each country or region where we conduct business activities, and in cases where these laws or regulations conflict with internationally recognized norms, we will strive to find ways to respect internationally recognized norms while still taking each country’s laws and regulations into account. We will not discriminate against people or infringe upon human rights on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, birthplace, language, religion, gender, age, political views, wealth, gender self-identification, sexual orientation, disability, background, etc. We will prohibit human trafficking, forced labor, and child labor. We will respect employees’ basic human rights in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining rights as recognized by law, and we will ensure that employees have appropriate working hours, wages, etc. in conformity with the laws of each country or region in which we conduct business activities, thereby providing a healthy working environment to employees.

In the event that our business activities have a negative impact on human rights, we will take appropriate action to remedy the situation, and we will not do anything to further such negative impacts. We will also strive to prevent or mitigate any negative impacts on human rights in the Group’s value chain.

In addition, we will be on our guard for any incidents that could affect the human rights of sei-katsu-sha, such as incidents relating to freedom of expression, harassment, or invasion of privacy. We will proactively implement measures aimed at eliminating the infringement of human rights through our business activities, and we will strive to encourage and spread awareness of activities that contribute to the safeguarding of human rights. We will implement periodic evaluation of the content of the abovementioned measures and activities. Furthermore, we will identify any significant human rights issues that are likely to emerge in the future due to changes in society or in business activities and give priority to addressing these issues.

The Company’s Board of Directors has a responsibility to implement ongoing monitoring of all activities stipulated by this Policy in regard to respect for human rights. While fulfilling the monitoring function in relation to measures addressing particularly significant human rights issues, the board will also devise appropriate measures to prevent any direct or indirect involvement in human rights infringements. The Corporate Sustainability Division, as the unit responsible for sustainability matters, will work under the guidance of the director responsible for overseeing sustainability to spread awareness of the Policy and promote all initiatives related to respect for human rights.

By implementing human rights due diligence to ensure that our responsibility to respect human rights is properly fulfilled in accordance with the UNGPs, the Hakuhodo DY Group will strive to demonstrate accountability for the impact of the Group’s business activities in relation to human rights.

Furthermore, based on the results of human rights due diligence, we will strive to focus on measures addressing significant human rights issues. Besides ensuring effective coordination between the internal control departments of each Group company, including not only existing businesses but also operating companies that may become part of the Group through M&A activity, we will also collate, assess, and consider response strategies for negative impacts on human rights that could arise through our business activities as part of our risk management measures.

The Hakuhodo DY Group has established internal reporting and consultation liaisons for all corporate officers and employees. Reports and requests for consultation regarding human rights issues are handled with the utmost anonymity and confidentiality, and we respond in good faith so that any party who has had their human rights infringed upon can have this situation remedied. Furthermore, in order to be able to evaluate negative impacts on human rights in any Group company and consider response measures, we implement periodic examination of the number of reports received by our internal reporting and consultation liaisons regarding human rights as well as trends in these reports, discuss response measures in relation to situations where there is a possibility of serious human rights infringements, and report on them to the Group Compliance Committee.

The Hakuhodo DY Group implements appropriate responses to human rights impacts through dialogue with related stakeholders. In addition, information related to the progress of activities connected to respect for human rights and the results achieved, including initiatives specified in this Policy, is disclosed on our corporate website, as part of our efforts to adopt a more proactive stance.

In order to enhance the effectiveness of this Policy as implemented in our business activities, the Hakuhodo DY Group will work to disseminate the Policy to all corporate officers and employees as well as to ensure that they are thoroughly familiar with it, while also implementing education and training to enhance understanding of human rights. We will also further strengthen our existing training programs related to various types of harassment, along with our training on representational risk in advertising.

This Policy has been approved by the Company’s Board of Directors. It will be adjusted and improved on a regular basis going forward in order to further strengthen initiatives related to respect for human rights.