Respect for Human Rights
Internal Awareness Activities for Human Rights Issues and Indicators
Fiscal 2023 Human Rights Awareness Activities (lectures by external experts)
| Purpose | Content | Participants |
| Promote understanding of "Business and Human Rights" and individual human rights issues | Understanding the “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” and sharing human rights risk issues | General managers, management, and directors in leadership positions at the KOSÉ Group companies in Japan and overseas
(participation rate: 100%, includes on-demand courses) |
| Understand and increase awareness of individual human rights issues | “Unconscious Bias” seminar for management in consideration of diversity among subordinates | New managers and new supervisors
(participation rate: 100%) |
| Training for understanding various types of harassment prevention using case studies | Management of KOSÉ and some domestic affiliated companies (number of participants: 344) |
|
| E-learning courses for understanding various types of harassment prevention | KOSÉ Group employees in Japan
(participation rate: 100%) |
Fiscal 2024 Human Rights Awareness Activities
| Purpose | Content | Participants |
| Promote understanding of "Business and Human Rights" and individual human rights issues | A course on understanding the “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” and learning the basics of managing subordinates with cross-cultural roots | General managers, management, and directors in leadership positions at the KOSÉ Group companies in Japan and overseas
(participation rate: 100%, includes on-demand courses) |
| Understand and increase awareness of individual human rights issues | “Unconscious Bias” seminar for management in consideration of diversity among subordinates | New managers and new supervisors (participation rate: 100%) |
| Training for understanding various types of harassment prevention using case studies | General managers, management, and directors in leadership positions at the KOSÉ Group companies in Japan and overseas (participation rate: 100%, includes on-demand courses) |
|
| e-Learning course on Whistleblower Protection Act | KOSÉ Group employees (participation rate: 100%) |
|
| Sharing of the DE&I Handbook | KOSÉ Group employees (number of viewers: 6,938) |
Consultation and Reporting System
The KOSÉ Group has established dedicated contact channels to mitigate any negative human rights impacts should they occur. For Group employees, there is an established consultation help desk for compliance and harassment matters. For business partners, we have a dedicated contact channel for consultation and reporting on human rights and other compliance-related matters. For customers and individuals, the Customer Service Center handles consultations and reports. Use of these channels is confidential and anonymous to ensure that persons using them suffer no disadvantage.
Should an event with a negative impact on human rights take place, we promptly take steps to provide relief to those affected.
The number and content of such consultations and the responses to them are regularly reported to the Board of Directors.
Note:Of matters reported to the above contact points in fiscal 2024, there were no serious problems that would constitute a human rights violation.
Number of reports or consultations received for compliance-related matters such as human rights
Participation in External Human Rights Initiatives
The KOSÉ Group supports the United Nations Global Compact. As part of this support, we participate in Global Compact Network Japan’s Human Rights Due Diligence Subcommittee and Human Rights Education Subcommittee. Through lectures and workshops by outside experts, we are deepening our understanding of respect for human rights and human rights due diligence, and collaborating with companies to develop educational materials that promote human rights awareness activities. In 2024, employees in charge of human rights participated in the “Program for the Development of Professional Human Resources within Companies for Respect of International Human Rights and Labor Standards” which was co-sponsored by the ILO Office in Japan and GCNJ.
We also belong to the Japan Cosmetics Industry Association (JCIA), an organization of cosmetics manufacturers established to promote sound development of the cosmetics industry, serving as a standing director and collaborating on various themes common to our industry. JCIA has its own sustainability guidelines and actively works to contribute to the sustainable development of society through the cosmetics industry. In 2019, JCIA’s Environment and Sustainability Committee formulated guidelines for responding to human rights and labor risks in the supply chain. Accordingly, in FY2023, seminars were held for member companies to deepen understanding of human rights throughout the industry, and a number of KOSÉ employees participated.
Initiatives for the Protection of Personal Information
The KOSÉ Group recognizes the importance of appropriate handling of personal information under our privacy policy and is strengthening systems so that customers and various stakeholders can use our products and various services with peace of mind.
Dialogue with Stakeholders and Rights Holders
In 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023, the KOSÉ Group participated in the Stakeholder Engagement Program hosted by Caux Round Table Japan (CRT Japan). In this program, direct dialogues are carried out based on recommendations from a wide range of stakeholders such as human rights NPOs and NGOs, civic groups and students to deepen awareness of current human rights issues and reflect them in the Company’s due diligence on human rights. For example, a dialogue with an NPO protecting children’s rights revealed a need to fully confirm that children’s rights are not being infringed in the advertising and marketing of cosmetics and led us to include this matter as a potential human rights issues for the Group. In fiscal 2022, we created internal guidelines for the use of cosmetics by children. We also used the Human Rights Guidance Tool developed by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative during the Stakeholder Engagement Program to discuss important human rights issues in different industries.
For the Company employees, in addition to quantitatively measuring motivations and intentions via awareness surveys and a 360-degree feedback programs we also collect qualitative information based on open-ended questions. While ensuring the anonymity of the submitted information, these efforts allow us to provide better feedback to individuals and innovate our corporate culture. The fiscal 2022 survey results showed that loyalty and job fulfillment at the Company tended to be higher than the societal average, while women employees were significantly more satisfied with the Company than in previous surveys. We continue to conduct employee awareness surveys and 360 degree evaluations every few years to understand employee issues, including human rights.
For the supply chain, the Group held direct dialogues with suppliers based on the results of the self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) we conducted. Some suppliers did not fully understand the questions being asked and provided incomplete responses despite there being no problems. We recognize the importance of raising the level of knowledge about human rights and other issues in departments throughout the Group, and we have asked our suppliers to promote initiatives such as appointing someone to oversee social issues, including human rights, from fiscal 2023.
In 2024, in order to understand the on-the-ground situation of palm oil production, we visited small family-run farms, and collection stations with local NGOs, where we had dialogues with various stakeholders, including local NGOs and people working in small-scale farms to deepen our awareness of the current situation, issues, and needs in the field. We did not detect any serious human rights violations during these dialogues, but we are well aware of the necessity to continue to monitor the situation closely.
Dialogue with palm farmers in Malaysia
Sustainability promotion structure
Human Rights Policy and Promotional Structure
Human Rights Due Diligence
Respect for Human Rights
Diversity & Inclusion
Together with Our Employees
Supply Chain Management
Consultation and Reporting System