Basic Policy

Japan's working population is expected to dramatically decrease in conjunction with its aging and declining population, and there is apt to be a further increase in the number of employees, both men and women, who work while caring for children or elderly members of their family. In order for Mitsubishi Electric to survive through the tough international competition and realize sustainable growth under these circumstances, it will be essential to create a working environment where all employees can work to their full potential within their limited time.

Various initiatives are in place at the Mitsubishi Electric Group to create a working environment where all employees can work actively while maintaining good physical and mental health.

Create a Work Environment Where All the Employees can Work Actively with a Sense of Security

The Mitsubishi Electric Group is taking the following measures under the Mitsubishi Electric Workplace Reform Program, aiming at creating a workplace where employees can openly communicate with one another, thorough and appropriate care of employees with mental health issues, and other goals. The measures to be implemented and applied in FY2021 have been completed, and this program will continue to be strongly promoted in FY2022 and beyond as a project directly overseen by the President, and each measure will be implemented continuously.
We are implementing a variety of measures especially with regard to creating a workplace with zero tolerance for power harassment. In addition to implementing anti-harassment education for all employees, we conduct a monthly employee awareness survey of all employees to check for workplace harassment and whether employees have any problems with their interpersonal relationships in the workplace in order to identify, respond, and improve upon problems at an early stage. If an employee reports harassment, the employee is invited to an interview and measures are taken to correct the situation. We aim to create a better workplace culture and environment by steadily implementing these measures.
Furthermore, in February 2020, we introduced a service that allows employees to talk with external counselors to expand their options to ask for help. This service has been used 163 times as of March 2021, thus contributing to the creation of an environment in which employees can easily seek assistance.

Progress of the Mitsubishi Electric Workplace Reform Program

1. *1 Created with reference to "Guidance for Supporting Workers Who Return to Work after Taking a Leave due to Mental Health Issues," published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
2. *2 Training program to enhance people’s capabilities to successfully address stress and adverse circumstances and recover

Based on the results of a third-party evaluation of recurrence prevention measures implemented in FY2021 and Assessment Committee discussions, we have summarized the short-term priority measures to address the issues to be resolved in FY2022, starting with the recurrence prevention measures that have been implemented to date, and long-term measures for realizing a work environment in which all employees can work actively and engage more easily. Following the newly established roadmap, we will steadily implement each measure in order to further improve the workplace environment over both the short and long terms.
In addition, key performance indicators (KPIs) for job satisfaction and work-life balance will be set and monitored regularly to ensure they are reflected in our activities. These activities will be continuously improved and reviewed through the PDCA cycle in order to realize a workplace environment in which employees can thrive.

With regard to preventing problems, we will clearly communicate the company's stance of "never tolerating harassment" and "realizing a harassment-free workplace" based on the Joint Statements of Labor and Management adopted in November 2020. To encourage specific behavioral changes, we have also introduced 360-degree feedback to provide managers with an opportunity to evaluate their own behavior and the behavior of others daily. In FY2021, 360-degree feedback was conducted for all executive members and some offices; this will be expanded to all offices starting in FY2022.

Short-term priority measures and long-term measures

Evaluation indicators

Third-party evaluation of recurrence prevention measures implemented in Fiscal 2022

Continuing from Fiscal 2021, a third-party evaluation by experts to assess the degree of penetration of various measures in the workplace has been conducted (started in September 2021). This fiscal year, surveys were also conducted from the viewpoints of "organizational culture" and "bottlenecks in the organization" through interviews. In these surveys, quantitative data analysis of survey results, stress check results, and so on and qualitative analysis based on interviews were conducted. As a result, some items considered to be company-wide issues were reported.

1. (1) There is an inadequacy in the system for promoting measures to ensure that all measures are disseminated. Some managers responsible for implementing measures in their respective workplaces have problems in realizing the measures.
2. (2) Some workplaces have an atmosphere in which it is difficult to speak freely.
3. (3) The strategy of the Company and each business cannot easily be associated with employees’ own work and the image of how they develop.
4. (4) Support for middle management to address the problem in which employees are unable to envision the prospects for their own career is under development.

On the basis of these results, we have organized measures to which we will give priority in the figure below.
Going forward, we will realize the measures and establish their implementation, in light of the "three reforms" for recurrence prevention measures pertaining to quality-related misconduct.

Prevention of Long Working Hours and Proper Management of Working Hours

Mitsubishi Electric determined "Work Style Reforms" as an important management policy in April 2016 to create a workplace environment in which everyone can maintain physical and mental health and work in good spirits with a good work-life balance and has promoted a variety of measures that contribute to reduction in total working hours, proper management of working hours, and improvement of operational efficiency and productivity. Specifically, the Company has spread policies and raised awareness though messages from the President to employees and other activities, while establishing an environment for efficient business operation; for example, by distributing laptop PCs to all employees, enhancing online meeting facilities, expanding the work-from-home program, expanding IT use, and enriching the IT environment. Meanwhile, we have attempted to properly manage working hours in line with reality by automatically calculating working hours from objective data such as the entry/exit time and PC logon/logoff time.

We believe that these efforts have paid off to some extent. Specifically, employees' working hours have been significantly reduced. To further increase effectiveness, we will continue to promote "Work Style Reforms" in the future. We also implement in a reliable manner health measures for employees in light of properly tracked working hours.

"Work Style Reforms"

"Work Style Reforms" - To the Next Stage -

Outcome of previous activities

We started the Work Style Reforms in fiscal 2017 and have promoted a variety of measures that contribute to reductions in working hours, proper working hours management, and work quality improvement.

As a result, we reduced monthly overtime hours per employee by 14% from fiscal 2018, and the number of employees whose working hours exceeded 80 hours and were thus subject to health management was reduced by 99%. According to the employee attitude survey in fiscal 2021, the percentage of employees who responded that they had a good work-life balance has remained stable in the range of 60 to 70%. Mitsubishi Electric will continue to reduce working hours and to strive to realize better work-life balance.

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  Percentage of employees who responded that they had a good work-life balance (Employee Attitude Survey)^*

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  Changes in the number of employees subject to health management due to working more than 80 hours of overtime a month (including managers)

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  Changes in monthly overtime hours per employee (including managers)

• * Starting in FY2021, the rating scale was changed to a five-point scale to better assess the current state. Employees who responded that they had a good work-life balance are defined as people who rated their work-life balance as four or five on the five-point scale. (Until FY2020, this was defined as people who rated their work-life balance as three or four on a four-point scale.)

At Mitsubishi Electric, Head Office management departments play a central role in improving the quality of company-wide operations by promoting the following specific measures.

President's Forum

To accelerate the promotion of office Work Style Reforms, the "President's Forum" meeting began in February 2017 as a president-employee conversation opportunity. We believe that communicating company policies directly to employees and broadly gathering employee feedback are critical to increasing employee motivation and sense of purpose in work. These measures continue in FY2021 using online tools as we implement appropriate COVID-19 infection precautions.

The president explains to employees the objective and focus of actions surrounding Work Style Reforms, which is a key management policy, and accepts a wide range of inputs from employees such as issues they face in promoting reform and opinions and requests on corporate matters. The president will incorporate these inputs to develop more effective measures.

Support for Flexible Working Styles

Development and implementation of childcare and family-care programs

Mitsubishi Electric is making every effort to fully establish a work-life balance support system that more than satisfies the legal requirements, and to develop workplace conditions that allow employees to comfortably do their jobs and raise children or care for elderly family members. Our childcare leave program can be extended to the month of March following the child's first birthday (or to the first end of March following the child’s second birthday if there is a special circumstance). We also have a program that allows employees to work shorter hours when raising their children, and this program can be extended up until the end of March in the year the child graduates from elementary school. Our family-care leave program allows employees with families that meet the requirements to take a leave of absence for more than three years. It also allows employees to work shorter hours for up to three years to help them take care of their families. In addition, we have a temporary leave system for employees who wish to undergo fertility treatment to support the development of the next generation. There is also a program to provide the spouse with special paid leave (self-support leave) to use in certain circumstances such as to participate in a child's school event, a remote work program (work from home), as well as a re-hiring system for employees who have temporarily left the company to provide childcare and family care.

In fiscal 2021, we increased the number of days off that employees can take when their spouse gives birth from 5 days to 10 days. We also introduced a system where we would not transfer employees to a position requiring relocation for up to three years if that would be difficult due to their caring for family members or being treated for a chronic disease or other health condition, and a career leave system according to which employees can take leave to accompany their spouse who has been transferred overseas or to study or participate in a volunteer activity (including as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer).

Moreover, in FY2022, we introduced a program whereby employees can apply to change their work location to the place where their spouse is located in order to offer employees the possibility to move in with their spouse when they get married or when their spouse changes work locations, and another program that allows employees who are returning from childcare leave to indicate their preference for a workplace that may involve a transfer.

To raise employee awareness of these initiatives, we actively disseminate relevant information through a portal site, which features a range of information on work-life balance, such as a list of support systems for employees raising children (see chart below), and interviews with working mothers. We make this information available to employees, managers, and new hires, aiming to create an environment that is conducive to using these support systems. Along with enhancing our programs, we will work to foster a workplace culture in which employees can enrich their personal lives while advancing their careers.

Diamond Kids Day-care centers

To support the career development of employees raising children, Mitsubishi Electric opened Diamond Kids, an onsite day-care center, in Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture and Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture on October 1, 2014, with an enrollment of approximately 10 children in each center.

By providing its services in locations adjacent to a Mitsubishi Electric workplace on days and during hours corresponding to the workplace, catering to extended hours, and ensuring security measures that prevent intrusion by suspicious individuals as well as accident prevention measures, Diamond Kids offers a childcare environment that allows employees to fully concentrate on their jobs without worrying about their children. It also promotes employees' return to work after taking a leave, by accepting children all year round.

Other programs

Flextime

Flextime allows employees to decide on their working hours for themselves so that they may improve their productivity and exercise creativity, and thereby achieve a good balance between their corporate life and personal life.

The program may be utilized depending on the specific duties and job performance of each employee.

Working hours are divided into "core time" and "flexible time." Core time is a band of time during which all employees must be present in the office as a rule unless special circumstances exist. Flexible time is a band of time within which employees may choose when they arrive and depart from the office in consideration of the progress of their work and fluctuations in workloads. Specific time bands are determined by each office.

Special paid leave (Self-support leave)

Employees who do not use up their annual paid vacation time by the end of the fiscal year may accumulate up to 20 days of unused vacation time and carry them over to the next fiscal year and onward.

Those who receive company approval to take more than three days off from work to recuperate from an illness, engage in family care, take part in a volunteer activity, etc., may acquire a self-support leave.

Remote work program (Work from home)

From fiscal 2021, employees became able to use the program for reasons beyond caring for children or elderly family members, including for the purpose of improving the efficiency and productivity of work and promoting work-life balance.
In fiscal 2022, the program was expanded to all employees in order to create an environment that enables flexible work styles.

Utilization status of childcare and family care programs (by Mitsubishi Electric employees)