IBIDEN Group CSR | Basic Policy

Standards governing employee behavior in their relationship with the company

Individual behavior

1. Basic attitude

Officers and employees shall comply with employment-related laws and regulations (including the Labor Standard Law) and with the company's Work Regulations. At the same time, officers and employees shall act in conformity with social rules and socially accepted standards of decency.
The company shall be persistent in its efforts to create a safe and pleasant workplace environment and shall respect the personality and individuality of each officer and employee to allow him or her to enjoy a comfortable and affluent life.
The company shall respect the privacy of officers and employees and shall exercise the utmost caution in handling their personal information.

2. Behavior standards

(1) Respect for human rights
Officers and employees shall show consideration for others and endeavor to improve the atmosphere of their workplace and human relations. In addition, officers and employees shall respect human rights so as not to subject others to unfair discrimination or harassment on the basis of their nationality, race, ethnicity, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, disease, or social status. The company shall exercise appropriate care to prevent such discrimination and harassment.
(2) Prohibition of harsh or inhumane treatment
Officers and employees shall refrain from subjecting others to harsh or inhumane treatment,including any sexual harassment,sexual abuse,corporal punishment,mental or physical coercion or verbal abuse. The company shall exercise necessary managerial care to prevent and eliminate such treatment.*1
(3) Prohibition of forced and child labor
Officers and employees shall comprehend that all work will be voluntary. The company therefore shall not use any form of forced or involuntary labor. In addition, the company shall not employ children aged under the legal minimum age for labor.
(4) Fair and proper personnel evaluation and managemen
Officers and employees shall make impartial evaluations of the results of work performed by fellow officers and employees to ensure fair and proper personnel management. In connection with recruitment, evaluation, personnel transfer, promotion, education, and the like, officers and employees shall not accord any preferential treatment to any individual on account of an existing relationship with themselves, fellow officers or employees, or their relatives.
(5) Personal information on officers and employees
Officers and employees shall not obtain unauthorized access to personal information on fellow officers and employees.
Officers and employees who are authorized to access personal information in the performance of their duties shall keep personal information secret. Such officers and employees shall not disclose personal information to parties outside the company unless the officers or employees whose personal information has been accessed give their consent or justifiable request. Personal information shall not be disclosed even within the company except to those performing official duties for which the acquisition of such information is deemed essential.
(6) Assurance of safety and health
Officers and employees shall comply with laws, regulations, and internal rules relating to safety and health. In addition, officers and employees shall place the highest importance on occupational safety and hygiene. Specifically, they shall (i) have machinery, equipment, facilities, and the like serviced in order to maintain their safety and hygiene and (ii) use them in accordance with prescribed steps.
Officers and employees shall always adhere to the "5S" principles (Seiri [Organization], Seiton [Neatness], Seiso [Cleaning], Seiketsu [Cleanliness], and Shitsuke [Moral]) in the workplace. Officers and employees shall also take care to maintain and improve their mental and physical health. At the same time, they shall take all due care to protect the health and safety of persons around them, to maintain a good workplace environment and to improve it.
(7) Prohibition of illegal drug use and restriction on alcohol consumption
Officers and employees shall not consume alcoholic drinks in the workplace or use illegal drugs.
(8) Emphasis on education and self-development
Officers and employees shall engage in self-development activities to enhance their own performance and the performance of their colleagues, thereby fostering the desire to take on new challenges and inculcating the social values expected in full-fledged members of society. The company shall recognize the importance of educating officers and employees and shall develop human resources in an organized and systematic manner.

*1) Sexual harassment consists of two types: quid-pro-quo harassment and hostile environment harassment. The former is the type in which an employee is advantaged or disadvantaged with regard to his or her working conditions by reason of the employee's compliance with sexual advances, usually from someone is a superior position in the workplace. The latter is the type where an employee's working environment is adversely affected due to sexual speech or behavior.

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The company's property

1. Basic attitude

The company's property includes tangible property*2 such as land and equipment as well as intangible property*3 such as intellectual property rights (patent rights and the like), trade secrets (technical information, trade information, and the like), and know-how. This property is highly valuable and important in the conduct of the company's business activities.
The company must carefully manage such corporate property to ensure that it is used efficiently and to prevent it from being lost, stolen, or misused. If any part of the company's property is misused or stolen, the company shall employ every possible means (including legal action) to safeguard its assets.
Officers and employees shall exercise due caution in using and managing the corporate property placed in their charge. In addition, they shall gain a good understanding of the company's asset management policy and cooperate in its implementation.

2. Behavior standards

(1) Prohibition of the misuse of tangible property
Officers and employees shall use the company's tangible property for the sole purpose of performing the duties assigned to them and shall not embezzle or use any of the property for the benefit of themselves or third parties. Officers and employees shall not claim expenses improperly or use their functional status or authority to confer improper benefits upon themselves or third parties. Officers and employees shall comply with internal rules in handling tangible property to prevent it from being stolen or lost.
(2) Intellectual property
Officers and employees shall record and manage the company's intellectual property appropriately and shall exercise due caution to prevent it from being misused by other business enterprises or persons. In addition, officers and employees shall not use the company's intellectual property for the benefit of themselves or third parties, whether during their employment with the company or after retirement.*4
Officers and employees shall not acquire other persons' or companies' intellectual property by improper means. Even if such property has been acquired by proper means, officers and employees shall not use it without permission. In addition, they shall not reproduce software illegally.
(3) Use of trademarks
Officers and employees shall correctly recognize and use the trademarks of the company or other business enterprises.*5
(4) Trade secret information
Officers and employees shall endeavor to prevent trade secret information*6 from leaking out. Officers and employees shall not disclose or disseminate trade secret information held by the company or any of its subsidiaries to outside parties without permission. Trade secret information shall not be disclosed even within the company except to those in charge of operations for which the acquisition of such information is deemed essential. In addition, such information shall be used solely in connection with the company's business activities. Officers and employees shall act in accordance with the obligations described above, regardless of whether or not they themselves have developed such information.
When talking on a cellular phone, or conversing in an eating or drinking establishment, officers and employees shall exercise caution to avoid inadvertently bringing up a topic related to trade secret information. Officers and employees shall not make any mention of trade secret information when in conversation with their family members or friends.
On retirement from the company, officers and employees shall, in addition to all other company assets, return materials and media (such as diskettes and CD-ROMs) containing the company's trade secret information. Retired officers and employees shall not leak any of the business secrets that they learned during their service with the company.*7
(5) Information processing and network systems
Officers and employees shall use the company's computers, internal information processing systems, and network systems adequately and effectively, and shall avoid using them for improper purposes.
Officers and employees shall manage electronic information appropriately to prevent the leakage, theft, and destruction of trade secret information, computer virus infection, and other damage. It is especially important for officers and employees to exercise the utmost caution by ensuring password management and conducting regular checks using antivirus software or the like. In the event of possible damage, the divisions concerned shall be informed without delay.

*2) Tangible property includes land, buildings, facilities, equipment, products, work in process, raw materials, OA equipment, office supplies, cash equivalents, and securities.
*3) Intangible property includes intellectual property (such as patents, utility models, designs, trademarks, publications, know-how, and technical information), trade information, personnel information, accounting information, electronic information (such as program data), and other trade secret information.
*4) Information held by the company and considered innovative and original in nature is placed under similar legal protection given to intellectual property rights (such as patent rights). Intellectual property rights and all other rights to inventions, devices, publications, and the like produced by officers or employees in the performance of their duties shall be held by the company.
*5) The company holds trademark rights to character strings, names, symbols, and the like relating to the company's operations and uses them to distinguish the company's own products from other business enterprises' products. For example, "IBI-TECHNO" is a registered trademark as indicated by the ® sign. Trademarks yet to be registered are indicated by the "TM" sign. Trademarks must be displayed correctly (for instance, with the correct spelling) in exactly the same way as they are displayed by the parties holding trademark rights to them.
*6) Much of the information held by the company must be managed as trade secret information. Trade secret information is the valuable outcome of the collective performance of many officers and employees. Trade secret information also represents the outcome of the company's heavy investment in research and development. Since trade secret information gives the company an advantage in terms of market competitiveness, disclosing the information to competitors will cause damage to the company.
*7) Title to all intellectual property developed by officers and employees during their service with the company remains with the company even after their retirement.

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