Respect for People
- Respect for Human Rights
- Human Resources Management
- Global Human Resources Management
- Diversity and Work-life Balance Management
- Occupational Safety and Health
The Ricoh Group respects the rights of everyone while actively avoiding risks and enhancing corporate values
As a company engaged in global business
Various issues related to the increasingly globalized economy are emerging. Of these, human rights-related issues are the most extensive and complicated. Respecting human rights has become increasingly important to companies.
From the very beginning, Ricoh has been built on the foundation of The Spirit of Three Loves—love your neighbor, love your country, and love your work—Among the three loves, "love your neighbor" is the basis of the Ricoh Group's respect of human rights. We have cherished this spirit since the foundation of the company, and in 2002, we announced our participation in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). We incorporated the UNGC's principles on human rights and labor into the corporate principles stipulated in the "CSR Charter" issued in the fall of 2003 and into the "Code of Conduct," which both executives and employees are required to observe, based on which, efforts to address human rights and labor issues have been undertaken.
The Ricoh Group's past activities to ensure human rights
| November 1991 | The Human Rights Enlightenment Committee was established and staff in charge of human rights enlightenment were assigned to each office and plant and the Business Assistance Division. |
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| October 1994 | A guidebook for enlightenment of human rights "Hito-o Aisu (Love your neighbor)" was issued and education to raise awareness of human rights was initiated. |
| September 1998 | The Human Rights Counseling Center was established. |
| April 2002 | Operation of a database on human rights and sexual harassment was initiated. |
| April 2002 | The company signed the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). |
| November 2003 | Respect for basic human rights was clearly stipulated in the Ricoh Group CSR Charter and the Ricoh Group Code of Conduct. |
| January 2006 | The Ricoh Group Supplier Code of Conduct was established, which requested that suppliers respect basic human rights, and in 2009 the self-assessment system was established. |
| April 2007 | An organization to promote "diversity & work-life management" activities was established. |
| April 2008 | Color universal design activities (in consideration of the diversity of color vision) were initiated. |
| December 2008 | The company signed the CEO Statement for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). |
| February 2011 | The company signed the United Nation's Women's Empowerment Principles. |
| March 2011 | A stakeholder dialogue on human rights was held. |
| March 2012 | The company announced its policy on conflict mineral issues. |
Major international standards and regulations that are referred to in addressing relevant issues
- The 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact
- Human rights guidelines based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the Ruggie framework)
- Social responsibility standard—ISO 26000
- OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
- ILO international labor standards
Two elements in addressing human rights issues
The two main elements regarding respecting human rights are "risk avoidance" and "corporate value improvement," while giving due consideration to all stakeholders involved in corporate activities.
The company monitors for the presence of child labor and forced labor not only within its own organization but also within companies in its supply chain. Our suppliers are required to comply with the Ricoh Group Supplier Code of Conduct. The status of their compliance with the code of conduct is regularly assessed by "CSR self-assessment" reports and they are encouraged to make improvements, if necessary.
Emphasis is also placed on human rights issues in the context of the mining of resources in conflict areas (conflict minerals issues), which has recently been particularly controversial. We are addressing these issues in cooperation with other organizations in the industry. In our efforts to respect human rights, it is also important to ensure "health, security and safety" for users of Ricoh's products. We have promoted various activities to achieve this objective, including provision of user-friendly products that everyone can use with ease and promotion of “color universal design activity,” in consideration to the diversity of color vision.
Recognizing fully that it is essential for a company that operates globally to respect the culture and customs and appropriately consider human rights in places where it develops business, the Ricoh Group has given due consideration both to environmental conservation as well as employment and training of human resources, regardless of when or where in the world the Group conducts its business. We believe that this approach helps us to gain the trust of the local inhabitants and contributes to achieving both community development and business development.
We fulfill our responsibilities as a company engaged in global business through our business activities so as to create living and working environments where anybody can live a secure, safe and comfortable life and participate in community activities.
To further strengthen efforts to promote respect for human rights
With regard to human rights, it is important from a global perspective to constantly monitor relevant laws and regulations that already exist as well as international standards and guidelines that will be introduced in the future. In March 2011, we held a dialogue on efforts and initiatives to be undertaken by the Ricoh Group in the future, inviting experts in human rights and ISO 26000 standards with abundant experience in relevant fields.
"Dialogue on Human Rights" inviting experts
[Invited participants]
Yozo Yokota (Director, Center for Human Rights Education and Training; Professor, Chuo University)
Shinichi Hasegawa (Director, Japan ILO Office)
Makoto Teranaka (Executive Director, Amnesty International Japan)
Kaori Kuroda (Executive Director, CSO Network Foundation; Expert, ISO 26000 Working Group)
Masao Seki (Associate Director, Chief CSR Officer, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.; Expert, ISO 26000 Working Group)
(The affiliations and job positions above are accurate as of March 25, 2011)
Major pieces of advice provided by experts
- Issues related to human rights may develop into litigation and therefore it is important to regard them as possible risks to the company.
- There is a concern about how the company analyzed human rights-related cases in the past in Japan and abroad and how the company shares information on these cases within its organization.
- Issues yet to be addressed include improvement of the system to evaluate and study the occurrence of human rights-related cases on a regular basis and the system of due diligence that allows the company to preemptively identify possible cases.
- Human rights issues should be regarded as issues that need to be addressed not only by the Human Resources Division but by all divisions and departments of the entire company.
- It is recommended that more experts from external sources be used in order to improve relevant activities.
- As a global company, it is important to be constantly sensitive to global trends concerning human rights issues so as to stay informed of the latest news.
- The company should include education on human rights in pre-transfer training programs for employees to be assigned overseas.
- It is important to acknowledge that the supply chain is within the company's realm of responsibility (within the company's sphere of control) and therefore should be included in the company's efforts to address human rights issues.
- Based on advice provided by experts and awareness raised through these dialogue meetings, we have added the following items to our list of efforts to promote human rights:
1) Understanding details regarding international standards and guidelines on human rights - 2) Analysis of the Ricoh Group's current situation and identification of issues that need to be addressed according to items related to human rights in ISO 26000
- 3) Collection and past case reviews
- 4) Improvement in the aspect of human rights for risk management of the entire Group
- 5) Education for all employees through "human rights e-learning"
More effort will be focused on relevant activities from a global perspective, with more attention placed on international trends, based on the "Ricoh Group Human Rights Respect Promotion Framework."
- Respect for Human Rights |
- Human Resources Management |
- Global Human Resources Management
- Diversity and Work-life Balance Management |
- Occupational Safety and Health
