Compliance & Risk Management

In running the company and as a member of society, the NICHIAS Group engages in compliance efforts based on social norms and common sense, as well as complying with laws and regulations and the Articles of Incorporation, in order to build good relationships with its many stakeholders.
Furthermore, in order to minimize diversifying risks, the NICHIAS Group works to enhance and strengthen its risk management by assigning specialized departments to deal with risks in each field.

Compliance Framework

To promote compliance from a Group-wide perspective, NICHIAS has established, as a specialized organization, a Compliance Section under its Corporate Administration Division.

In addition to planning and implementing specific measures in line with NICHIAS’ Compliance Activities Policy, the Compliance Section ascertains the state of compliance at each workplace, makes suggestions and gives advice on issues, and deals with feedback and matters sent to the compliance counters (whistleblower hotline) in a fair and honest manner.

Furthermore, Branch Compliance Committees are organized at each office and group company in Japan and overseas to facilitate compliance, and efforts are taken in a proactive spirit, such as formulating and educating everyone on unique action guidelines that address the issues of each particular workplace.

Also, from the perspective of measuring compliance at a specific point in time, a survey of all employees is carried out roughly every three years to ascertain compliance throughout the NICHIAS Group to see if there are any compliance-related issues.

Compliance Framework Chart

Compliance Education & Training Activities

To foster a greater understanding and practice of compliance, information is posted regularly on the Compliance Portal Site on NICHIAS’ in-house intranet platform.

The Compliance Portal Site contains contents to understand the essence of compliance through occasional activities, related topics, and real-life examples. These efforts are led by the Compliance Support Committee of each workplace and Group company and made known to all employees.

In fiscal 2021, on the theme of “Eradicating Power Harassment,” NICHIAS used case studies in the form of　cartoons to provide training by way of an internal instructor at each workplace and each Group company to spark a greater understanding of power harassment (workplace bullying) to foster a workplace environment based on sound communication where harassment does not occur.

The NICHIAS Group has also engaged in various other compliance-related educational activities such as encouraging the submission of compliance slogans and implementing e-learning programs for all employees.

Education Through Compliance-Related Cartoons

Establishment of a Compliance Report and Consultation System

To facilitate reports and consultations regarding compliance, a compliance hotline was set up on the NICHIAS website in addition to the general compliance hotline (NICHIAS Group Corporate Ethics Hotline), an external hotline (contact point at a law firm), internal hotlines (compliance officer and labor union hotline), and each compliance counter (whistleblower hotline) at the contact points for handling “important management matters” (auditor hotline). With a more transparent compliance framework in place, NICHIAS strives to operate its business in a compliance-orientated manner.A comment box has also been set up at each workplace, making it easier for employees to speak out.

Reports received by the compliance counters are checked at the Compliance Committee by sufficiently investigating the truth behind reports and interviewing those concerned to resolve any compliance issues.In the case of reports for which the whistleblower clearly states their name, the outcome of the action taken as a result of the investigation will, without fail, be fed back to the whistleblower.Even if a report is made anonymously, if the workplace where the incident occurred is identified, the truth of the report will be investigated, action taken to resolve the problem, and internal training held.

There were 67 whistleblower reports in fiscal 2021.Appropriate action was taken in relation to each report.

Business Continuity Planning (BCP) Measures

NICHIAS Corporation sees fulfilling its responsibility to supply products to its customers as an important company appraisal standard, and implements various BCP measures such as for its production facilities, buildings, and raw materials as a countermeasure to minimize the impact of a potential large-scale natural disaster or a novel coronavirus outbreak on the company’s production.

Information Security

NICHIAS Corporation acknowledges the importance of information in its corporate activities and handles information appropriately. At the same time, it also understands the risks relating to information security and engages in measures against such risks.As a foundation for measures, employees are thoroughly educated to handle information and IT in line with the rules at each organization within the NICHIAS Group.NICHIAS Corporation endeavors to understand the trends of cyber attacks that become more advanced and intricate each year and to improve the Group’s readiness against such attacks.

Intellectual Property Strategy

The NICHIAS Group considers intellectual property to be important and actively promotes the acquisition of intellectual property rights for newly created technologies.When a new product goes to market, the NICHIAS Group respects the intellectual property rights of others, conducts the appropriate surveys to check that there are no infringements of rights, and responds appropriately.

In fiscal 2021, the NICHIAS Group worked to maintain and improve its brand value by acquiring corporate brand rights in each country that it operates.

Fair Competition & Transactions

As part of its CSR activities, the NICHIAS Group focuses its efforts on training staff about the Antimonopoly Act and the Subcontract Act.Each year, it incorporates training about these laws into its educational programs for new employees and newly appointed executives.

In fiscal 2021, the NICHIAS Group conducted remote-based training by the level of seniority, explaining laws and regulations in detail and precautions to prevent violations, as well as checking that the law is familiar to everyone at NICHIAS and that its staff complies with laws and regulations.

NICHIAS also organized e-learning training for the executives and employees of the company concerning the Antimonopoly Act and the Subcontract Act. During this training, matters that staff members need to be careful of were explained using specific case studies as the subject of the training material.In addition, NICHIAS made improvements within the Company based on surveys on the state of transactions with subcontractors.Through such activities, the NICHIAS Group ensures thorough compliance with laws and regulations.

Internal Control Assessment

To improve the corporate values of the entire Group, NICHIAS Corporation maintains a system for internal controls and has built ways to assess its integrity.To clarify fairness and independence, NICHIAS Corporation has established an internal control auditing office under the direct control of the president and systematically implements internal auditing of the Group.

In fiscal 2021, NICHIAS partially switched to remote-based audits, conducting internal audits of 7 business units at NICHIAS itself and 21 business units within the Group (11 in Japan and 10 overseas).The audits confirmed that the management conditions in each of these business units are excellent.NICHIAS also drafted and submitted an “Internal Control Report” that determined that the internal controls concerning the financial reporting of the Group were effective.