Group CEO Message on Diversity Initiatives
The Cosmo Energy Group is actively working to enhance its diversity.
Active Participation of Diverse Human Resources
The Cosmo Energy Group’s Human Resources Policy explicitly states that we see human resources as important assets and seek to maximize their value.
Cosmo Energy Group’s Human Resources Policy
The Human Resources Policy clearly indicates the Group’s commitment to “respecting employee diversity and treating everyone fairly to foster corporate unity.” We are building workplace environments where all employees and executives are treated fairly, regardless of gender, and are able to demonstrate their full potential. In order to promote diversity, the Group has prioritized the advancement of women in the workforce, and as of April 1, 2023, the percentage of managerial positions held by women was 6.7%, surpassing our target of 6%. Under the current Consolidated Medium-Term Management Plan, we seek to keep the percentage of managerial positions held by women to at least 10%, and the percentage of women in new graduates hired at 50% or higher. In this way, we will continue to embrace and utilize diverse perspectives and opinions, and thereby promote organizational transformation.
Percentage of women in new graduates hired
Percentage of managerial positions held by women
Notes:
1. The target covers core employees of Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd., and includes employees seconded outside the company.
2. The percentage of managerial positions held by women is calculated as of April 1 of the applicable fiscal year. Previously, the reference date for calculation was March 31, or the end of the applicable fiscal year. However, in order to reflect the most recent employment, promotion, and related results, the date for calculating the managerial percentage has been changed retroactively to April 1 of the applicable fiscal year. Please note that a managerial position refers to any individual with subordinates and those above that individual, or an individual who has no subordinates but is in an equivalent position.
As part of efforts to promote the active participation of diverse human resources, the Group is promoting work-style reforms such as flextime and telework. To support employees who are balancing childcare and work responsibilities, we have implemented programs that are more comprehensive than legally required. While promoting efforts to increase employee awareness of the need for gender equality, we are also actively hiring more women and expanding their placement opportunities.
Employees giving birth and employees raising children can use a childcare leave system with partial pay that exceeds the legal requirement, and also take advantage of options such as shorter working hours and telework. We also encourage these employees to take other types of leave, such as special occasion leave for a child’s first birthday, and childcare leave when a child falls ill, which can be taken until the child graduates from elementary school. To make it easier for these employees to return to work after leaves, we have career and childcare support systems. This has helped us maintain a 100% return-to-work rate for those taking childcare leave.
The Group offers a preferred work location selection option for employees with childcare or nursing care responsibilities. In addition, employees who need to retire along the way for childcare or nursing care reasons can subsequently use the reemployment system. We also have programs that allow employees to continue or suspend their employment when their family or household circumstances change, such as special leave when the employee’s spouse is transferred to a distant location.
In order to transform employee mindsets on gender equality, we are encouraging fathers of young children to participate more in childcare. We have been increasing the number of men taking childcare leave by holding seminars for both men and women on balancing childcare and work responsibilities, offering paternity leave as special paid leave, and providing individual consultations to new fathers on relevant programs.
We believe it is important to build workplaces where every employee can demonstrate their abilities to the fullest. Accordingly, we provide e-learning opportunities during childcare leave, as well as one-on-one meetings with the employee’s direct superior before and after childcare leave. There are also e-learning options for supervisors with subordinates who are raising children. We are focusing on career development policies that ensure that needs related to childbirth and childcare do not limit employees’ pursuit of career paths.
Please see below for more information on the number of employees taking childcare leave, the childcare leave utilization rate, etc.
Childcare Handbook
Nursing Care Handbook
Balancing Work and Childcare / Nursing Care Responsibilities
In recognition of its efforts to create workplaces that enable employees to balance childcare and work responsibilities, Cosmo Oil, a member of the Cosmo Energy Group, has received Platinum Kurumin Certification1 based on Japan’s Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children. Cosmo Oil was the first company in the oil wholesale industry to be certified as “Platinum Kurumin” by Japan’s Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.
1. Platinum Kurumin is a special certification program applicable to companies that have already received Kurumin Certification under the Next Generation Act, based on their efforts to support employees with childcare responsibilities. Platinum certification however, requires an even higher level of employee support initiatives.
Promoting the Success of Mid-Career Hires
The percentage of mid-career hires among employees in key positions has increased to 20%, and the percentage of line managers who joined the company mid-career has risen to 11% overall.
The Group continues to hire mid-career employees and promote line managers based on their individual abilities and aptitude, harnessing this process as a force to drive organizational change. We also continually raise manager awareness via training and other means, focusing on the need to respect the knowledge and opinions of mid-career hires and encourage them to take on new challenges.
New Mentorship Program
The Group introduced a mentorship program for women in the workforce and career entry-level hires. Mentors are selected to suit the careers and needs of participating mentees, and the mentors are also provided with regular training.
Total Number of Participants in the Mentorship Program in Fiscal 2022
| Eligible employees | No. of participants |
|---|---|
| Women | 16 |
| Mid-career hires | 22 |
Respect for Diversity
As part of its focus on respecting diversity, the Group also works to maintain and improve the percentage of employees with disabilities. As of June 1, 2023, employees with disabilities accounted for 2.31% of the Cosmo Oil workforce, exceeding the percentage required by Japanese law.
The Group’s basic approach is one of inclusion, placing differently abled people in the same workplaces. The Group strives to create an environment in which people with disabilities can play an active role by creating barrier-free access, enhancing communication tools, improving consultation systems, and conducting internal awareness-raising activities. The Group will continue efforts to improve the workplace environment in this and other ways.
LGBTQ+ Initiatives
The Group’s Code of Conduct calls for “respecting diversity and each individual,” and the Group’s Human Resources Policy calls for “respecting employee diversity and treating everyone fairly to foster corporate unity.”
Group employment regulations clearly state, “We do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation (i.e., orientation with respect to gender as the object of romantic or sexual feelings) or gender identity (i.e., perception of one’s own gender),” and employees are required to comply. In addition, the Group includes preventing discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity among the topics covered in its annual Corporate Ethics and Human Rights E-Learning program.
Fiscal 2022 Human Rights Training
| Training title | Topics | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | Training time | ||
| New recruit training | General knowledge on basic human rights | 26 | 60 minutes |
| Newly appointed line manager training | Human rights/harassment training | 35 | 30 minutes |
| Line manager training | Training on prevention of power harassment | 856 | 60 minutes |
| Work site training | E-learning on corporate ethics and human rights (including preventing harassment) | 6,699 | 60 minutes |
Initiatives Related to Preventing Harassment
Recognizing its responsibility to ensure a healthy work environment free from harassment, the Group respects the human rights of each employee and works to ban harassment and create bright and comfortable workplaces.
Notably, e-learning training on human rights and harassment is provided for all Group employees, and harassment prevention training is specifically provided for line managers and employees in leadership roles.
Harassment Prevention Training
Fiscal 2022
| Training title | Topics |
|---|---|
| New recruit training | General knowledge on basic human rights |
| Newly appointed line manager training | Training on prevention of harassment |
| Work site training | Training on prevention of harassment for Group company line managers |
| Group-wide employee training | E-learning on corporate ethics |
If an incident of harassment or human rights violation occurs, employees can access the Cosmo Energy Group Corporate Ethics Consultation Helpline, which can be contacted anonymously from both within and outside of the Group (in-house: Cosmo Energy Holdings Corporate Ethics Office, externally: Shinwa Sohgoh Law Offices), as well as the Harassment Consultation Helpline for incidents of sexual harassment, power harassment, and other issues involving interpersonal relationships in the workplace.
These helplines are available not only to regular employees, but also to other workers such as temporary and part-time workers. By establishing a system to address violations of human rights and incidents of harassment appropriately, the Group is working to improve the workplace environment.
For information on the number of consultations received by the internal and external contact points of the Corporate Ethics Consultation Helpline and the external Harassment Consultation Helpline, see “Corporate Ethics Implementation Structure” on the following page.