Respect for Human Rights

KIOXIA Group recognizes that corporate activities based on respect for human rights are a prerequisite for the sustainable development of companies and of society, and has established respect for human rights as priority areas of focus in terms of ensuring the Group’s medium- to long-term growth (sustainability materiality). In 2021, we formulated the KIOXIA Human Rights Policy in accordance with international standards, including the United Nation's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as a way to clarify our corporate responsibility to respect these.

KIOXIA Group is committed to respecting human rights in accordance with this policy. We also require our suppliers to respect human rights in line with this policy and with the KIOXIA Group Supply Chain Code of Conduct, which references the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA)*¹ Code of Conduct.

The Executive Officer in charge of personnel is assigned overall responsibility for ensuring awareness of human rights; we have additionally appointed a staff member with day-to-day responsibility for this within the Human Resources and Administration Division of KIOXIA Corporation. This Executive Officer oversees compliance with KIOXIA’s Human Rights Policy. As part of this initiative, a taskforce has been established reporting to the Sustainability Committee; it works with relevant divisions and officers responsible for human rights at Group companies to promote human rights initiatives at these.

In order to respect the human rights of those who are affected by our business activities and throughout our overall value chain, KIOXIA Group has implemented an ongoing cycle of activities based on the UN Guiding Principles. These activities include identifying and assessing the scope of human rights abuse risks across our business activities; conducting prevention and mitigation measures; tracking, investigating and reporting issues; and disclosing relevant information.

With the cooperation of outside experts, in FY2021 we conducted human rights risk assessments across our domestic group companies and identified the following risks that are characteristic of a semiconductor-related company operating globally.
From now on, to ensure that the human rights of all people affected by our business activities are respected, we will also be conducting human rights risk assessments at KIOXIA Group overseas. We will also make ongoing efforts to construct a framework for prevent and mitigate the negative impact of human rights risks identified through those assessments. Furthermore, based on the UN Guiding Principles, we aim to create an environment that facilitates consultations with stakeholders and prioritizes dialogue.

KIOXIA Group observes and utilizes the RBA Code of Conduct as our standard for sustainability activities at manufacturing sites. We also encourage suppliers through such means as conducting sustainability surveys in line with the RBA Code of Conduct and surveys of responsible mineral procurement to ensure that human rights are respected within the value chain.

The Kioxia Group Standards of Conduct ban the use of child labor and forced labor and in order to help prevent this, we rigorously confirm by means of family registers and other sources that all those employed are at least 15 years of age.

KIOXIA Group provides training on human rights and harassment issues to all employees once a year and during our staff onboarding process (for new graduates and mid-career hires) as part of our Basic Training and Development program.

In FY2021, a lecture titled "Business and Human Rights" given by an outside expert was hosted for Executive Officers, to deepen their understanding of issues such as changes in external environments affecting businesses and human rights, the efforts required of companies, and advanced case studies of other companies.
Moreover, we request our suppliers to make every effort to respect human rights in accordance with the standards of the KIOXIA Group Supply Chain Code of Conduct and the RBA Code of Conduct.

KIOXIA has set up a consultation center for employees and business partners to consult with and use for the reporting of any suspected violation of the laws and regulations of each country or region, the KIOXIA Group Standards of Conduct, or other internal rules or regulations.

KIOXIA Group has set up a “Harassment Hotline” to address any reports of harassment—including power harassment and sexual harassment—from employees and others, and to prevent this from occurring or protect them from it. We ensure whistleblowers are not treated in a disadvantageous manner as a result of them having submitted their allegations.

In FY2021, KIOXIA became a member of the CSR Committee of the Grievance Mechanism Working Group*² at the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA). We participate in discussions of the issues surrounding the operation of a common industry platform allowing access to remedies (grievance mechanisms), which is one of the pillars of corporate responsibility in terms of respecting human rights.