Efforts on Compliance
Taikisha has set out the "Taikisha Ltd. Code of Conduct" as a code for ethics and compliance of all officers and employees. In accordance with the Mission Statement: "Customers First", Taikisha is making efforts to enhance a system to conduct fair and sound business activities and contribute to society.
Compliance System
To raise the awareness of corporate ethics and compliance among all officers and employees and to enhance compliance management, Taikisha has established the Compliance Committee and the Corporate Compliance Department. Taikisha has also assigned Compliance Officers and established a Whistle-blowing Contact Window. The Corporate Policy Review Meeting is held to examine the annual policy and plan for compliance activities and to validate the implementation status thereof.
The Compliance Committee is composed of Executive Directors, the General Manager of the Corporate Compliance Department, and the General Manager of the Internal Audit Department, chaired by the President and Representative Director, and holds monthly meetings. The Compliance Committee examines and responds to issues regarding compliance in the overall business operations of the Company and validates the status of compliance with laws and regulations. In the event of significant compliance events or signs of possible occurrence, the Company shall convene the Compliance Committee, attended by all officers, to deal with the events.
The Corporate Compliance Department, an independent department under the direct control of the President and Representative Director, implements compliance education, monitors status of compliance with laws and regulations, provides guidance on improvement, disseminates information via the corporate intranet, and makes the Whistle-blowing System well known on an ongoing basis based on the annual policy and plan for compliance activities. In addition, the department reports on the status of its activities to the Compliance Committee.
Compliance Officers, who engage in activities in collaboration with the Corporate Compliance Department, are assigned to each division and each branch/affiliate in Japan and overseas. The Corporate Compliance Department monitors the status of compliance with laws and regulations at the Group, and provides a feedback on the result to the Officers. The Officers implement necessary improvement measures within their respective organizations based on the feedback, and the Corporate Compliance Department follows up on the implementation status to build a system for the entire Group to continuously make improvements.
Diagram of Taikisha's Compliance System
Taikisha works to maintain and enhance tax compliance and properly pays taxes in accordance with applicable tax-related laws and regulations of each country and region and international rules.
Efforts to Spread and Firmly Establish Compliance Awareness
Taikisha distributes the Compliance Manual that summarizes the standards of practice for compliance to all employees, in an effort to familiarize them with compliance and thoroughly enforce compliance among them. Having designated October of each year as the Compliance Promotion Month, Taikisha strives to spread and instill compliance awareness by holding read-through sessions of the Compliance Manual targeting all employees, asking employees to sign a pledge, and calling for entries of compliance slogans internally. The entries involve inviting Taikisha Group’s employees broadly to display the best slogans in Japan and overseas, respectively, in the form of awareness-raising posters in the corporate offices and on-site offices.
As part of efforts to instill its Corporate Philosophy and Taikisha’s Code of Conduct, as well as to implement compliance education, we conduct e-learning, targeting all employees of the Group. In the e-learning program, themes are selected from items that all Group employees should understand, such as prevention of bid rigging, prevention of improper handling of construction costs, prevention of harassment, proper management of overtime hours, and the Whistleblowing System. Additionally, we conduct training programs aimed at reducing the risk of compliance violations by familiarizing employees with important laws, regulations, and internal rules that are deemed to have a huge impact if violated.
Overview of e-learning
【 Taikisha 】
| Date | Number of participants | Question theme |
|---|---|---|
| First session：May 2023 | 1,718（100% attendance） | Whisle-browing system, prevention of abuse of authority |
| Second session：August 2023 | 1,717（100% attendance） | Prevention of improper handling of construction costs, prevention of abuse of authority, proper management of overtime hours |
| Third session：November 2023 | 1,707（100% attendance） | Prevention of abuse of authority, proper management of overtime hours, prevention of Insider Trading |
【 Affiliated Companies 】
| Date | Number of participants | Question theme |
|---|---|---|
| First session：June 2023 | 2,285（89.2% attendance） | Compliance of the Taikisha Group Whistle-blowing system |
| Second session：September 2023 | 2,658（97.6% attendance） | The Taikisha Group's goal of "establishing an attractive company" Proper utilization of company assets |
Compliance Awareness Survey
To confirm the degree of compliance awareness, we regularly conduct compliance awareness surveys targeting all Group employees. The survey results are shared with Compliance Officers and utilized to improve the workplace environment and enhance compliance activities, thereby continuing efforts to deepen awareness.
Monitoring of Compliance Risk
The Corporate Compliance Department regularly monitors the status of compliance of laws and regulations at the Group through the Compliance Awareness Survey, interviews, field visit, etc. Through compliance activities, the Corporate Compliance Department works to continuously improve the issues identified through the monitoring.
Additionally, we conduct surveys with subcontractors in Japan to confirm whether they have experienced any inappropriate requests from our employees. We also work to raise awareness about our Whistleblowing Contact Window.
Whistle-blowing System
Taikisha has the Whistle-blowing System in place to identify at an early stage and resolve compliance violations, and has a Whistle-blowing Contact Window in the Corporate Compliance Department and a law firm. The hotline is also available to the employees and officers of affiliates and business partners as well as to the employees and officers of the Company. In case of receiving the reports related to or suspected to be related to the Company’s Executive Directors, Taikisha addresses the case in consultation with the Audit & Supervisory Board Members. This process ensures that we can respond to the issue independently of executives.
In operating the Whistle-blowing System, Taikisha ensures that whistleblowers are protected by stipulating in its internal rules that information on whistleblowers shall be kept confidential and that dismissal and other disadvantageous treatment of whistleblowers on the grounds of their whistle-blowing is prohibited.
In FY2023, the Company’s and major affiliates’ Whistle-blowing Contact Window received 2 cases and took appropriate actions upon prompt investigation of each of these cases.
Whistleblowing Flow Chart
Taikisha Ltd. Code of Conduct
Principles of Behavior
- We will act in compliance with laws, ordinances, regulations, ethics, dictates of good sense, and internal rules.
- We will pursue a highly transparent management on the basis of fair and reasonable standards.
- We will act giving first priority to our customers, business partners, shareholders,, communities/society, and the global environment and will also give appropriate consideration to the human rights of employees.
- We will make efforts not to destroy the trust we have built over the years or to undermine our business profits, while working to enhance our corporate value.
Ethical Standards
Respect for fundamental human rights and maintenance of a healthy work environment
- We will respect the fundamental human rights of all employees and supervisors in our corporate activities and will not discriminate on the basis of matters irrelevant to the business of the Company, such as race, religion, belief and creed, national origin, gender, disability, physical features, or age.
- We will prohibit all forms of sexual harassment or abuse of position or status in the workplace, whether intentional or unintentional.
- We will pay close attention to construction safety standards and work to prevent accidents.
- We will implement measures such as physical checkups in order to maintain the mental and physical health of employees.
- We will respect the privacy and protect the personal information of employees. We will also protect the personal information of people outside of the Company.
Maintaining a good relationship with our stakeholders
We will establish and advance the following objectives for both the satisfaction of our stakeholders (customers, business partners, shareholders, employees, communities/society, and the global environment) and the enduring development of the Company:
- To obtain the satisfaction and trust of our customers by developing excellent technologies and providing high-quality equipment.
- To appropriately distribute the ensured profit to dividends, investment, personnel expenses, etc., and to properly pay taxes.
- To strive to improve the transparency of the management, including corporate accounting, and to disclose corporate information appropriately in accordance with laws, ordinances, and regulations. To prohibit employees from any wrongful trading of shares, etc. on the basis of insider information.
- To perform equal and fair transactions, enhance the transparency of contracts, and comply with relevant laws and ordinances in pursuit of coexistence and co-prosperity with our suppliers and sub-contractors.
- To give consideration to the residents in the neighborhoods of our branch offices, construction sites, and laboratories, and to comply with arrangements with the residents.
- To strive for the conservation of the global environment through activities such as natural resource saving, energy saving, waste reduction, reusing, and recycling. To disclose our environmental conservation activities to society through appropriate channels of public relations.
Maintenance of trust
- Officers and employees must respect the trust and reputation of the Company and act in accordance with the dictates of social good sense.
- We will refuse to have anti-social forces, including organized crime groups(Boryoku-dan), involved in our business, and will reject any demands made by them. We will prohibit employees from having any relation with members of said groups.
Free competition, fair trading, business entertainment and gifts
- We will comply with laws and ordinances including the Anti-Monopoly Law in order to realize fair competition and fair tender.
- We prohibit any bribery, unfair profit sharing, or facility offering, and will comply with relevant laws and ordinances including the Political Funds Control Act and the Public Offices Election Act.
- Business entertainment and gifts should be provided or received on the basis of social good sense; therefore, receiving business entertainment or gifts that may affect judgment on the performance of certain business is prohibited.
Asset management and respect for property rights
- The employee's use of any assets of the Company for purposes other than pursuit of profit of the Company is prohibited.
- We will respect the rights of property owned by any corporate or individual persons other than the Company and will never damage or infringe such property and rights. This includes intangible rights such as intellectual property rights.
Handling of confidential information
- Employees must not leak any information obtained in the course of business activities except for facts that have already become publicly known. In particular, information provided by other companies must be kept under strict control.
- Employees must not access internal or external information using wrongful means.
- Such handling of information as noted above will apply equally to our retired employees, temporary employees, employees on subcontracts, and business partners.