SUSTAINABILITY

Governance

With respect to corporate governance, the Welbe Group understands that it is particularly important to build a business management structure for quick decision-making and for appropriate business execution and to strengthen and ensure the functionality of the management monitoring system for improving the soundness and transparency of management.We established the Sustainability Committee in April 2023 to promote environmental initiatives such as human capital and climate change measures. The committee meets quarterly and is composed of the president, who is the committee chairperson, full-time directors and department managers. They determine policies, review identified important issues, and identify risks and opportunities of our organization in the area of sustainability. The committee reports details its activities to the board of directors at least quarterly. The board of directors reviews and makes decisions on the important risks and opportunities related to human capital and climate change discussed by the committee and monitors sustainability indices, including greenhouse gases.

Every single staff member is striving to enhance corporate governance in their day-to-day activities to retain the trust of customers, shareholders and other stakeholders. Also, in the context of building a business management structure, we will develop a system for monitoring business execution and will make appropriate information disclosures for ensuring the transparency and objectivity of our business activities.

Actions through business activities

The Welbe Group will support the creation of job opportunities, job retention and social independence for those with disabilities through business activities and will create new value that is helpful to the continued development of society, including the revitalization of local communities.

[Employment Transition Support Business]

• Number of contractors for our employment transition support service: 2,433 ※
• Employment record for the last one year: 923 ※
• Six-month retention rate for the last one year: 91.3% ※
• Employment record since establishment: 5,955 ※

[Habilitation business]

• Number of contractors for our habilitation services: 3,211 ※

[Nursing care business]

• Number of nursing care service contractors: 68 ※

※As of March 2023, on a consolidated basis

Helping women to play more active roles

The Welbe Group promotes diverse personnel on the basis of personal skills, performance, aptitude and motivation irrespective of gender. We are actively promoting women to levels equivalent or superior to heads of sections. We are working to create an environment where they can fully display their potential.

• Ratio of female employees: 67.2% ※1
• Ratio of female managers: 52.5% ※1
• Wage gap between male and female employees: 92.9% ※2
• Percentage of employees returning to work following childcare leave: 93.3% ※2

※1: As of March 2023, on a consolidated basis

※2: As of March 2023, on a non-consolidated basis

Increasing the employment of workers with disabilities

The Welbe Group will provide a steady workplace environment as a place where those with disabilities can exert their capabilities in society.
As part of our actions for employing people with disabilities, we have established the Business Support Section, Human Resources Development Department, an organization that considers the workstyles of people with disabilities. The Business Support Section is commissioned by the headquarters and different centers to carry out administrative work, such as placing orders for business cards, putting letters into envelopes and sealing them.

• Percentage of employees with disabilities: 3.8% ※

※As of April 2023, on a consolidated basis

Creating worker-friendly workplaces

As stated in its corporate philosophy, Welbe Group is dedicated to the pursuit of self-fulfillment and happiness for all employees. We will strive not only to ensure a work-life balance but also to create a workplace environment that helps employees to improve their individual skills and display their creativity to boost their motivation.

• Percentage of paid leave taken: 65.8% ※
• Percentage of employees returning from childcare leave: 93.3% ※
• Percentage of employees who receive their desired area assignment: 100% ※
• Ratio of childcare leave taken by male employees: 30.8% ※
• Industrial physicians introduced in July 2020

※As of March 2023, on a non-consolidated basis

Actions to cope with human rights issues

The Welbe Group respects human rights and the personality of individuals and endeavors to maintain and improve a fair and safe workplace environment free of any discrimination or harassment by race, faith, gender, sexual orientations, age, religion, nationality, language, disabilities and other attributes. In the event of discovering any infringement of human rights, we will swiftly take appropriate actions including the prevention of any recurrence while protecting the privacy of those involved.

● Employee Training
The Welbe Group has a Risk and Compliance Committee and an Abuse Prevention Committee and endeavors to develop a corporate culture free of harassment and abuse. We provide regular compliance training and abuse prevention training to all our staff.

● Child labor, forced labor
The Welbe Group will prohibit child labor, forced labor or any other unreasonable labor practice in all its corporate activities.

Climate change

[Strategy]

Believing that the diverse risks and opportunities that accompany climate change provide important perspective in the operation of businesses, the Welbe Group examined the risks and opportunities that could affect our group referencing the risk and opportunity items published in the TCFD recommendations. In addition, we assessed the degree of impact of the identified risks and opportunities in two scenarios: a scenario with a temperature rise between 1.5 and 2 °C where carbon neutrality is realized and a scenario where the temperature rises 4 °C assuming the greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace and global warming is not sufficiently controlled.

● Overview of the Welbe Group's climate change risks and opportunities

[Risk management]

● Process to identify and evaluate climate-related risks
The Welbe Group established Risk and Compliance Regulations and the Risk and Compliance Committee with the president as its chairperson to build a management system for preventing, detecting and correcting all risks that may arise in business operations and for preventing their recurrence, and to handle the detected risks. The Sustainability Committee identifies and assesses medium- and long-term risks accompanying climate change, as well as short-term risks. Particularly important risks will be reported the board of directors as needed.

● Process of managing climate-related risks
The Sustainability Committee and the Risk and Compliance Committee make decisions regarding preventive measures and response policies for identified and assessed risks related to climate change to mitigate these risks. After risk countermeasures are reported to the board of directors, the board of directors delegates their implementation to the Risk and Compliance Committee, which delegates the countermeasures to the related units who implement them.

● Process of integrated company-wide risk management
As a rule, the Risk and Compliance Committee meets quarterly, assessing progress and the results of responses to the risk items included in our risk management initiatives. The risks related to climate change are managed using the same processes as those for company-wide risks. The Welbe Group operates an integrated risk management system.

[Metrics and targets]

The Welbe Group calculates greenhouse gas emissions (scopes 1, 2, and 3) as indices for assessing and managing the risks and opportunities related to climate change.
The Welbe Group will set medium- and long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and take action to reduce GHG emissions.

● Greenhouse gas emissions across the Welbe Group (scopes 1, 2, and 3)