Employee Engagement Policy

Our employees working around the world are the engine driving Fast Retailing's growth. We strive to offer a healthy and safe work environment for all employees. At the same time, we promote diversity and encourage the building of skills and career development for every employee.

Our people are the central players. The Fast Retailing Way (Group Corporate Philosophy) states that "...respecting and supporting individuals to foster both corporate and personal growth..." is an important value we share with our employees. As our company grows, each individual builds on their own talents and skills as a professional through their work. We designed our Employee Engagement Policy to support these goals.

[The Three Pillars of Employee Engagement]

・Equal Opportunity and Diversity
・Recruiting and Developing People
・Healthy, Secure, and Safe Workplaces

Equal Opportunity and Diversity

As a global business, diversity is an extremely important issue and one of our most important cultural values. We do not tolerate discrimination in any form, including discrimination based on race, nationality, religion, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. We strive to be fair in hiring and performance evaluations, offering a system of evaluation and compensation based on unified, global standards.

Recruiting and Developing People

We believe recruiting talented sales staff, global management personnel and highly specialized personnel of the standard required by Fast Retailing, and developing and empowering each employee, will lead to the company's sustainable growth. At Fast Retailing, we offer a variety of training programs to our employees to develop future global leaders. For example, we practice the idea of zen-in keiei (management by all employees), inviting employees from around the world to participate in our Fast Retailing Convention, held twice annually. This is an important part of how we share the Fast Retailing Group vision throughout our organization. The Fast Retailing Management and Innovation Center serves as our corporate training facility. The center provides a means for us to develop future generations of managers over the long term.

Healthy, Secure, and Safe Workplaces

We have created healthy, secure, and safe workplaces for all employees. For example, the Fast Retailing Wellness Center provides information on health and a variety of programs to promote employee well-being. Our Human Resources Division develops programs to prevent overtime and promote better productivity. The Fast Retailing Employee Hotline improves working conditions, serving as a conduit to quickly identify and resolve power harassment and other issues in the workplace.

Disclosure on Human Capital

Under the policy of Global One zen-in keiei (management by all employees), Fast Retailing provides all employees with opportunities for growth regardless of race, nationality, religion, age, gender, affiliation, length of employment and other attributes, and creates an environment in which diverse human resources can play a leading role and demonstrate their abilities, thereby realizing its corporate philosophy of "Changing clothes. Changing conventional wisdom. Change the world." and contributing widely to society.

Fast Retailing Group Code of Conduct

The Fast Retailing Code of Conduct defines our corporate philosophy and basic principles of respect which all employees must observe. We provide regular training through video content, e-learning courses, and other channels to encourage a better understanding and acceptance of this Code of Conduct. Our employees personally sign their commitment to uphold this code when they join the company and also annually sign the renewed commitment.

Respect for Human Rights

In June 2018, Fast Retailing published its human rights policy and established a Human Rights Committee. Our new policy is based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Ongoing human rights due diligence in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles is conducted to ensure respect for the human rights of those affected throughout the company's operations and supply chain.

Employee Hotline

We have established a hotline for employees to freely report violations of our Code of Conduct or call regarding workplace complaints. Contact information is posted in staff lounges and offices and is also located on the company intranet site. All employees, including part-time and temporary workers, are able to contact the hotline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, anonymously via phone, email, web or letter in languages of the country or region where they are located.

Staff in charge of compliance interview complainants and investigate circumstances behind calls received via the hotline. We escalate any suspected violations of employees' human rights or our Code of Conduct to the Code of Conduct Committee in which the head of the Legal and Compliance Department and an external Audit ＆ Supervisory Board Members seat as members. When a case is determined to violate employment regulations or our Code of Conduct, the matter is also referred to the Disciplinary Committee. To prevent recurrence of violations, we communicate internally about relevant disciplinary action, as also include this information in training content.

We protect the privacy of individuals involved, prohibit retaliation, and do not allow discriminatory treatment in any form. All concerns and complaints raised by employees are stored in a database, accessible only by staff in charge of compliance. Any employee who engages in retaliation or an act of prying may be subject to disciplinary action, which may include actions up to and including dismissal. Employees affected by any retaliation are encouraged to report it through the hotline.

We review a number of questions and concerns that we receive via the hotline annually in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the hotline operation. When we notice a trend of a particular type of issue raised in cases, we urge stores and related departments to prevent the issue or resolve the circumstances causing it. The Code of Conduct Committee also provides suggestions on the hotline process and the method of investigating issues, and we improve the procedures accordingly.

In fiscal 2023, 1,484 issues were reported worldwide through the employee hotline.

Breakdown of issues reported via Hotline (Fiscal 2023)

* Fast Retailing defines reports relating to human rights risks as those such as allegations on harassment and labor-related issues.

Preventive Measures

Preventive measures include case studies shared during position-specific and department training. We also work with management-level personnel to address issues. To encourage a deeper understanding of the Fast Retaining Group Code of Conduct, we implement e-learning program for all employees annually. This e-learning program is updated with new content to reflect any changes in the code, etc. The Fast Retailing Group in Japan also offers training for managers on the topic of harassment, in both global and domestic contexts; what constitutes harassment, how to prevent harassment occurring; and how to deal with reports or instances of bullying or harassment as a manager e.g. privacy protection.

Employee Engagement Survey

We ask all Fast Retailing Group regular employees to take part in employee engagement surveys annually to help foster an environment that motivates all staff in their work and inspires rapid growth. The survey results are analyzed by relevant business units and departments, and issues are identified. We set KPIs to facilitate improvement, and implement other initiatives to improve the environment. We measure progress and effectiveness of these actions, and follow up with any necessary improvements.
The Fiscal 2023 survey targeted 35,058 employees and received responses from 32,115 employees (response rate: 92%). The survey showed an overall index of 74.3%*. Based on the survey results, we are investigating issues and undertaking improvement activities to promote engagement. We intend to conduct an annual employee survey onwards.

*Percentage of employees responding positively to any of the engagement questions.

Items covered in the Fiscal 2023 Employee Engagement Survey

1. Engagement toward the company
2. Identification with FR's brand values
3. Trust in management
4. Trust in supervisor
5. Delegation and authority / Autonomy
6. Customer orientation
7. Teamwork
8. Career & Self development
9. Fulfillment of work-life balance
10. Diversity
11. Performance evaluation
12. Safety

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Employee Engagement Policy