SUSTAINABILITY Respect for Human Rights

Our Approach to Human Rights

“Creating Happiness and Harmony in Our Communities.” In order to live up to its Group Philosophy, Lawson is committed to finding ways to contribute to people and society.
With this in mind, in June 2021 we established the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy as our top-level basic policy on human rights.
In order to live up to this policy, Lawson will respect human rights in all aspects of its business activities, build relationships of trust with all people involved in its business activities, and promote initiatives to respect human rights.
In May 2022, Lawson signed the United Nations Global Compact. The UN Global Compact is a worldwide initiative to achieve sustainable growth in the international community based on ten principles in the four areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.
As a signatory of the UN Global Compact, Lawson will continue to support and respect international norms such as the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, while conducting its corporate activities with respect for human rights.

Lawson Group Human Rights Policy

Promotion Structure

At Lawson, the Legal Department formulates plans for promoting human rights policies under the supervision of the CRO, and each department works on initiatives to promote respect for human rights based on these plans. The progress of each initiative is periodically reviewed by the Compliance and Risk Management Committee, chaired by the CRO, and reported to the Board of Directors on a regular basis.
The status of Lawson's initiatives is also shared with the Lawson Group Compliance and Risk Management Committee, and utilized in initiatives to ensure respect for human rights at each Lawson Group company.

Human Rights Promotion Structure at Lawson

Human Rights Due Diligence

Lawson practices human rights due diligence to identify and remedy any negative impacts on human rights arising from its business activities. In the event that a human rights impact assessment reveals that Lawson has caused or participated in activities which have had a negative impact on human rights, we will work to remedy this through the appropriate procedures. In addition, we will regularly evaluate the results of our human rights due diligence process and take corrective action if it is insufficient.

We are taking the following steps to address each process.

●Identification of Risks

We are continuously working to identify and understand human rights risks through interviews with Lawson headquarters and affiliated companies, dialogue with major suppliers that we are closely related to business-wise, audits by third parties, as well as dialogue with civic communities by participating in stakeholder engagement programs. In particular, we focus our efforts on conducting sustainability surveys (including human rights issues) for suppliers every year to understand human rights risks and collect information across the entire supply chain.

●Status of Identification of Human Rights Risks

We have identified human rights risks while taking into account the processes of the value chain and the relationship with stakeholders, and have organized potentially significant human rights risks as follows.

Examples of Human Rights Risks that We are Particularly
Aware of through Dialogue with Stakeholders

Antidiscrimination Diverse employees work at Lawson. If they have a lack of understanding of diversity including nationalities, disabilities and LGBTQ, there is a risk of discriminatory behaviors.
Human Rights of Foreign Nationals in the Supply Chain Many non-native-Japanese speakers work as part of Lawson’s supply chain. There is a risk that acquisition and use of information can be difficult for them when necessary multilingualization or consideration is not provided.
Safety of Workers in the Supply Chain Regarding the physical safety of workers in Lawson’s supply chain, there is a risk that workplace injury may occur when a necessary system or operation management for safety is not in place.
Human Rights of Consumers There is a risk of harming the health of customers/consumers depending on the hygiene condition of stores and improper representations. Also, not providing sufficiently essential information on products has a risk of harming consumers’ right to know.
Child Labor and Forced Labor If we cannot identify where the risks of child and forced labor are in raw materials of product, it may allow for child and forced labor to remain entrenched.

To understand specific human rights risks in the supply chain, dialogue and collaboration with each supplier are essential, so we promote necessary initiatives while obtaining their support for the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy.
Furthermore, we are aware that foreign workers, including foreign technical interns, are working in the manufacturing and distribution processes of Private Brand products handled by Lawson stores. As such, we take a thorough concern in their human rights circumstances through the development of SAQs, CSR audits, and individual dialogues, as well as through other means.
Lawson offers a diverse range of products and services in its stores, and the connected stakeholders are equally diverse. Therefore, the identification of human rights risks is both extensive and complex, and we will continue to address such risks on an ongoing basis.

●Prevention and Remediation

In addition to conducting various training programs to prevent the emergence of human rights risks, we implement awareness-raising activities for suppliers (informing suppliers of our Human Rights Policy and sharing our Human Rights Policy through dialogue with major suppliers). We also introduce CSR clauses* in our contract templates and request new suppliers to support various policies including the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy as a bidding condition. Other initiatives related to identified human rights risks are shown below.

* CSR clauses: Lawson has introduced CSR clauses in the main contract templates that it prepares, which include endorsement of the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy, Lawson Group Purchasing Policy, etc., and cooperation in human rights due diligence.
This will broaden the circle of support for the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy and ensure the effectiveness of human rights due diligence.

Examples of Initiatives to Human Rights Risks

Antidiscrimination We hold LGBTQ-related seminars and various training diversity-related programs to promote understanding.
Human Rights of Foreign Nationals in the Supply Chain We carry out human rights audits in factories where foreign workers work that produce Lawson products. The results of human rights audits carried out in fiscal 2022 did not indicate any outstanding problems including human rights issues of foreign workers. We plan to continue expanding our initiatives.
Safety of Workers in the Supply Chain Lawson checks how its major suppliers take initiatives to prepare any necessary systems and manage operations to secure the safety of their workers through dialogues with them and human rights audits, and also asks them to take thorough safety measures.
Human Rights of Consumers In addition to initiatives of Sales and Quality Control Departments to secure hygienic conditions in stores, we have established a system to check product representations and strictly apply it.
Child Labor and Forced Labor We collect more information through dialogues with stakeholders.

●Follow-up Investigations

We check the degree of permeation of our initiatives through actions such as questionnaires to suppliers and compliance surveys to employees, and continuously identify areas for improvement. For example, we conduct fixed-point observations of the level of recognition of the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy, and are working to strengthen training, awareness-raising, and dialogue to promote understanding.

●Disclosure of Information

We regularly report on the status of our initiatives at meetings of the Board of Directors and Compliance and Risk Management Committee meetings, and disclose the status of our initiatives in the Integrated Report and on our corporate website.

Stakeholder Engagement

We participated in the Fiscal Year 2022 Stakeholder Engagement Program (Human Rights Due Diligence Workshop) organized by the Caux Round Table Japan. At workshops, we had discussions with human rights experts and NGO/NPOs on a wide range of human rights issues. We are participating in this program in fiscal 2023 as well. We make use of the inspiration and knowledge gained from this program in our efforts to respect human rights while deeply understanding human rights issues in consideration of Lawson’s business characteristics, which include handling a wide range of products and services and developing business together with many suppliers.

Fiscal Year 2023 Stakeholder Engagement Program

Education and Awareness on Human Rights

Lawson promotes education and awareness on the importance of respecting human rights among all people involved in its business activities so that they can understand and can take steps to respect human rights.

Progress with Human Rights Training

In addition to promoting and disseminating the significance of human rights and the content of the Human Rights Policy, we have also focused on understanding human rights through recent case studies. In addition, we are emphasizing training for our product divisions, which deal directly with our suppliers, one of our highest priorities in human rights initiatives. In addition to those listed in the table below, we also conduct training and other programs on specific themes related to human rights.

Schedule for Implementation Content Eligible Employees
August 2021 Introduction to Human Rights All employees (optional participation)
September 2021 E-learning All employees (mandatory participation)
October 2021 Lawson Group Human Rights Policy All members of the Product Division (mandatory participation)
April 2022 Lawson Group Human Rights Policy New members of the Product Division (mandatory participation)
May 2022 Lawson Group Human Rights Policy All employees (optional participation)
October 2022 E-learning All employees (mandatory participation)
January 2023 Sustainability You Need to Know
～Environment & Human Rights～		 All employees (optional participation)
August 2023 Governance for Sustainable Management Directors of the entire Group (participation is basically required)

We share the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy with our suppliers and other stakeholders, requesting their understanding and cooperation. We also provide opportunities to explain the content and purpose of the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy to major business suppliers on an individual basis.

Human Rights Hotline (Mechanisms for Handling Complaints / Reports)

To ensure the effectiveness of human rights-related assistance, Lawson provides a variety of channels for handling grievances.

●For Employees of Lawson Headquarters

Lawson has established and operates a contact point for employees to consult and report on compliance and risk management issues, including human rights violations. The existence of this contact point is covered in e-learning and other periodic training programs, and we are working to make it known to all employees.

●For Suppliers

We have established “Supplier Hotline”, through which suppliers can lodge complaints about human rights violations.

●For Franchise Store Owners

We have established “Owner Hotline”, through which franchise store owners can lodge complaints about human rights violations.

●For Crew Members

We have established “Crew Hotline”, through which crew members can lodge complaints about human rights violations.

For Details, Please Click Here (Establishment and Dissemination of Points of Contact for Compliance Consultations and Whistleblowing)


PAGE TOP