SUSTAINABILITY Respect for Human Rights

Our Approach to Human Rights

In June 2021, Lawson established the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy as the highest 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*1, 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

*1 CRO (Chief Compliance and Risk Officer): The executive with overall responsibility for the legal compliance and risk management system and framework in Lawson Group

*2 CR Manager: Persons responsible for the development and implementation of a framework for identifying misconduct and problems concerning legal compliance and preventing risks from arising in the group where they belong, to support CRO

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 and preventive/corrective measures

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

Based on our value chain processes and relationships with stakeholders, we are organizing and identifying potentially important human rights risks as follows.

●Specific human rights risks and status of measures

Lawson recognizes various human rights risks. Based on an impact assessment, the specific risks that are serious to rights holders and prioritized as those requiring the mitigation of negative impact on Lawson’s business activities, and the status of the relevant measures, are as follows.

Persons subject to risk Human rights risk Occurrence process Seriousness Status/outlook
Customers Violation of the right to health Lawson offers a variety of foods. If the allergen labeling is inappropriate, there is a risk of health damage to customers. There is a risk of health damage due to improper cooking processes, such as inadequate heating of in-store cooked products, as well as a risk that children may accidentally consume alcohol in the case of inadequate alcohol labeling. Certain cases may be life-threatening, such as the accidental intake of allergen ingredients or food poisoning. Alcohol consumption of children affects their healthy physical development. We have established rules and operations to prevent health hazards and review such rules as needed to reduce risks. In the unlikely event that a risk incident occurs, we have a system in place to promptly share it internally, identify the cause, and confirm the prevention of recurrence.
Customers and workers at stores/headquarters Lack of understanding of diversity There is a risk of discriminatory or inconsiderate behavior due to the lack of understanding of diversity. Being subjected to discriminatory behavior is a serious issue that causes unbearable mental pain. In an effort to respect diversity, we revised our grooming standards at our stores to allow workers to put on clothing covering their hair for religious reasons.
We also conduct regular and irregular training on diversity. In particular, we are focusing on internal awareness of persons with disabilities and LGBTQ issues.
For more information on LGBTQ and persons with disabilities, click here:
Workers in supply chain Occurrence of forced labor or child labor In the upstream of the supply chain of products handled by Lawson, there is a risk of forced labor or child labor occurring in the process. We recognize forced labor and child labor as one of the most serious issues that fundamentally hinders a person's ability to live with their personality in their own way. Based on various published data, we grasp countries and regions with common risks of forced labor and child labor for each major raw material. For the future, we will examine the practical aspects of responsible procurement.
Customers Violation of the right to privacy (including protection of personal information) Lawson handles a variety of customer information in its business activities. There is a risk of privacy breaches, leakage of personal information, or unexpected use due to the improper management of such information. If such information is breached or leaked, it may have a significant impact on customers’ life, which may be difficult to restore. We control the handling of customer information and take measures to disseminate the rules.
Workers in supply chain Inadequate occupational safety and health There is a risk of an impact on the physical safety of workers due to inadequate safety and health training or the absence of the necessary awareness raising in the manufacturing process of products handled by Lawson. In particular, in an environment accepting many foreign nationals, we recognize that the risk increases because of the absence of multilingual support or necessary follow-up. The impact on physical safety can be serious and potentially life-threatening. Through human rights audits and dialogues with manufacturing suppliers (contracted manufacturing plants) and suppliers, we promote the awareness of human rights risks, share good practices for mitigating such risks, and promote response to human rights risks throughout the Lawson supply chain.
Workers at stores/headquarters Harassment There is a risk of power harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace. There is also a risk of customer harassment in stores and contact centers. Harassment involves mental oppression and is extremely serious. It has substantial impact on the life and living of harassed persons and their families. We conduct regular and irregular training for the prevention of harassment. We have established a policy for response to customer harassment.
All persons Violation of rights to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment Greenhouse gases emitted not only in Lawson's business activities but also throughout its supply chain affect human rights in various ways through global warming. For example, we recognize the impact of extreme heat on the health of outdoor workers, the impact of rising sea levels on the living area, and the impact of frequent abnormal weather on daily living and safety. In addition to greenhouse gases, we are also aware of a variety of different environmental impact factors. We recognize that the lack of sustainability signifies difficulty in restoration, which is the most serious risk. Please refer to the following for Lawson's environmental initiatives. Recognizing that environmental issues and human rights issues are inseparable, we will implement proactive measures against these issues.
For more information on Environmental Preservation and Corporate Citizenship Activities, click here:

As preventive and corrective measures, in addition to those described above, we conduct a variety of training programs for preventing the emergence of human rights risks, as well as conducting awareness-raising activities for our suppliers (such as dissemination of our human rights policy among suppliers and sharing our human rights policy through dialog with major suppliers).
In addition to incorporating CSR clauses* into contract templates, we also ask new suppliers to agree to our various policies, including the Lawson Group Human Rights Policy, as a bidding condition.

* 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.

●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

The status of initiatives is regularly reported to the Board of Directors and at Compliance and Risk Management Committee meetings and is also disclosed on our corporate website and elsewhere.

Stakeholder Engagement

We participated in the Fiscal Year 2023 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 2024 as well. Referring to the findings and knowledge gained through this program, we deepen our considerations of human rights issues based on the characteristics of Lawson's business and utilize the considerations in our efforts to respect human rights.

Fiscal Year 2024 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

We are working to spread and disseminate the significance of human rights and the details of the Human Rights Policy, through case studies and other means.
We also emphasize training for Merchandizing Department deal with suppliers that are increasingly prioritized in human rights initiatives.

Schedule for Implementation Content Eligible Employees
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)
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)
January 2024 Harassment All group officers (mandatory participation)
Reasonable considerations for customers with disabilities All employees (voluntary participation)
May 2024 Diversity that we need to know at present: IBD, disabilities, and LGBTQ All employees (voluntary participation)
June 2024 CSR audits (human rights audits) All members of the Merchandising Division (voluntary participation)

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 remedies relating to human rights, Lawson has prepared a variety of channels as follows and is working to encourage rights holders to speak out.
We recognize that it is important to disseminate the accessible contact points and are implementing measures to disseminate the information to our suppliers through opportunities for dialog, etc., while taking up the information within the company through regular training, such as e-learning.

●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)


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