Work Style Reform, Securing Workers

To create a flexible work-life (child care/nursing care, etc.) balance, we have developed the "Fifth Action Plan for Supporting the Development of the Next Generation" in FY3/23. We are developing a three-year plan to achieve "80% or greater rate of male employees taking child care leave," "Creating an environment in which parenting employees can balance childcare and work and take an active role," "Continuing to provide opportunities for work experience and for understanding the construction sector to children and young people who will lead next generation."
As specific efforts, we have formulated handbooks for supporting balancing child care and work and for balancing nursing care and work. We strive to create an environment that allows both male and female employees to easily take child care leave, nursing care leave, sick/injured childcare leave, and days-off to care for a sick family member. We are also making efforts to deepen mutual understanding between employees and management/supervisors on work styles and career paths after returning to work from childcare leave by utilizing interview sheets for employees taking childcare leave.
In addition to enhancing the system to provide support for balancing child care and work, in 2022 we established a system to promote diverse work styles, including encouraging employees returning to work (to promote the re-employment of employees who have left the company due to childcare, nursing care, spouse transfer, etc.), and use of the working from home system. We encourage employees to take five days of planned vacation per year, and we have created an environment where they can take days off without negative implications.
We also host an annual diversity conference for officers and employees to raise their awareness about balancing work and private life.
In FY 3/25, as part of measures to address the nation’s declining birthrate, we began to provide our employees with a match-making app exclusively for single people working at trustworthy companies. Additionally, we will consider a special leave program for employees who receive fertility treatment and assistance to cover expenses necessary for such treatment.

Childcare Leave

We have a childcare leave system so that employees can continue to work even when they have a life event such as childbirth or childcare. Since FY 3/23, we have encouraged male employees to take paternity leave by allowing them to work during their paternity leave. We also conduct a questionnaire survey about parental leave to develop an environment that allows male employees to take paternity leave easily. As part of our childcare support system, we have a system that allows shortened working hours and adjusting starting and ending time of the workday (until the child graduates from elementary school at the maximum) to provide an environment where both men and women can easily balance work and childcare.

Nursing-care Leave

We offer a long-term nursing care leave system so that employees who need to take care of their families can continue their work. Also, if an employee has a family member requiring nursing care or has a child before completing elementary school, needs to care for a family member or a child, the employee can take 6 to 12 days of leave in addition to the annual paid holidays.

Promotion of Taking Annual Paid Leave

In FY 3/18, taking paid holidays on a half-day basis was newly possible. In FY 3/22, taking paid holidays on an hourly basis became possible. As a result, for example, employees posted away from their families can now take flexible leave from Friday noon to Monday noon to return to their homes, which helps them better balance their work and private lives. Also, we encourage employees to take five days of planned vacation per year, and we have created an environment where they can take days o? without negative implications.

"No Overtime" Days

DE&I promotion Committee sets a monthly payday as a "no-overtime day" and a bi-annual bonus payday as a "super no-overtime day". A reminder notification is sent by e-mail to all executives and employees.

Our company is accelerating company-wide initiatives, aiming to be a pioneering company in the promotion of work-style reform and productivity improvement. In April 2025, to promote DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) to facilitate active participation by diverse human resources while further promoting work-style reform, we reorganized the previous D&I Promotion Committee into the DE&I Promotion Committee. At POC, employees and the management are making concerted efforts to promote DE&I with the aim of realizing a comfortable and satisfying work environment where diverse human resources can thrive both physically and mentally, while maximizing their enthusiasm for their work and encouraging them to demonstrate their capabilities to the fullest, in addition to further promoting the work-style reform.

DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Promotion Committee

We established the DE&I Promotion Committee consisting of employees and the management at the headquarters, the branch offices, the International Business Unit, and our subcontractors. The Committee formulates measures and policies to promote DE&I including work-style reform that need to be implemented company-wide as well as by subcontractors, conducts monitoring of implementation status of such measures, disseminates necessary information, and provides guidance and advice towards their implementation. In addition, the Committee members periodically visit branch offices to grasp the implementation situation, ensuring that employees and the management discuss solutions for individual matters in a concerted manner.

Initiatives to Achieve 2 days off Per Week

In FY 3/24, as the entire POC Group, we worked on “establishment of 8 days off per 4 weeks” and “thorough implementation of 8 site closures per 4 weeks and site closures on Saturdays and Sundays”. In FY 3/25, we are taking initiatives to achieve “establishment of 8 site closures per 4 weeks and 8 days off per 4 weeks” and “thorough implementation of site closures on Saturdays and Sundays”.

Promotion of Flexible Work Style

To achieve a flexible way of working, departments where main tasks are inside duties have principally a flextime system in place. Site offices also work on the development of an environment that allows employees to flexibly choose work hours by the introduction of a staggered work shift based on prior approval and a rotating shift for morning assemblies. Additionally, site offices have also introduced a flextime system since FY 3/25 to promote the setting of further flexible work time. Moreover, by continuing to support the practice of working from home, which was institutionalized in FY 3/21 and established during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will further promote the diversity or working styles.

Pursuing Further Productivity Improvement

In FY 3/24, targeting the establishment of annual overtime hours at 720 hours or less per year, we worked on improving work efficiency, visualization of work schedules, and increasing productivity. We also implemented initiatives to keeping overtime work within 45 hours per month bimonthly in preparation for the enforcement of overtime cap regulations with penalties.

We established opportunities for labor-management council meetings, separate from collective wage negotiations, in the spirit of mutual cooperation to further promote the company's business development and the improvement of working conditions of the union members. Labor-management council meetings are held when necessary at each worksite to address issues such as business performance enhancement and working environment improvement. We also promote the use of the company intranet to share information company-wide and enhance communication within the organization.

We conduct workplace visits for the family members of employees for educational purposes and for providing opportunities for them to deepen their understanding of construction work. It is also an occasion to raise motivation of employees taking childcare leave and promotion of workplace support for employees raising children. In FY 3/24, we held the Family Day event in the headquarters offices, the Sapporo branch office and the Chugoku branch office.

Employees who have worked for the company for 20 years receive a certificate of commendation and a commemorative gift, as well as seven consecutive days of paid leave.