In addition to abiding by the laws and regulations in the regions where its global operations are located, CSC also supports and observes the principles and spirit of international human rights conventions, including the “United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, the “International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights”, the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, the “United Nations Global Compact”, as well as the “International Labor Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work”, while treating employees and contractors with dignity and respect as well as refraining from any breach or violation of human rights. CSC has formulated the “Management Guidelines for Safety and Health of Contractor” and the “Regulations on Environmental Protection by Contractor” aimed at ensuring a safe and healthy work environment for contractors.
CSC’s Human Rights Policy, which has been approved and published on the company’s official website since 2019, is applicable to units at all levels. Ongoing improvements are also made to the management of human rights issues at the company. CSC pays particular attention to the following issues:
Provide a safe and healthy working environment
Prohibiting illegal discrimination to ensure equal work opportunities
Ban on Child Labor
Prohibiting forced labor
Assist employees in maintaining physical and mental health and work-life balance
We conducted company-wide human rights due diligence in 2022, and proposed improvement measures based on results, in hopes of lowering the probability of human rights risks.
| Topic of concern | Investigation subjects | Preventive and mitigation measures | 2022 Investigation results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eliminate discrimination and ensure equal employment opportunity | Employees | We provide interview training to interviewers, stress that unlawful discrimination is prohibited, and comply with the Employment Service Act and relevant laws and regulations. | Did not receive internal or external complaints or receive fines from the government during the year. |
| Prohibit the use of child labor | Applicants provide their personal data for verification during the registration stage, and their identity is verified during interviews and when they report for duty. | Did not receive internal or external complaints or receive fines from the government during the year. | |
| Ban on forced labor |
|
Did not receive internal or external complaints or receive fines from the government during the year. | |
| Freedom of association and collective bargaining rights |
|
Did not receive internal or external complaints or receive fines from the government during the year. | |
| Provide a safe and healthy work environment |
|
CSC was fined a total of 360,000 TWD by the Labor Standards Inspection Office of Kaohsiung City Government in 2022. |
Since people are the most important asset for the company, CSC provides a friendly workplace for employees and protects human rights in strict compliance with international labor and human rights conventions while treating all employees fairly and with respect. Apart from establishing labor conditions in accordance with the relevant labor laws and regulations and providing equal employment opportunities to all job seekers in accordance with the Employment Service Act, CSC has also formulated related rules and regulations, such as setting up the Rewards and Penalties Review Committee to conduct inquiries into major rewards or penalties for employees. On the other hand, CSC has instituted the “Regulations for Prevention Measures, Complaints, Correction and Punishment of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace and in General” and made amendments to these regulations on September 17, 2021 in accordance with the Regulations for Prevention Measures, Complaints, Correction and Punishment of Sexual Harassment promulgated by the Social Affairs Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government. The amendments made by the company comprised the introduction of an investigation team and an external expert mechanism aimed at upholding fairness and justice. On top of that, sexual harassment prevention announcement are carried out via electronic documents sent to all employees. Each unit at the company is also required to put up written statements and stickers regarding the prohibition and prevention of sexual harassment in appropriate places at the unit, so as to create a workplace and a service environment without sexual harassment as well as prohibit any sexual harassment incidents. With a view to safeguarding employees' rights, CSC has also set up grievance channels in place, which can be used by employees when their legitimate rights are violated, they suffer from improper treatment, or their problems cannot be resolved.
The Company's regulations governing the complaint system and sexual harassment complaints, as well as complaint forms are available on the internal website. Sexual harassment prevention is communicated during new employee training, and employees can express their opinions through the following channels:
| Grievance System/Hotline |
|
|---|---|
| Labor Union of CSC | Members can submit the complaint to the union. |
| Periodic communication meetings of factories | Discusses benefits, rights, and improvements that each unit needs to make |
| Labor/management meetings | Discusses the improvement of work conditions, improvement of benefits, improvement of work efficiency, coordinating labor-management relations, and facilitating cooperation between labor and management. |
| Occupational Safety & Hygiene Committee | Regarding safety, health, environmental protection, etc. |
| Employee Welfare Committee | Employee Welfare and Benefits. |
| Employees' Retirement Reserve Fund Supervisory Committee | Storing, using, and managing retire reserve funds. |
| Sexual Harassment Grievance Committee |
|
The Internal Audit Office did not receive any human rights complaints from CSC employees in 2022; however, a total of 11 non-human rights complaints were received during the same period, specifically related to contractors.
Human rights requirements set forth in the Supplier Code of Conduct (URL：https://www.csc.com.tw/csc_e/hr/csr/par/download/par-conduct.pdf) include requiring suppliers to ensure that their products do not use minerals that directly or indirectly finance violence, violation of human rights, or criminals or crime organizations; human rights of laborers, freedom of employment, prohibit the use of child labor, work hours shall not exceed the limit set forth by local laws, humane treatment, anti-discrimination, etc.
Meanwhile, each plant (or department) organizes forums to communicate with employees every two to three months, while union representatives are also invited to attend these forums. The items discussed in these forums are also tracked on an ongoing basis. All new employees are required to undergo human rights-related training (including contents such as anti-harassment and anti-discrimination) as part of new employee training, whereas all senior employees have attended human rights-related training. In 2022, CSC conducted 1,539 hours of human rights-related training with 513 attendees; on the other hand, 10,769 hours of related communication and awareness sessions were also conducted.
According to Taiwan's laws and regulations, companies are required to convene labor-management meeting at least once every three months. Owing to its strong commitment to labor relations, CSC holds labor-management meetings monthly. A total of 12 labor-management meetings were convened throughout the year to strengthen labor-management cooperation and improve work efficiency on an ongoing basis. On top of that, with a view to encouraging exchange of ideas and uncovering problems at its plants (or departments) (including second echelon units of subordinate departments), each plant (or department) is required to organize forums to communicate with employees every two ( or three) months in accordance with the implementation directions for communication forums for plants (or departments). These forums are intended to gather opinions from employees and seek solutions together, thereby enhancing employees’ sense of belonging to the company. A total of 212 communication forums (approximately 3,938 participants) were held across all plants (or departments) in 2022.
CSC values employer-employee relationships. To maintain unobstructed communication channels, to ensure fair and decent labor conditions, to provide a dependable reference, and to develop a stable and harmonious relationship, CSC signed the 1st Collective Agreement with CSC Labor Union on 14 Feb. 1997. The collective agreement, which covers all Labor Union of CSC's members (100% of full-time employees with membership qualifications), came up for review every 3 years, and this set a milestone for employer-employee harmony and settlement of affairs. With articles and concept superior to relevant legal requirements, CSC's Collective Agreement has since become a benchmark for other labor unions.
5th collective agreement was held on August 15, 2019. In the meeting, labor benefits that are better than the regulations were added, which includes one day plus in wedding leave, wedding host leave (for couple’s parents only), and pregnancy checkups leave to meet the needs of members in different age groups. Meanwhile, this revision aims to be in line with national policy to raise fertility. It is hoped that the employer and employees, through stable Labor/management relations, can create a positive and friendly workplace to enhance corporate competitiveness.
A healthy labor union can speak for employees and provide suggestions to the company in pursuit of a conducive working environment for employees, as well as reasonable rights and development for them. It not only is beneficial to the balanced development of the company, but also expands and deepens the level of social engagement.
Founded on December 30, 1980 with a vision to “develop the production business, promote unity among members, safeguard members' rights, improve members' lives, and enhance members' competencies,” the Labor Union of China Steel Corporation (LUCSC) is made up of employees who hold the positions of second echelon manager and assistant manager or below at each department. Having been established for 40 years, LUCSC is not only one of the largest labor union for “a single factory” in Taiwan at present, but also the first in the country to realize union democracy. LUCSC faces demand from its members with an open attitude, pioneers the direct election approach in the election of chairman, enhances the bargaining power of labor unions, and fights for the best welfare benefits for its members.
In accordance with the Labor Union Act and Labor Union Charter, chairperson elections are held once every 4 years. In the election of LUCSC's 14th chairman and member representatives on November 11, 2021, a total of 8,399 union members attended the voting process, representing a voter turnout of 90.55%. During the election, incumbent chairman Chun-Sheng Chen successfully won re-election with a total of 6,907 votes, equivalent to 82.24% of the total number of votes cast, thus earning recognition from more than half the union members. This figure also broke the previous record for the highest number of votes received in the history of the election of LUCSC Chairman. With members' participation and support required to gather strength, LUCSC will serve its members and overcome new challenges with an innovative mindset in the future, so that its members can feel at ease and proud of being a CSC employee. Employees who own LUCSC membership can definitely stand on their own feet.
