Human Rights Risks and Material Issues
As a member of the global electronics supply chain, Wistron has always adhered to all local regulations and international standards. The Company has implemented varying degrees of response measures for human rights issues, including human rights risk identification and assessments, and it gradually promotes the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) audit certification in different operations across the world.
In 2022, we have also begun the RBA Validated Assessment Program (VAP). Five plants, including the Chengdu Plant, Hsinchu Plant, Zhongshan Plant, Czechia Plant, and Kunshan Plant, have passed the VAP certification. Ten plants, including the Zhongshan Plant, Kunshan Plant, Chengdu Plant, Chongqing Plant, Hsinchu Plant, Czechia Plant, Mexico Plant, Taizhou Plant, Kunshan Opt Plant, and Malaysia Plant, have adopted the SAQ procedures. They communicate regularly on strategies and work results to ensure that Wistron maintains consistent work framework and compliance standards for global human rights issues.
Passed the VAP certification
Adopted the Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ)
Human Rights Risk Assessment
Wistron will review policies and internal regulations to respond to material human rights issues of stakeholders' concerns. We will ensure the adequacy of management regulations and establish annual performance targets to regularly track the implementation achievements of related projects. We also abide by the RBA management framework for audits on routine operations and request units responsible for discrepancies to implement improvement plans to ensure the effective management and reduction of related human rights risks.
Wistron continues to implement the human rights risk assessment in 2022. Analysis is conducted according to the RBA audit reports completed between 2020 and 2022. Among all the deficient items, mid to high risk accounted for 2.26%, with labor related issues accounting for the vast majority, at 86.81%. The labor related issues were ranked according to importance, and the top 3 issues were "working hours", "wages and benefits", and "young workers". A summary of mitigation and remedial measures for related risks is shown in the table below. Please refer to the Wistron Human Rights Due Diligence Management Report for details. The mitigation and remedial measures listed in the table are uniformly promoted and implemented in all plants after consensus and resolution are formed through the global ESG action information platform for data collection, exchange and communication. Also, information on implementation results is reported regularly to ensure that relevant management principles and standards are faithfully implemented.
Child Labor and Young Worker
Wistron's Human Rights Policy explicitly prohibits child labor. During the recruitment process of each operating location, the actual age of the employees will be checked to confirm that there is no employment of child labor. Wistron's certain operating locations hire employees who are over the minimum age for work in accordance with local laws but are under the age of 18 to fulfill production capacity requirements. To protect their physical safety and mental health, the Company arranges low-risk work suitable for their skill level and development, pays close attention to their work training, living service, and department management.
The number of young workers hired by Wistron in 2022
| Employment Type |
Taiwan |
Kunshan Plant |
Kunshan Opt Plant |
Taizhou Plant |
Zhongshan Plant |
Chongqing Plant |
Chengdu Plant |
Mexico Plant |
Czechia Plant |
Malaysia Plant |
| Young Workers |
81 |
1,089 |
946 |
1,388 |
0 |
5,883 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Forced Labor
Wistron's Human Rights Policy prohibits any form of forced labor, including human trafficking, coercion, slavery, and other forms of non-voluntary labor. Employees' contracts are established and signed in accordance with local regulations. Employees have the right to terminate the labor contracts and are not bound by any other arrangements that restrict the employment relationship between employees and Wistron such as withholding of deposits or identification certificates. No forced labor has occurred in any of Wistron's operating locations in 2022 through the implementation of various human rights management measures.
Freedom of Association
Wistron's Human Rights Policy respects the employees' freedom of association and we are committed to providing
channels and environments suitable for the free expression of opinions. Employees can ask the union or the Employee Relationship Promotion Committee in global locations of operation to help express opinions in meetings and ensure that the opinions of general employees can be heard and responded by the Company. The rate of employees with union membership is 51.35% in global operations.
Non-Discrimination
Wistron's Human Rights Policy ensures that all personnel have equal work opportunities and prevents any form of discrimination or unequal treatment in the aspects of employment, salary, training, promotions, dismissals, and allocation of resources based on geography, race, ethnicity, background, social class, ancestry, religion, physical disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, pregnancy, marital status, union membership, political views, appearance, age, or relationship with union. Wistron measures performance based on the principles of competence and contribution to ensure equal rights and opportunities for all employees.
Wistron is committed to maintaining a diverse and safe workplace environment, and adopts the principle of "zero tolerance" for any form of discrimination and harassment to protect the fairness, respect and safety needs of all employees. To this end, Wistron has formulated the "Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy" (hereinafter referred to as "this Policy") and has dedicated to eliminating and preventing any form of discrimination, and extends these efforts to external stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and the general public. To ensure that all internal executives and employees comply with the "Wistron Social Accountability Policy", the Company requires new employees to complete the "Corporate Sustainability and Social Responsibility Policy (Including Human Rights Policy)" and "Corporate Sustainability Course (Basic)" trainings. The training programs include the issues, such as the fairness principle for interviews, sexual harassment, infringements of human rights, and discrimination. In 2022, the total training hours of the operations around the world was 43,072 hours and the trained employees accounted for 100% of all trainees. Related systems and regulations have been announced on the Company's internal website subject to employees' review at any time. With continuous awareness campaigns, there were no cases of discrimination in violation of the Company's policies and regulations at any of the business locations around the world in 2022.
Wistron has formulated the "Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy"
Anti-Harassment
Wistron respects the freedom and rights of all employees. Therefore, open platforms for expressing opinions and
whistleblowing and reporting channels for problems were generally established in all operations around the world. In this way, the needs and expectations of our employees on the issues, such as working conditions and working environment, can be fully grasped. Our employees can fully express their suggestions for the Company or ask questions in a confidential manner without fear of retaliation. For the sexual harassment issues, the Company not only formulates and promulgates the independent management measures and the incident handling procedures, but also sets up specific channels for reporting problems, such as exclusive whistleblowing and reporting hotlines and mailboxes, etc. Moreover, clear accountability norms are utilized to ensure the privacy and personal safety of whistleblowers.
In addition, the Company arranges ad hoc lectures to invite experts to give speeches in order to achieve the goal of advocating and answering questions related to self-protection and rights protection of our colleagues. Medical rooms are also set up or doctors are regularly stationed to provide our employees with psychological counseling services. A harassment-free workplace is created through a variety of proactive and passive management practices with our continuous efforts.
Living Wage
The remuneration provided by Wistron is in line with the requirements of local laws and regulations. Wistron does not provide wages less than the statutory minimum wage. We periodically conduct remuneration surveys and make adjustments when necessary. Wistron is not only focused on legal compliance and whether the employees' compensation equals the basic living wage of the region, we also ensure that the employee remuneration we provide is competitive within the industry.
Work Environment for Persons with Disabilities
At the business locations around the world, Wistron complies with the local laws and regulations related to
disabled persons protection to ensure that the work environments satisfy the special requirements for disabled
persons with the ability to work. For example, the design of the barrier-free space in the office environment, the
provision of dedicated parking spaces and welfare cars, and other considerate facilities are to facilitate persons
with disabilities when they perform work tasks and participate in various activities.
Accessible facilities in Wistron's work environment
