Corporate Governance on Performance

Human Rights

HIWIN supports and adheres to fundamental human rights principles outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,the United Nations Global Compact, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, as well as the legal requirements in all jurisdictions where it operates. A Human Rights Policy has been established to apply to all global employees, suppliers, contractors, and communities impacted by HIWIN’s operations. HIWIN is committed to complying with all labor laws and regulations in the employment of personnel and does not coerce employees into performing services against their will. For suppliers, HIWIN conducts a thorough qualification and evaluation process covering seven key assessment areas, including labor management systems. Through these measures, HIWIN aims to uphold fundamental human rights and ensure the protection of lawful employee rights in collaboration with its supply chain partners, thereby jointly advancing corporate social responsibility.

To effectively identify, prevent, and mitigate human rights-related impacts and implement human rights management, HIWIN has adopted the Human Rights Policy and Specific Management Measures as the highest guiding principle for its human rights governance. In alignment with international sustainability standards, the company has established a human rights due diligence process. A human rights due diligence assessment was conducted in 2023, with the next assessment scheduled for 2026.

Management principles

HIWIN focuses its human rights management on employees, suppliers, and the community.
We aim to prevent incidents that could harm human rights through various due diligence methods and grievance channels.

Human rights risk identification and assessment

Out of the 18 issues in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, we confirmed no violation occurred for three issues from empirical data. For the 15 remaining issues under six major categories, which are labor rights, environmental rights, freedom of expression and participation, gender equality, product development/advertising/use and services, and governance and safety, we assessed human rights risks by questionnaire. This assessment involved 40 ESG members from various departments, including manufacturing, R&D, finance, and administration department. They evaluated the significant human rights issues for HIWIN Taiwan employees, measuring the importance and impact of each human rights indicator on the employees and the value chain from a cross-departmental perspective. We improved and implemented mitigation measures for medium- and high-risk human rights issues based on the questionnaire results. The execution results are tracked and reviewed annually. HIWIN reviews and reassesses significant human rights issues every three years based on human rights principles, labor laws, and global human rights topics.

Training on human rights protection

HIWIN provides education and promotion of government policies on environmental safety and health, labor, new regulations for public companies, trade secrets, and information security through internal and external courses, as well as internal announcements. To strengthen employees’ knowledge and application of laws and regulations, we integrated human rights issues into training materials to ensure an equal, friendly, and mutually respectful work environment.

HIWIN places a high value on employee opinions and rights. Our goal is to establish effective twoway communication between employees and the Company, ensuring that employees’ rights are protected and that any negative impacts are minimized. To achieve this, we have established various communication channels. In addition to regular labor-management meetings, we have created a dedicated employee mailbox and dedicated personnel in each factory to address their needs and listen to their voices. This allows us to continuously improve and create a workplace environment that is supportive of our employees.

Monthly supervisor meetings

The meetings are personally chaired by the Chairman to ensure that employees are kept informed of the company’s operational policies and performance. In 2024, a total of 12 sessions were held, with over 3,000 attendances.

Regular labor-management meetings

HIWIN engages in two-way communication with employees by listening to their feedback during quarterly labor-management meetings. These meetings provide an opportunity for employees to express their opinions and for the Company to make subsequent improvements. Even during the pandemic, online meetings were promptly held to maintain the relationship between labor and management. In 2024, a total of 24 sessions were conducted.

Employee dedicated mailbox

HIWIN provides three employee suggestion email addresses, allowing employees to directly send feedback to the Global Chairman, President, and Human Resources Dept. This ensures prompt, fair, and confidential processing of employee opinions, enabling objective and comprehensive handling. All previous complaints have been successfully resolved.

Unlawful infringement, harassment, and discrimination case handling procedures

Our objective is to maintain a safe and secure working environment for employees during their job responsibilities. In the event that an employee encounters physical violence, verbal abuse, psychological threats, sexual harassment, or stalking, we are committed to upholding their gender equality, personal dignity, privacy, and mental and physical well-being. To address such cases, we have implemented the following process:

In 2024, HIWIN received 12 workplace misconduct complaints through internal feedback channels. All were investigated in accordance with established procedures. 4 cases were substantiated, with the following types of harassment identified: (1) Physical and verbal misconduct, including stalking harassment (2) Verbal misconduct and sexual harassment (3) Verbal misconduct (4) Psychological and verbal misconduct.

2024 Employee feedback cases

We collected 8 employee feedback cases from various channels, and each case was processed in accordance with the procedure.