Electric Glass Universupport Co., Ltd. (Universupport) is a unique company in the Nippon Electric Glass (NEG) Group. It is a special subsidiary company which employs people with disabilities. As of June 1, 2024, the company has 174 employees, of which 72, who account for about 41%, are people with disabilities. They work with employees without disabilities at three NEG plants. We interviewed Universupport’s Managing Director Takashi Chisaka, Senior General Manager of the Operations Headquarters Kazuhiko Kashiro, and General Manager of the Division in Charge of Employment of People with Disabilities Noriko Nakazaki and are providing this report on NEG’s community contribution through employment of people with disabilities.

In which operations are people with disabilities employed by Universupport engaged? This may be of greatest interest to readers. Mr. Chisaka commented as follows.

Chisaka “Cleaning operation is at the top of the list. The largest number of people are assigned to cleaning. They undertake cleaning of restrooms, cafeterias, and meeting rooms at plants and corridors of respective departments. Recently, they have also started to undertake floor waxing, which was previously outsourced. They also wash employees’ work clothes and cleanroom garments, which are used at manufacturing sites.”

In addition to the cleaning operation, they also undertake greening of plant sites. They are engaged in greening on and around the premises. They also grow flower seedlings in greenhouses managed at the respective three NEG plants and donate them to local elementary and junior high schools, kindergartens, and daycare centers from the viewpoint of community contribution. The Shiga-Takatsuki Plant has the largest greenhouse, where 30,000 seedlings, including those of marigolds, pansies, and scarlet sages, are grown. Ornamental foliage plants for reception rooms and executive offices are also available to rent.

Other operations undertaken include sewing work gloves for use at plants and bed sheets for use at NEG’s recreational facilities, transporting internal mail, managing water quality at environmental plants and measuring noise and dust inside and outside the plants, transporting and disposing of general waste, printing, and digitizing paper documents and photo films. In recent years, they have also started to paint white lines on the premises and in parking lots of the plants. The scope of operations is extensive.

Chisaka “At the time of recruitment, we check what elective classes they took at school and match them with our work.Those who selected gardening and sewing know how to manage soil, plant flowers and seedlings, and use sewing machines, so they are ready for work.”

The primary focus in recruitment is whether candidates will do their job carefully.

There are various office works. For example, in digitizing paper documents and photo films, documents and photo films are scanned and digitized using scanners. Documents and films are turned into PDF files and image data, respectively, and are named in a structured manner and saved.

Digitization of photo films is outsourced by the PR Group of NEG’s General Affairs Division to Universupport. In fact, the archives of the PR Group contain tens of thousands of photographs related to NEG and its products, which were taken before the advent of digital cameras, as photo films. They are valuable legacy assets and cannot be easily disposed of. They must be digitized and preserved.

While the task is important, its urgency level is low. The PR Group recognized the need for digitization sometime in the future but could not get started because of the need to cope with urgent operations. Outsourcing was difficult due to confidential information and budgetary constraints.

NEG’s PR Group “There was internal communication within the NEG Group regarding the need to look for works to be assigned to Universupport. We considered the possibility of asking the company to digitize photo films.”

Kashiro “Many people with disabilities perform meticulous works willingly and seriously, which people without disabilities tend to get bored with and slack off at. They have a strong tendency to enjoy tasks they are assigned to. Sometimes they lose track of time and continue to work.”」

Digitization of paper documents and photo films is a good example in which people with disabilities at Universupport contributed to solving internal issues.

The SDGs, which have become a global trend in recent years, comprise 17 goals, which include creation of jobs for people with disabilities and improvement of the environment, such as barrier-free access. Universupport was established as the sixth special subsidiary company in Japan in 1980, long before the term “SDGs” was coined.

Legislation regarding employment of people with disabilities in Japan has a long history. In 1960, the Act to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (for people with physical disabilities) was enacted. At that time, companies had a duty to strive to meet the statutory employment rate for people with disabilities. However, the law was amended in 1976 to legally require companies to meet the statutory employment rate. Initially, the statutory employment rate for private companies was set at 1.5%. Subsequently, the rate was increased in stages. It was set at 2.5% as of 2024.

Against this social background, NEG established Electric Glass Industries Co., Ltd. (predecessor of Universupport) as a special subsidiary company in 1980, as explained above. A special subsidiary company is a type of company unique to Japan authorized by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to be included as a place of business of a parent company in calculating the employment rate for people with disabilities. Since then, Universupport has continued to employ people with disabilities far beyond the statutory employment rate. Previously, there were many mid-career hires. In recent years, Universupport promotes employing new graduates from special education schools in an attempt to rebalance the age profile of employees with disabilities.

Chisaka “At
present, the employment rate for people with disabilities of the NEG Group
stands at around 4.0%. The group’s target is 4.6%, so we need to put in a bit
more effort. The target of 4.6% was set to double the statutory employment rate
of 2.3% by the end of March 2024. Doubling the current statutory employment rate of 2.5% would be 5.0%, but given that the target of 4.6% is yet to be attained, it would be even more difficult to attain the target of 5.0%. So, we are striving to clear 4.6% first.”

There is a clear reason why Universupport aims to achieve a lofty target that is double the statutory employment rate. First, employment of people with disabilities in NEG Group has a history of over 40 years. This is an area in which the NEG Group takes particular pride in terms of CSR. Thus, it was decided to set an ambitious target which reflects many years of experience and its track record. In addition, in recent years, the Japanese government has been actively promoting SDG-related measures. As a member of society, the NEG Group wanted to contribute to this important trend in time. With this situation in mind, it set this specific and challenging target. This target represents NEG Group’s pride in employment of people with disabilities and determination to help realize a sustainable society.

Chisaka “Universupport is responsible for employing people with disabilities in connection with diversity in the NEG Group’s social missions. We strive to improve the corporate value of the entire group. With the number of people with mental disorders increasing in Japan, the statutory employment rate has been increased, and social needs have been growing. Through active response to such needs, we can reassure all stakeholders, including community residents.”

What is “contribution to local communities and society,” which is promoted by Universupport, through employment of people with disabilities?

As mentioned at the outset, flower seedlings grown by them are donated to local elementary and junior high schools, nursery centers and kindergartens, special education schools, and neighborhood associations. They are also given as souvenirs to kindergarteners when they visit the Industrial Park at NEG’s Shiga-Takatsuki Plant. Thank-you letters are sometimes received from children at a later date and offer great encouragement.

At the request of local special education schools, about three to four lectures are given each year on such themes as the mindset as working adults. Alumni of respective schools also accompany the lectures as current employees to share an update on their situation with many people.

Kashiro “Homeroom teachers are delighted to see their former students introduce themselves and explain their operations in front of a large audience. Alumni gain confidence and a sense of fulfillment by giving a lecture in front of an audience and observing their teachers’ delight.”

Universupport also participates in the Lake Biwa Citizens’ Cleaning Campaign, which is organized by the Shiga Prefectural Government around Lake Biwa Day in July each year (on June 30 in 2024). It is an event to clean up public spaces, such as Lake Biwa, lakeshore, rivers, roads, and parks. Citizens clean up areas they are in charge of.

Kashiro “Each employee contributes to local communities and society through donation of flower seedlings. Having said that, stable employment is the top priority in our community contribution through corporate support for people with disabilities. We employ all people with disabilities as full-time employees with permanent employment, instead of fixed-term or temporary employment. We employ 72 people with disabilities based on the publicly announced value as of June 1, 2024. Employment of so many people with disabilities requires understanding and cooperation from local special education schools, employment offices, and support organizations.”

We also promote interaction with other local companies. For example, our cleaning team and a counterpart of a special subsidiary company established by a pharmaceutical company in the prefecture, which actively employs people with disabilities, make reciprocal visits to share know-how, knowledge, and ideas for solving issues related to employment of such people and promote their employment.

If employees quit immediately, the employment rate does not increase, failing to support the development of experienced employees and ending up with only rookies. This applies to employees with and without disabilities.

Universupport has been working to strengthen teamwork and facilitate communication to become a company where everyone wants to continue working at.

The company established the Job Supporter System in October 2015 and was certified under the Youth Yell Certification System in 2018. The Division in Charge of Employment of People with Disabilities was established in 2020. The Job Supporter Career Advancement System, which will be explained in detail, was introduced in 2021. In line with these developments, the company has expanded the scope of work of people with disabilities. The system has been improved rapidly over the past 10 years.

The initiative was taken by the Division in Charge of Employment of People with Disabilities, which is headed by General Manager Nakazaki. Previously, the operations of the division were undertaken by a group in the Operations Department of Universupport. As the statutory employment rate was raised in stages, there was growing momentum to seriously work on employment of people with disabilities across the NEG Group. This led to a spin-off as a specialized department from the Operations Department.

The Division in Charge of Employment of People with Disabilities led the establishment of systems, including the medical leave, special leave for external activities, and work-hour reduction systems. To enhance employee retention and teamwork, various internal activities were promoted, such as a quarterly interview using an assessment sheet, which is a relatively structured activity, and a respectful address campaign, workplace greeting campaign, and appreciation commendation system, which are measures to facilitate communication.

The respectful address campaign aims to facilitate work through close relationships by addressing others using “-san” instead of titles, such as general manager and section manager. While the workplace greeting campaign encourages employees to proactively greet others every day, the appreciation commendation system commends employees who gave consideration or support to others and who took the initiative to perform tasks which other employees avoided, based on votes from workplace members each month. These represent efforts to promote internal communication for people with and without disabilities.

This also applies to the initiative to eliminate overtime work and visualize operations, such as putting up notices for ensuring safety and giving work instructions. The company’s mutual benefit association regularly organizes social gatherings, recreational trips, and bowling tournaments to foster teamwork.

Regarding internal activities to facilitate communication with people with hearing disabilities, sign language study sessions are held. A smartphone app has been introduced to convert speech to text in real time through speech recognition and automatic translation.

Nakazaki “Because we prioritize employment of people with disabilities, we must consider our corporate culture and workstyle in a sensitive manner across the company. The results of overtime work must be reported at regular monthly meetings. Overtime work has not been eliminated but has been minimized.”

The Job Supporter Career Advancement System, which was mentioned above, deserves special attention in terms of system reforms led by the Division in Charge of Employment of People with Disabilities. Under the internal job supporter qualification (system), experienced people with disabilities provide guidance to other people with disabilities in terms of skills and management. The system was introduced very smoothly because it enabled people with disabilities to easily ask for advice in the disability community and facilitated open communication.

When the system was introduced in 2015, eight members with a certain level of capabilities were selected from across the company and certified as job supporters. At first, they assisted supporters without disabilities and gave advice on how to provide guidance depending on functional limitations. They started to acquire skills to respond to more complicated consultations.

The Job Supporter Career Advancement System was introduced in April 2021 with the aim of defining the position of job supporters in each district and quantifying and assessing the job evaluation to link the results with the compensation. The system was reformed to determine the job supporter grade once a year based on the quantified scores across the company. A team leader acts as the representative to assess job supporters in each district based on eight criteria. The results are studied to make decisions at a meeting of the Division in Charge of Employment of People with Disabilities.

The eight criteria are as follows.

It is nice to excel in one of these factors. However, a person who excels in multiple factors in a well-balanced manner was considered to be reliable from the viewpoint of other members with disabilities.

Previously, job supporters wore the same emblem. With the introduction of the career advancement system, the emblem was replaced by four-level badges. A badge without lines is conferred for the first certification, and the number of lines increases from one to three with advancement in rank.

A rank is valid for one year until reassessment in the following year. Some move up in rank, but others may be downgraded unfortunately. The system seems to be too demanding, but rigorous assessments must be made because the badges represent how reliable they are from the viewpoint of other employees with disabilities. Thus, the badges give a sense of status and distinction for employees in higher ranks, thereby increasing motivation and accountability. Such employees have been regarded as role models for other employees with disabilities.

A person who maintains the three lines for three consecutive years is promoted from a job supporter to a job master to oversee the operations from an even higher rank. At present, there is only one job master across the company. This means that the person is acknowledged to be truly reliable.

Nakazaki “The Job Supporter System is yet to be completed. For example, when we talk about people with disabilities, there are various types of disabilities. The degree of disability and functional limitations also vary, so there are inevitably sensitive aspects in quantification and assessment. We must address this issue into the future.”

Universupport’s website presents the corporate philosophy, which states the aspiration to contribute to the development of society by allowing all employees to fully demonstrate their capacity and physical strength based on a spirit of harmony. Notably, the following message is particularly touching: “We want to continue to excel as a unique company that boldly takes on the challenge of contributing to society through employment of people with disabilities.”

Universupport has worked on employment of people with disabilities for over 40 years. While attaining an employment rate almost double the statutory requirement, the company also focuses on contribution to society and local communities by encouraging efforts and growth of people with disabilities, instead of simply aiming for the numbers. The company’s ongoing efforts to take on new challenges are inspiring.

Universupport recruits highly motivated people with disabilities and actively promotes collaboration with local special education schools and support organizations, as well as companies with which know-how in employment of people with disabilities can be shared. If you are interested, contact us below.

<<Contact regarding this article>>
PR Office, General Affairs Division Phone: +81-77-537-1702 (dial-in)

<<Contact regarding tours and training >>
Division in Charge of Employment of People with Disabilities, Electric Glass Universupport Co., Ltd.
12-17 Gotenhama, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture/Phone: +81-77-533-1162
https://www.us-neg.com/index.html