Respect for Diversity

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• Talent Policy and Development - Brother Group Human Resources Management Policy

Promoting the success of diverse talent and local employment

The Brother Group has manufacturing, development, and sales facilities in more than 40 countries and regions, employing over 40,000 people groupwide. More than 70% of them work outside Japan, reflecting the active role of diverse talent on a global scale.

Number of employees by region and ratio of overseas employees (consolidated)

Furthermore, the Brother Group contributes to the revitalization of local communities and economies by creating employment opportunities through the establishment and expansion of manufacturing facilities. For example, the manufacturing facility established in the Philippines in 2012 employs over 7,000 local people, and the two manufacturing facilities in Vietnam together employ over 11,000 local people.

Promoting the assignment of local employees to top management positions at facilities outside Japan

The Brother Group aims for its global facilities to autonomously manage operations tailored to local market conditions by promoting local talent to top management positions. As a result of actively advancing local staff to management positions, including presidents at major sales facilities in the United States, China, and other countries, the proportion of local employees in top management positions of the Brother Group's facilities outside Japan increased from 62% in 2019 to 67%^*1 in 2024.

For the period of the medium-term business strategy "CS B2024" (FY2022-FY2024), the Brother Group set a sustainability target of "enhancing talent development and governance to encourage the assignment of local employees to top management positions at facilities outside Japan." Under the DEI Subcommittee, established under the Sustainability Committee, the Group worked to build a framework that enables each facility to autonomously manage operations suited to the culture and environment of its respective region. In FY2024, the Group conducted a survey of initiatives at each facility aimed at systematically developing successors and other talent, as well as ensuring that the right people are placed in top management positions. The results showed that subsidiaries in the Americas have held the "Americas Leadership Summit" annually since 2015, bringing together leaders from each facility in the region. This has facilitated information sharing and enhanced collaboration among facilities in the Americas, including the rollout of common HR initiatives across the region. In Europe and Asia, sales facilities—together with regional headquarters and sales companies under their supervision—have been holding regular HR-related meetings to share activities that contribute to effective leadership development and the enhancement of employee engagement. In Japan, a workshop was held in FY2024 attended by leaders of domestic Group company facilities, reaffirming the importance of efforts to enhance employee engagement.
In addition, the Group conducted a survey of overseas Group facilities aimed at establishing governance frameworks for autonomous facility management and confirmed progress in developing and implementing succession plans for leadership candidates.
Going forward, the Brother Group will continue to promote the creation of workplace environments in which diverse talent can thrive, tailored to the roles, characteristics, and challenges of each facility and region.

1. As of the end of March 2024
2. Including Domino-related companies

The proportion of female managers among all managers differs between the Brother Group companies because the history of women's social advancement and their lifestyles and main occupations vary depending on countries and regions. However, women are active in many group facilities.

1. As of March 31 of each FY
2. Includes temporary employees and seconded employees. Doesn't include Directors, Corporate Auditors, and Executive Officers
3. Recalculated and updated based on the standards of *2
4. Updated to the figures with revised calculation methods for the number of persons and ratios from March 2020 to March 2022 for Brother International Europe Ltd.

Achievements

1. As of March 31 of each FY
2. Includes temporary employees and seconded employees. Doesn't include Directors, Corporate Auditors, and Executive Officers
3. Recalculated and updated based on the standards of *2

Gender wage gap^*1,2

1. *Calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Act on the Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace
2. The gender wage gap is not due to any differences in wage structures or systems based on gender, but rather to differences in the composition of employees by grade and job category

Please see the following for detailed data regarding supporting the success of women, such as the percentage of female employees in BIL.

In recognition of its efforts, BIL has been certified by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Aichi prefectural and the Nagoya city governments as an enterprise responding to diverse ways of working by promoting the success of women and providing support for child-rearing and so forth.

For details, please see the site for "Management with an Emphasis on Sustainability-Evaluation by External Entities- Evaluation Regarding the Promotion of the Success of Women, Support for Child-rearing, etc."

At BIL, employees with disabilities are working actively in the occupations and workplaces that suit their aptitudes and abilities.

In Japan, companies beyond a certain scale are required by law to ensure a certain percentage of their total workforce is comprised of persons with disabilities. BIL's employment rate in FY2024 was 2.39%, which falls short of the revised statutory employment rate of 2.5%^*1 effective in FY2024. BIL takes this result seriously, and will further strengthen its efforts in both recruiting and supporting employees with disabilities to create a workplace environment where they can work with confidence and security, aiming to meet the statutory employment rate going forward.

BIL is continuously committed to building a workplace environment where all employees, with or without disabilities, can deepen mutual understanding, strengthen collaboration among themselves, and maximize their abilities based on "Trust and Respect" as stipulated in the Codes of Practice of the Global Charter.

Based on this policy, BIL conducts lectures by external experts to promote understanding of disabilities within the company, as well as practical manufacturing site training for students from special support schools aimed at expanding work opportunities for persons with disabilities. Additionally, job coaches^*3 within the Brother Group provide advance explanations to departments where employees with disabilities are assigned regarding necessary considerations and accommodations, thereby fostering a workplace environment where everyone can work with peace of mind.

1. The statutory employment rate was raised from 2.3% to 2.5% in FY2024
2. Including direct employees (including contract and temporary employees) and those seconded to locations in and out of Japan (excluding employees seconded from other companies)
3. Job coaches are specialists who support persons with disabilities and their employers to ensure smooth workplace adaptation

Lectures on employment of people with disabilities and related topics

Since FY2023, BIL has been holding lectures on the employment of people with disabilities to expand their employment opportunities and to promote understanding of disabilities within the company.

Aiming to promote the employment of people with disabilities beyond legal requirements, the FY2023 lecture—attended by approximately 140 executives and managers—covered the general state of such employment and what companies need to do to support it. Feedback from participants included comments such as, "I realized that understanding each individual is essential for enabling people with disabilities to work with psychological safety," and, "I felt that I might have been providing assistance to a wheelchair-using subordinate that they did not actually want. I learned that it is important to confirm the person's wishes rather than acting on my own assumptions."
In FY2024, with the aim of learning how to interact with people from different backgrounds, BIL held a "Universal Manners"^* seminar. The seminar was conducted three times in total at the Mizuho, Hoshizaki, and Kariya factories, with approximately 500 employees participating in person or online. The session covered topics such as recognizing differences between oneself and others and learning effective ways to interact with people from different backgrounds, including people with disabilities, the elderly, and foreigners. According to a post-seminar survey, over 80% of participants reported a change in awareness compared to before the seminar.

• Universal Manners" refers to the mindset and behavior for engaging with people from diverse backgrounds, including those with disabilities, the elderly, and foreigners.

As part of its diversity promotion efforts, BIL is working to deepen understanding of LGBT issues and create environments in which employees can work as themselves.
In 2019, BIL implemented an e-learning program on LGBT issues for managers and general employees. Since FY2019, LGBT topics have been included in training programs on human rights and labor issues for new employees, and since FY2020, for newly appointed managers. In FY2024, a lecture for all employees was held as part of continued efforts to promote understanding among staff.
In addition, BIL is making various other efforts to respect diversity, such as giving consideration to health checkups and removing the gender field from its annual employee awareness survey.

Lecture on LGBT issues

In FY2024, aiming to create a workplace where everyone can maximize their abilities, BIL held an online lecture on LGBT issues. About 300 employees participated in the lecture, which covered basic knowledge about sexuality and examples of inappropriate remarks and behavior. Feedback from participants included comments such as, "Since there may be people who have not disclosed their sexuality, I realized that I should communicate and behave on the assumption that such individuals may be present." In the post-event survey, 96% of employees responded that their understanding of LGBT issues had deepened.

Shift to mandatory retirement age of 65 (from FY2026)

BIL has introduced a reemployment system that allows employees who wish to remain employed after the retirement age of 60 to continue working until the age of 65, providing them with opportunities to leverage the experience they have accumulated over the years and to demonstrate their skills and know-how.

In FY2024, more than 80% of employees requested reemployment under the system, and all applicants were rehired.

In addition, BIL will set the "retirement age at 65" for employees who will reach 60 years of age in FY2029 and thereafter. As a transitional period until then, the retirement age will be gradually extended starting from FY2026.

In preparation for the transition to a retirement age of 65, BIL revised the "Brother Reemployment System" in FY2023 to promote the continued active participation of senior employees. This revision more clearly defines the standards and levels of senior employees' roles and establishes a new evaluation and compensation system based on them. BIL believes this will allow the company to appropriately evaluate and fairly reward senior employees who deliver high performance and contributions. Also, BIL is expanding employment opportunities within the company for individuals who can continue to demonstrate such performance and contributions even after reaching the age of 65.

Furthermore, in conjunction with the transition to a retirement age of 65, BIL has newly introduced a flexible retirement age system. This system allows eligible employees to choose their own retirement age between 60 and 64. In this way, BIL has established a system that enables employees to select their working style according to their life plans, motivation, and preferences.

1. (Number of rehired staff / Number of retirees^*2) x 100
2. Number of retirees includes those who do not wish to be rehired