Employee Communication and Benefits

“People orientation” is the essence of Advantech, while “work, study, and love” are the driving forces behind the growth of Advantech employees. Advantech‘s “ABLE Club” consolidates employee relations (ES&R), the foundation, and the welfare committee to encourage employees to engage in innovative learning, experience life, and contribute to society. From various aspects such as sports, wellness, health, arts and culture, education, and public welfare, the Company aims to enhance interactions among employees, their families, and the community, thereby fostering a sense of cohesion! In addition, Advantech supports colleagues in extending their influence from the workplace to society, caring for communities, and promoting public welfare. Through sharing and mutual assistance, the Company strives to practice the philosophy of altruism and manifest a fulfilling life!

2023 coincides with Advantech‘s 40th anniversary. Advantech firmly believes that the Company’s success is attributed to the endeavors and dedication of every employee. Consequently, the 40th-anniversary happiness project was kicked off in 2023 to provide each employee around the world with a subsidy of USD 1,000. At the headquarters, the ABLE platform was used to distribute points (a total of 668 points), hoping that employees and their families can spend quality time together, enjoy journeys, visit exhibitions, immerse themselves in the lively atmosphere of concerts, indulge in delicious food, and share happiness while celebrating Advantech's birthday together through the project.

Retirement Policy

Headquarters (Taiwan): There are two types of pension contributions. The monthly contributions shall be made in full according to the law.
1. Old pension scheme: 2% of the pension fund is appropriated monthly into a special account held in Taiwan Bank.
2. New pension scheme: The Company contributes 6% of the employee‘s monthly salary to the special account of the Labor Insurance Bureau.

Advantech China: Implemented according to retirement laws and regulations in China. Employees who have paid the statutory social insurance for 15 years can collect a monthly pension after retirement. The retirement age is regulated by the Labor Standards Act: 60 for male employees, 55 for female management, and 50 for female employees.
Furthermore, Advantech China has a “Deferred Retirement Management Policy”: Non-management female employees can delay retirement until the age of 55. After completing the retirement process at the age of 55, female management and non-management employees can apply for reemployment. Executive level supervisors can apply for re-employment after the age of 60.

Advantech Japan: Contributes 9.15% of the employee’s monthly salary to the government pension account according to the law, and contributes an additional 1.73%-2% of the total monthly salary to the bank’s pension account.

Other overseas Advantech locations: Employee retirement is processed according to local laws and regulations.

Marriage and Maternity Cash Gifts

Aside from the above policies, Advantech also provides marriage and maternity cash gifts that are better than legal requirements. All full-time Advantech employees, regardless of gender, are protected by gender diversity and marriage equality. As long as colleagues are legally married, they may apply for the gift. A wedding invitation or a marriage certificate is required to apply for the marriage cash gift of NTD 10,000 per person; in 2023, 70 people applied for the wedding cash gift worth NTD 700,000.

Maternity cash gift applications, on the other hand, require the submission of a birth certificate. The amount of cash gift per child was NTD 10,000 (NTD 20,000 for twins). In 2023, 101 people applied to the headquarters for maternity cash gifts worth NTD 1,030,000.

Parental Leave

Family Care Leave/ Working-from-home Arrangements

As countries around the world announced the lifting of lockdown measures, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan also came to an end, ushering in a new era of post-pandemic life. Advantech has formulated the WFA mechanism to help employees maintain the flexibility to balance work and family responsibilities as society returns to normal routines.

Indirect employees may apply for WFA for one day per week. Under special circumstances, the supervisors can adjust the number of WFA days based on the team’s manpower conditions. As for the provisional family care leave system established during the pandemic, after the pandemic prevention mechanism was withdrawn, the family care leave categories will be listed in accordance with the law in 2024 and incorporated into personal leave for colleagues’ convenience.

Overview of Advantech’s family care leave by region

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

In recent years, enterprises have often applied the "Employee Assistance Program (EAPs)" to help employees cope with work, life, and health-related issues, hoping to help employees solve problems by establishing a service system and consolidating resources.

Advantech adheres to its "people-oriented" core value, builds an intrinsically safe working environment, and implements the four major plans to provide adequate services for its colleagues. Since 2022, Advantech headquarters has implemented an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that provides unlimited 24-hour free telephone and email counseling services (completely confidential). Through "employee consultants," this program assists employees in resolving personal issues related to their work, offering support and guidance when facing emotional or psychological challenges. By caring for the "heart" health of employees, we can further improve the work performance and productivity of employees, and reduce human-induced work accidents due to emotional factors. In 2023, a total of 50 people sought assistance from the EAP, which used a total of 75 hours.

Employee Health Initiatives

Advantech offers employees a free annual health checkup (which is better than the legal requirement as it includes non-routine checkups such as fecal occult blood and cancer screening). In consideration of the post-pandemic era in 2023 and the importance of lung health for its colleagues, the Company has added lung function tests to the health checkup program. A total of 14 sessions of health checkups were conducted for 3,784 people (including their families).

Moreover, a "Foot Health Testing Event" was held in conjunction with the health checkup in 2023, allowing employees to understand their physical fitness and take care of their foot health. A total of 68 people participated in four sessions.

To reduce the risk of infection for the Company’s colleagues visiting hospitals and clinics, and considering that many colleagues are preoccupied with work and unable to pick up chronic prescription drugs from pharmacies, Advantech began collaborating with the “Call the Pharmacist” drug delivery platform in January 2021, offering monthly drug delivery and collection services (family members can pick them up on behalf of employees) in the Company for the colleagues’ convenience. In 2023, 21 employees made use of the service.

In 2023, 238 people participated in the "Yanyan 40, Health+U" weight loss competition, which resulted in a total weight loss of 448.5 kg. The goal of the event is to let colleagues start and maintain good habits like healthy eating and regular exercise.

“Metabolic Syndrome” was the number one cause of physical examination abnormalities in 2022. Consequently, three health lectures (physical+online) were conducted in 2023, focusing on topics such as weight loss and diet. Also, muscle massage and stretching workshops were arranged to look after employees who sit or stand for long periods at work.

Diverse Club Activities

To promote more interactions among employees and allow them to achieve work-life balance, Advantech has encouraged them to establish various clubs over the years. In 2023, 25 clubs including sports, LOHAS, arts and culture, and charity were formed at the headquarters, attracting more than 1,000 participants. There were 83 clubs in China (including various offices) with more than 2,600 participants, and seven clubs in Kunshan with 151 participants.

• 2023 Charity club’s blood donation activities
  
• Sporting Club Activities
  

Corporate Volunteers in 4 Areas

“Give back to society”. Advantech encourages employees to engage in volunteer activities and contribute to the benefit of others. The Company also hopes employees can gain experience and skills from volunteering that they wouldn‘t normally be exposed to in a conventional work environment. In 2023, Advantech accrued more than 1,062 volunteer hours, including biannual blood drives, ecological farm habitat maintenance, food banks, stone weir restoration, ecological trail restoration, and beach cleanup day. Advantech pursues sustainability with employees, their families, and friends.
In addition, to encourage more employees to engage in volunteer services, Advantech has implemented a volunteer leave system since 2023, providing employees with two days of paid volunteer leave a year. Four major volunteer activity themes were devised: energy conservation, public welfare (including environment), education, and arts. In 2023, 125 employees from the headquarters applied for volunteer leave. It is expected that the volunteer leave system will be applied to other overseas subsidiaries starting in 2024.

• 2023 Beach Cleanup Activities
  
• Volunteer with Andrew Charity Association for Food Bank activity in 2023
  

Employee Stock Ownership

In order to attract and retain outstanding talent to the Company, and to enhance employee motivation and commitment to the Company, so as to jointly create benefit for the Company and its shareholders, pursuant to Article 28-3 of the Securities and Exchange Act and of the Regulations Governing the Offering and Issuance of Securities by Securities Issuers issued by the Financial Supervisory Commission and other relevant regulations, we have formulated the Company’s procedures for issuance of employee stock option certificates and for stock subscription. For relevant information, please refer to the Annual Report.

Living Wages

Advantech believes that taking the living wage into account is an important measure to improve the living conditions of workers. By ensuring that workers receive a fair wage to maintain their basic needs, it can promote economic growth and sustainable development. Therefore, Advantech follows the living wage guidelines and has established alliances to promote the living wage concept.

As a people-oriented company that respects human rights, Advantech continues to explore opportunities to introduce a living wage. Since 2022, Advantech promoted the living wage methodology to six significant locations of operation, including the headquarters, Advantech China, Advantech Japan, Advantech Korea, Advantech USA, and Advantech Europe. Through internal cross-functional living wage seminars, we develop promotion plans that meet the living standards of various countries and conduct living wage training for internal employees.

Advantech defines a living wage as the minimum wage an employee earns within their basic working hours, excluding bonuses and overtime pay. This wage must ensure that the worker and their family can meet basic needs, including food, clothing, and housing expenses, and cover the minimum costs of living. In 2023, Advantech's living wage standards adopted relevant data from 2022 provided by regulatory authorities. For example, in Taiwan, the benchmark is based on the Household Income and Expenditure Survey Report from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). This helps to establish a living wage standard that meets local living conditions and compares it with the prevailing wage to ensure that employees' wages are sufficient to support the local standard of living.

As a leading company in the IoT industry, Advantech provides living wage assessments and commitments that are better than the industry standard. In 2023, Advantech conducted an internal survey to examine the living wage of 8,285 employees at six significant locations of operation to fulfill our commitment to paying a living wage for all employees. This commitment is gradually extended to Advantech's internal full-time employees, major suppliers and contractors.

Advantech conducted a living wage survey on our tier 1 suppliers and a total of 1,127 tier 1 suppliers were returned. According to the analysis of these tier 1 suppliers, 36% (403) had already assessed the living wage of their employees. The survey results show that our suppliers are working hard to raise their employees' living wages.
Currently, only less than 1% of suppliers have employees below the market living wage standard. We will encourage more suppliers to implement the living wage system through continuous publicity and improving the living wage achievement rate.

Medium- and long-term planning for the promotion of the living wage concept

Living wage enhancement plan in 2024:
1. Advantech will team up with WTW to develop a robust framework for fair/competitive compensation to guide the Company’s global practices. The framework is consistent with Advantech’s business principles and supports its commitment to providing employees with a living wage.
2. Regional implementation plans: Expand the living wage promotion territory and develop an implementation plan to ensure the effective integration of the living wage concept and address the specific challenges and opportunities of the market.
3. Employee engagement and training: Strengthen internal and external training programs to promote awareness and understanding of the living wage principles among employees, contractors, and part-time workers.
4. Advocacy and collaboration: The Company will continue to collaborate with stakeholders to advocate for a national living wage movement that emphasizes the benefits of a living wage to individuals, businesses, and the economy.

Promote the concept of living wage to all of Advantech‘s domestic and overseas operating locations by 2025. By 2030, all Advantech employees (direct and indirect) will be entitled to a guaranteed living wage in the country/region where they are located. Advantech will continue collaborating with stakeholders and implementing living wage initiatives at various locations to promote the concept of living wage and practice with industry partners and supply chain partners.