Human Rights Management and Commitment
Advantech has stipulated the "Advantech Human Rights Policy", which has been reviewed and approved by the top management to protect the fundamental human rights of all employees, suppliers, customers, and stakeholders. We take the international human rights framework, corporate development strategies, and external trends, including the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, the “United Nations Global Compact”, and the International Labor Organization's “Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work” into consideration and complies with the local regulations of the countries where it operates. Furthermore, Advantech has formulated human rights policies based on the UN’s "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights".
Advantech has devised human rights management processes and mechanisms, regularly conducting impact assessments and management improvements for relevant stakeholders. For the human rights risk survey, relevant risk topics (including "human rights risks") were selected by the Internal Audit Committee and other relevant units before reviewing the risk ratings of each topic, identifying high-risk groups for targeted management. In 2024, there were no reported cases of discrimination or harassment.
Meanwhile, Advantech employees must comply with the "Advantech Code of Conduct Implementation Guidelines", which includes labor standards, humane treatment, prohibition of child labor, and non-discrimination against employees, stipulating that employees must not engage in any discriminatory or other human rights-violating behaviors. To make sure that all employees understand and comply with the above policies, the Company conducts the "Advantech Integrity Business Code“ and compliance education and training every year. These include provisions for the Company to provide proper whistleblowing channels for employees to report misconduct and disciplinary actions, and to strictly maintain the confidentiality of the whistleblower's identity and the reported content. In 2024, "Advantech Integrity Business Code" education and training reached 100% (indirect employees), achieving a training completion rate of 97.2% (for 6,185 global indirect employees). For employees who have not yet completed the training, the system will notify both them and their immediate supervisors at the beginning of each month, enabling supervisors to remind their subordinates to complete the training promptly.
In terms of direct employees, Advantech's Taiwan Manufacturing Center (plant) holds annual educational training on the "Employee Code of Conduct", including antidiscrimination and anti-harassment, achieving a coverage rate of 100%.
Freedom of Association
We support a wide range of employee self-organized clubs and unions at different levels (for instance: Advantech has established labor unions in Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan, as well as labor representatives in Japan and France) to promote rights such as employee equality in various regions. In 2024, Advantech’s global freedom of association coverage rate reached 94.7% (100% was not achieved because information for other regions has not been collected Not yet).
In Europe, worker councils were started by employees in some regions of Advantech Germany (Advantech Europe BV and Advantech GmbH) and Advantech Netherlands. Employee representatives are elected regularly, and the council holds regular labor-management meetings with the Company to discuss employee-related issues. Advantech France also regularly elects labor representatives to speak out on employee-related issues and partake in labor management meetings.
In the U.S., employees of Advantech USA are entitled to freedom of association and are free to join or form labor unions. However, since Advantech USA continues to treat its employees well, they have not exercised their right to form a union. The Company regularly communicates with employees and collects feedback through HR newsletters.
In Asia, all employees of Advantech Japan are entitled to freedom of association. In particular, ATJ (Advantech Technologies Japan Corp) has unionized while AJP (Advantech Japan. Co., Ltd.) regularly elects labor representatives to speak out on employee-related issues and partake in labor-management meetings.
Advantech China (including plants) regularly discusses and resolves employee benefits-related issues through Employee Welfare Committee representatives. Advantech headquarters is equipped with an Employee Welfare Committee, and quarterly labor-management meetings are convened in various headquarters locations (Neihu Rui-Guang Headquarters, Neihu Yang-Guang Building, and Linkou plants) to communicate labor rights (including salary, attendance, and benefits), listen to colleagues' feedback, as well as discuss and decide on various key topics.
Advantech strives to minimize human rights, conflicts, hence it has implemented the following management measures on employees, suppliers, and customers. The relevant regulations are also disclosed. The investigation revealed that none of Advantech's locations of operation or suppliers are exposed to risks related to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Whistle-blowing and Grievance Mechanisms
Since 2015, Advantech has formulated the "Prevention Plan for Prevention of Unlawful Acts against Executing Duties" based on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines of the Ministry of Labor. This plan aims to prevent employees from experiencing unlawful acts by employers, supervisors, colleagues, or service recipients in the workplace or during work-related activities (including commuting), which may result in physical or mental harm, such as workplace violence, including physical, verbal, psychological, or sexual harassment.
Complaint Mechanism: When employees encounter incidents of physical or mental unlawful acts while executing their duties, they should complete the "Workplace Unlawful Acts Reporting and Handling Form" and report it to their respective supervisors (or the HR department). Alternatively, they can use the complaint channels established on the company's internal website's policy page (phone, fax, email) for reporting, and dedicated personnel will handle the complaints.
Handling of Reports: Handling complaints or reports must ensure objectivity, fairness, and impartiality while safeguarding the rights and privacy of victims, complainants, and reporters. Upon receiving a report, supervisors, HR personnel, and occupational safety personnel must complete the "Workplace Unlawful Acts Reporting and Handling Form" within 24 hours. The process follows the procedures outlined in the "Handling Process for Incidents of Physical or Mental Unlawful Acts against Executing Duties".
Process and mechanism of human rights management
Reporting and Appealing Mechanism
