Creating Better Working Conditions for Employees

The Basis of Our Human Resources System

Marubeni believes that the most important asset in a company is people. Therefore, the basic approach for
our human resource system is to create a workplace where employees can fully demonstrate their skills and capabilities, and to develop an environment where each employee can maximize his/her value. We believe that a company can contribute to society through employees improving their own individual value, and by continually generating new value.

Reform of our Human Resources System

In April 2006, we reviewed our human resources system, and converted to a “performance-based” and “assignmentbased” system in an attempt to maximize the value of our employees. The system is designed to match the benefits received by an employee with the responsibilities assigned to him or her and the degree of his or her contribution to the company, irrespective of his or her age or length of service. The system also retains a structure that allows for the flexible assignment, appointment and promotion of personnel to ensure that the right person is in the right place at the right time. Furthermore, we introduced a salary system based on personnel evaluations, enabling the company to pay fair salaries based on each employee’s performance. In addition, we also introduced a transparent and fair evaluation system that appreciates the importance of communication between the evaluator and employee, creating a high level of employee satisfaction in the evaluation process.

Fair Recruiting Activities

The first moment of contact between Marubeni and its employees is during recruitment. Marubeni's basic recruitment policy is to select applicants based on their capability and competence, through a fair recruitment process without any discrimination. For example, we use an "open entry" system that offers equal opportunity regardless of citizenship, legal residence, gender, physical handicap, or university of graduation. Moreover, the job application form does not require information regarding the place of legal residence, religion, family situation, or any other information not required for us to determine an applicant's capability and competence. For interviews, we ask questions which respect an applicant’s basic human rights and select employees based only on capability and competence. In order for applicants to understand Marubeni well, we have traditionally welcomed applicants to visit our employees who are alumni from the same college or university. Furthermore for those applicants without any alumni from their university working in our company, in Fiscal 2007 the Human Resources Department set up a telephone service to introduce appropriate employees. To ensure that fair recruiting activities are conducted across the entire Marubeni Group, we have prepared the Marubeni Recruiting Manual and strive to ensure that our policies are Horoughly understood across our group companies.

Changes in the Number of New Employees (Fiscal2007 to 2009)
Fiscal year	Fiscal 2007	Fiscal 2008	Fiscal 2009
Career employees	121	115	130
Non-career employees	0	27	30

Breakdown of Employees according to Gender and Average Age (as of the end of March 2009)
	Career employees	Non-career employees	Other	Total	Average age
Male	2,832	2	157	2,991	Male:42.1 Female:41.4
Female	152	680	33	865
Total	2,984	682	190	3,856

Relationship with the Labor Union

The Marubeni Employee Union was established in 1949. At present, it has about 2,100 union members, which comprises about 55% of our entire organization. The company and the labor union share common goals, namely to improve the prosperity of the company and the socioeconomic status of the employees. We respect each other’s position and engage in sincere discussions to build an orderly labormanagement relationship. In addition, the company and the labor union actively promote joint activities for the introduction and implementation of systems and measures related to the development of human resources and the working environment. The joint initiatives undertaken in Fiscal 2008 included the activities of the Work-Life Balance Promotion Committee, the Committee on Fostering Non-career Employees, the Committee for Monitoring the Implementation of the Performance Evaluation System, the Subcommittee on Overseas Issues on Working Environment, the Committee for Promoting the Utilization of Senior Employees, and the Proposal Subcommittee.

Promotion of Work-Life Balance

Marubeni promotes the concept of Work-Life Balance with the aims of raising the motivation of employees toward their work, and allowing them to shape their careers to realize their full potential. Among other things, childcare and nursing care are important issues that many employees face during their careers. We believe that strengthening initiatives for these areas will help us in fulfilling our corporate social responsibility. Although our measures related to childcare and nursing care were already at a higher level than those set by legal standards, in Fiscal 2006 we revised the childcare and nursing care leave systems in order to extend the length of leave, expand the scope of the employees eligible for leave, and relax the conditions for taking leave.

Change in Ratio of Taking Childcare Leabe (Fiscak2006 to 2008)

Fiscal 2006	Fiscal 2007	Fiscal 2008
100%	100%	100%

Family-Support Holidays

As part of promoting Work-Life Balance, in Fiscal 2006 we established family support holidays. This system allows employees to take up to five days of special paid leave according to their individual family situations, to attend to childbirth, childcare, or provide nursing or residential care for other family members, and this is separate from the childcare or nursing care leave systems. Furthermore, the Special Injury/Illness Leave (up to 50 days of paid annual leave), which previously could only be used for the employees' own injuries or llnesses, has been extended to allow employees to attend to childcare, nursing care or residential care for spouses or parents. Fiscal 2008 marked the third year since the introduction of these systems, and a total of 58 employees used them.

Introduction of a System of Leave for Employees Whose Spouse Has Been Transferred Overseas

In Fiscal 2006, Marubeni introduced a system of leave for employees whose spouse has been transferred overseas. This system allows employees with a spouse who has been transferred overseas to take up to three years leave so that they do not have to resign. In Fiscal 2008, four employees took advantage of the system.

Acquisition of the "Kurumin" Certification Mark

"Kurumin" certification mark provided by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

In July 2008, Marubeni was recognized as a company actively promoting support for employees' childcare and obtained the "Kurumin" certification mark from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, based on the Law for Measures to Support the Development of the Next Generation.

Initiatives to Reduce Overtime Work

As part of promoting Work-Life Balance, Marubeni has been implementing measures for reducing overtime work. In Fiscal 2008, we established a task force in the Human Resources Department with the assignment of reducing overtime work. It distributed educational leaflets and provided individual guidance to the departments with constantly high levels of overtime work. In addition, in November and December 2008, we increased the no overtime days ("Switch-off Day") from the usual two Wednesdays a month to every Wednesday in order to support and conform to the government's campaign for "Family Day" and "Family Week." In undertaking these activities, Marubeni strives not only to reduce overtime work but also to improve efficiency by reviewing its business processes.

Mental Health Support Measures

As part of the measures for supporting the advancement of employees' mental health, Marubeni has Introduced various kinds of e-Learning training programs, stress checks, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP); moreover, we have distributed the Mental Health Manual. In Fiscal 2008, we implemented a self-care training program for all employees and a chain-of-command care training program for managers via the e-Learning platform. We also offer the stress-check program developed by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare on our website. The program enables employees to confirm their stress status and find appropriate solutions. Furthermore, as part of the EAP, we provide a service where external specialist counselors provide psychological care to individuals by giving advice on a range of issues from work-related problems to private concerns. The service is available to employees, temporary employees, and their family members. In addition to these programs, specialist doctors offer psychiatric services at our in-house clinic twice a week, and lectures on mental health are given during various education and training sessions.

Health Management

Marubeni is committed to thorough health management. In addition to an annual regular physical examination for all employees, those employees who are transferring to or returning from overseas also have checkups before leaving and after returning.

Support and Benefits for Employees Transferred Overseas and their Family Members

The Marubeni Group offers educational and support programs for employees who are transferring overseas and their family members to take care of their needs during their stay overseas.

The main support programs are listed below.
Residence:
-Support for renting out their residence in Japan
Children’s education:
-Overall consulting on education -Introduction of correspondence education programs
-Introduction of dormitory accommodation for children staying in Japan
Health:
-Mental health consulting -Consultation on medical care including pediatric care

Support for Volunteer Activities

The Marubeni Group believes that participation in volunteer activities boosts the employees' awareness of the need to contribute to society, and this also supports Marubeni's efforts to contribute to local communities as a good corporate citizen. In 2005, Marubeni introduced the Volunteer Leave System. The Volunteer Promotion Team, established at the same time, actively promotes volunteer activities among employees.

Promotion of Diversity Management

In the past, Marubeni has implemented a variety of measures to help diverse employees successfully perform their work. In order to further promote such initiatives, in April 2009, Marubeni established the Diversity Management Team. It aims to develop a workplace environment in which a variety of personnel can fully demonstrate their capabilities regardless of citizenship, gender, career history, physical handicap, or form of employment.

Utilization of Senior Employees

The revised Law concerning Stabilization of Employment of Senior Persons came into effect in 2006. The law centers on the adoption of employment systems for people up to and including the age of 65. Under the law, business owners are required to progressively raise the retirement age and to introduce continued employment systems (Measures for Providing Employment Security for Senior Persons). Marubeni has adopted a continued employment system for employees aged 60 and above. In principle, it covers all employees who wish to continue working. In addition, through the Senior Career Matching System, we aim to increase the mobility of senior employees and to allocate the right person to the right position, so that competent human resources within the Group can be utilized effectively. As of the end of March 2009, the number of employees hired under the continued employment system was 40.

Enhancement of e-Learning Training Programs for Overseas Local Staff (Locally Hired Employees)

In April 2008, Marubeni introduced an e-Learning Japanese language course (six-month program) aiming to help overseas local staff improve their communication skills. In Fiscal 2008, 35 overseas local staff members took the first six-month course, and 47 overseas local staff members took the second six-month course. We have received excellent feedback from those who took the courses and their managers who said, "the course helped us communicate better with the headquarters and groups companies," and "in addition to learning the language, I could also learn about Japanese business practices." We plan to encourage more overseas local staff members in the overseas local offices around the world to take the course in Fiscal 2009 and beyond.

Promotion of Employment of Disabled Persons

In order to promote the employment of disabled persons, in November 2008, Marubeni established the Marubeni Office Support Corporation. The company was certified as a special-purpose subsidiary* by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in February 2009. The company currently has six disabled employees.
Going forward, we will strive to provide more job opportunities for disabled persons to assist them to further integrate into society and become independent.

* Special-purpose subsidiary: a subsidiary that specifically considers the employment of disabled persons, and has obtained certification from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare by satisfying the conditions specified in the Act on Employment Promotion etc. of Persons with Disabilities. The employment of disabled persons at such a subsidiary is permitted to be included into the calculation of the employment ratio of disabled persons for the parent company.