What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report MediaTek identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, customer relationship management, corporate governance and legal compliance, social welfare activities, supply chain management. Among these, promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace stands out as a key material issue for MediaTek.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards              

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.

Key stakeholder groups MediaTek engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Customers	·      Visits ·      Communication via phone and email ·      MediaTek On-line platform ·      Customer complaint system
Government	·      Conferences, public hearings, regulation briefings, seminars, meetups ·      Official correspondences and visits ·      Communication with government authorities through industry organisation ·      Market Observation Post System (which is regulated by the TWSE)
Employees	·      Labour meeting ·      Global communication meetings with employees of all levels ·      Employee surveys ·      Communication platform ·      Ombudsman service ·      Corporate suggestion box
Shareholders and investors	·      Annual Shareholders’ General Meetings ·      Quarterly investor conferences
Suppliers	·      Supplier conferences ·      Supplier audits ·      Grievance mechanism
General public/ the media/ Community	·      Participation in welfare activities ·      CSR mailbox ·      Websites and social media ·      Press conferences ·      News releases ·      Media interviews

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics, MediaTek carried out surveys of internal and external stakeholders. Surveys among internal stakeholders included an executive manager survey and in-depth interviews (11 executive managers) and an employee survey (9,000+ employees), while surveys among external stakeholders included a brand survey (1,202 customers, thought leaders, and consumers) and a corporate perception survey (1,433 thought leaders and members of the general public).

What actions were taken by MediaTek to promote a diverse and inclusive workplace?

In its 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report MediaTek reports that it took the following actions for promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace:

• Adhering to international human rights standards
• MediaTek strictly adheres to the Labor Standards Act and complies with the International Bill of Human Rights, maintaining employee freedom of association and prohibiting the use of child labour. In terms of employment, MediaTek prohibits all discriminatory behaviours, and does not discriminate against employees based on race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, political affiliation, or religion. All employees must sign written labour contracts according to law and MediaTek’s Work Rules clearly stipulate that there should be no incidence of forced labour. Employee work hours are set in accordance with labour laws. In Taiwan, if MediaTek needs to terminate employee contracts due to special circumstance, it gives advance notice of termination and subsequently provides relevant severance payments according to the Labor Standards Act.

• Promoting female employment
• MediaTek is committed to creating a friendly and fair workplace for its female employees. In 2018, the proportion of female employees at MediaTek and its global subsidiaries was around 20% of all employees. The number of female employees in the R&D/technical departments was 1,708 (17%), which is higher than the 13-15% average of female graduates of electronics, electrical engineering, and computer science disciplines in Taiwan. The proportion of female employees for 2018 slightly increased on-year. In comparing the annual 2018 salaries of permanent male and female engineering employees, the salary ratio is 1:1. MediaTek also founded the Women InTek (WIT) social club, in April 2015. The club members comprise more than 200 women across Shenzhen, Wuhan, Hefei, and San Jose in the US. The club’s goals are the promotion of work-life balance, advancement in tech careers, and individual potential. Annual, themed sharing meetings, mentor programmes, online sharing, outdoor exchange activities and more are hosted by the club to enhance interactions between women in the workplace, allowing them to share life and work problems and experiences, grow confidence, assist with mutual growth, and share insights, encouraging women in the tech industry to shine. As of 2018, a total of 46 activities and 22 online sharing events have been hosted, and 131 articles have been posted through the messaging app. In 2019, WIT will continue expansion to Taiwan and other global operational sites.

• Preventing sexual harassment
• To make sure employees can enjoy an environment of equality and respect, and eliminate workplace discrimination and harassment, according to the “Act of Gender Equality in Employment”, “Regulations for Establishing Measures of Prevention, Correction, Complaint and Punishment of Sexual Harassment at Workplace”, “Sexual Harassment Prevention Act”, and “Regulations of Sexual Harassment Prevention” MediaTek not only established “Grievance Reporting and Disciplinary Procedures for Prevention of Sexual Harassment”, but also established a Sexual Harassment Grievance Response Committee, hotline for prevention of sexual harassment, and grievance reporting email inbox to handle matters of equality in the workplace. Starting from June 2015, MediaTek’s class for prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace became mandatory for all employees. Class completion rates for new hires in 2018 were 100%. Additionally, MediaTek has established a website for the prevention of sexual harassment, to promote important information and enhance gender equality. In light of the fact that promotion of the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace and subsequent handling of incidents by managers are also very important, MediaTek also established a “Manager section” on the website, containing mandatory online classes. In 2018, 2 incidents of sexual harassment were sent to MediaTek’s grievance reporting inbox, with both cases handled and concluded.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees

2) Disclosure 405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men

 

Disclosure 405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1, 5.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.5

Disclosure 405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.5

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

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References:

1) This case study is based on published information by MediaTek, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

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