Expansion of the Career Assistance Program in HR System for Further Assistance of Employee's Career Development

Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "JAPEX") announced that we expanded our career assistance program (hereinafter "program") in HR (Human Resource) system that added new items for further career development of employees on April 1, 2016.

JAPEX established the Diversity Promotion Group of HR Department in March, 2015 and formulated "the JAPEX Diversity Policy" in January 2016. Based on these actions, we have been conducting various measures to assist career development of each employees regardless of gender, age, nationality, career and workstyle.

We have been aiming to assist employees' career development to be independent professionals regardless of having limitations on time and places to work, we decided it's expansion to add new items into the assist program for highly motivated employees so that they would be able to continue and enhancement their career even if they are in stages of life-change or career-change such as childcare, nursing care, transference in both themselves and their spouse.

The outline of the new items in its program are as follows:

1. Assistance to Dual Income Employees with Childcare

It is an item of program to assist actual expenses of child cares in sick time, taking child care services during employee's business trip for dual income employees working full-time hours, who have children until being the 4^th grade of elementary school. As well as we assist actual expenses of childcare services until being 3 years old to dual income employees who returned to work full-time from maternity leaves, childcare leaves, or reduced working hours.

2. Assistance in Spouse's Transference

We assist employees who have a spouse working abroad and children until being the 4^th grade of elementary school by bearing expenses for child cares in sick time, childcare services during employee's business trip, and housekeeping services to employees working full-time employees to support managing their work, housework, and childcare at the same time. Also, we provide 10 days special leave a year for visiting their spouse working abroad. Furthermore, we have a program of re-employment for ex-employees who resigned JAPEX due to their spouse's transference to abroad that they can apply to us about consideration of reemployment within a year after being back to Japan.

3. Assistance for Study at Educational Institutions

We added an item into the program to assist employees studying at educational institutions supposed domestic ones in relevant areas of their work; these employees can take study leave in the maximum of 2 years. Also, they can take reduced working hours needed for schooling and 10 days of special leave for study.

We will further promote our diversity for working actively of each employee as well as assistance of career development for employees to be independent professionals to increase the corporate value through our business and strengthening our organization as its basement.