We are aware of our economic, ecological, and social responsibility and in our Code of Conduct, we commit to 1.) respecting human rights, with particular regard to the prohibition of child labour, 2). ensuring the health and occupational safety of employees, 3.) cooperating with suppliers who have committed to sustainable operating activities and fulfil their social responsibility, 4.) observing environmental protection standards, and 5.) carefully using resources.
Arbonia designated a compliance officer in each division during the reporting year. They are responsible for implementing Group specifications in the corresponding subsidiaries.
The reporting year was characterised by new due diligence and reporting obligations concerning conflict minerals and child labour that will be applied for the reporting year 2023 for the first time. When selecting suppliers, Arbonia increasingly takes into account whether they observe the due diligence obligations and obtains corresponding supplier evaluations via the analysis platform EcoVadis.
Code of Conduct
In the reporting year, the audit committee of the Board of Directors approved changes to the Code of Conduct and the whistleblowing directive (rules for reporting wrongdoing) in connection with the new EU whistleblower directive. The Code of Conduct is supplemented by further directives such as for example the anticorruption directive, the directives regarding insider trading, and the directive for protection against sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination at the workplace. The Code of Conduct and some of the further directives have been translated into up to twelve languages and can be called up in the Intranet by white collar employees. In the reporting year, a water policy and a waste policy were also introduced Groupwide, and the existing competition directive was updated due to statutory changes.
Upon joining the Arbonia Group, all employees sign the Code of Conduct and commit to upholding the values as well as the ethical and social principles. The compliance with this requirement as well as the implementation of training sessions on the Code of Conduct is reviewed by Internal Audit, which reports on this to the Board of Directors.
In addition to the Code of Conduct, the Board of Directors issued the "Supplement to the Code of Conduct" in 2018, which specially addresses blue collar employees. This contains in-depth regulations for production – for example, concerning resource handling, occupational safety and environmental protection. It does not include topics such as competition law. The "Supplement to the Code of Conduct" is hung in the factory halls in the form of posters and explained to the employees by the plant or shift managers in training courses.