OUR PEOPLE
Promote responsible workplace practices
Our people are the heart of our business, and enabling each and every one of them to conduct their work passionately, safely and with the highest standards of integrity is key to our success.
We not only set the highest standards for our coffees but also for our working environment. Therefore, we have tools and frameworks in place to offer guidance and support on our core values and how to put them into practice across countries, cultures and workplaces.
Ensuring Compliance
To uphold our culture of integrity and make sure it is adjusted and expanded when necessary, NKG maintains a network of Compliance Representatives in each group company who are responsible for ensuring that employees are informed about NKG compliance activities and have access to all relevant documents and mechanisms. The Group Compliance department in Hamburg provides central guidance and develops group wide strategies based on changes in external requirements and standards as well as regular Compliance Risk Assessments. It also supports the group companies in the Business Partner Due Diligence process.
NKG Code of Conduct
Our NKG Code of Conduct serves as a guiding framework for our corporate identity and for the actions and behaviors of every person belonging to it. First established in 2017, it was revised in 2020 to reflect the ever-changing circumstances in which we operate. To our employees, the Code of Conduct is both a promise and a set of expectations: It sets down in writing their right to a workplace that meets the highest possible health, safety and security standards, a professional environment free from discrimination and harassment, and fair employment conditions with the opportunity for professional development. In turn, NKG expects its employees to act in accordance with our ethical standards and applicable laws and regulations.
Our Code of Conduct provides general guidance on our working standards, responsible handling of information and company property, and relationships with third parties. It is complemented by our NKG Compliance Guidelines, which give more detail on important topics such as “Dealing with Conflicts of Interest” or “Complying with Sanctions and Preventing Money Laundering.”
Both the Code of Conduct and our Compliance guidelines are available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese and German so that all our colleagues worldwide have access to the information in a language they are comfortable with.
Please find here our NKG Code of Conduct, which describes our values and guidelines for acting with integrity:
NKG Awareness Day
To guarantee that all our employees, regardless of where they work, are familiar with the content of our Code of Conduct we launched the NKG Awareness Day in 2019. It is our offline solution for compliance trainings for those who cannot receive the annual Code of Conduct training via our online platform, NKG Learning. Our exporting companies and farms work with coffee as a physical product, growing, harvesting, processing and warehousing it before it gets shipped to its destination. In these companies, many NKG colleagues have physically active jobs and do not have a computer workspace or company e-mail address. Nevertheless, continuous training is very important in these positions.
The topics of the Awareness Day are based around the NKG Code of Conduct, though they are not the same as the focus in the online training, as different aspects are important to the different groups. For example, in the settings of farms, mills and warehouses, physical health and safety is a key topic to understand and continuously develop. The Awareness Day is a mix of talks, exercises and social activities, targeted to make learning fun and memorable. The participating NKG companies are provided with guidance from the holding on training topics and planning. However, as each of NKG’s group companies is unique due to local culture, size, focus and different coffee seasons, companies can customize anything from the date of the event to the training contents to fit their individual needs.
Unfortunately, the Awareness Day could not be carried out in all NKG exporting companies and farms in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
NKG Awareness Day Memory
You would like to see what our Awareness Day Memory looks like? Find some original cards here and challenge your own memory.
OHS Training
Participation in regular OHS trainings is mandatory for all NKG employees and takes place beyond the NKG Awareness Day. In addition to compulsory topics such as fire safety, which are of utmost importance for all employees, our group companies design their trainings to be as demand-oriented as possible and adapt them to the respective occupational fields. A survey among our group companies in 2021 showed the most frequent work-related injuries to be cuts from tools or machinery, traffic and commuting accidents, and falling or slipping accidents. Additionally, accidents such as being hit by falling objects or snake bites while working in coffee fields were recorded during the reporting period.
In 2021, we registered a total of 150 work-related injuries or ill health across the group, none of which were fatal. Of these 150 incidents, 97.33% occurred on our farms and in export companies. Despite the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, 58.43% of all NKG employees worldwide and 38.86% of all third-party workers received OHS training last year. Topics covered were, among many others, “First aid in the field,” “Safe handling of agrochemicals” and “Use and handling of fire extinguishers and firefighting.”
OHS KPIs at a glance
Integrity Reporting Platform
Even though we do our best to create a respectful and safe working environment for everyone, misconduct by individuals is unfortunately not completely avoidable. For this reason, employees at NKG have the responsibility to seek advice and the duty to report situations that may be in breach of the law or NKG’s ethical standards. Local reporting structures are in place at all NKG companies. Moreover, for cases in which it may be inappropriate to raise the issue locally or if the local reporting structure fails, NKG has an online integrity reporting platform, which is managed centrally by Group Compliance. Retaliation against any employee who raises concerns in good faith is strictly prohibited by the guideline on reporting complaints and every case is treated with the highest level of confidentiality.
In 2021, we received a total of ten integrity complaints via the NKG Integrity platform, two of which could be validated and led to disciplinary consequences. Most cases raised fall under the category “Discrimination, harassment and bullying.”
10
integrity complaints received
2
integrity complaints validated
2
integrity complaints
that led to further disciplinary consequences
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