SCA is committed to fostering a workplace that is safe and that is founded on fair employment practices and mutual respect. SCA will as a minimum follow all applicable labour and employment laws wherever it operates.
SCA in Russia has developed a special training programme for new employees, including both legal issues and SCA's internal rules for fair competition and ethical business principles.
Dialogue with employees
SCA places value in having well-informed employees and creates opportunities for them to freely express their views. The importance to SCA of effectively engaging with employees makes employee surveys an important tool for evaluation of operations and providing a basis for improvement.
In many markets SCA has formal employee consultation processes. One of the largest representative groups is the SCA European Works Council which represents about 30,000 SCA employees. Through regular meetings at different levels, SCA maintains an ongoing dialogue with employee representatives.
SCA recognises the right of employees to freely associate and all SCA employees are free to join trades unions. On average, around 70% of employees at SCA sites were covered by collective bargaining agreements in 2010.
Global Framework Agreement
In April 2004, SCA signed a Global Framework Agreement with ICEM (the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions), the Swedish Paper Workers’ Union (representing all Swedish trade unions) and SCA’s European Works Council. The agreement is based on the Code of Conduct and is an expression of SCA’s willingness to promote cooperation and social responsibility within its worldwide operations and to act as a responsible employer. The areas covered by the agreement are reviewed bi-annually in a joint meeting between the signatories.
The last review conducted in January 2009 concluded that no violations of the agreement had occurred. The next review will take place in March 2011, when the parties will meet to update the agreement. At the beginning of 2011, no indications had been received that any violations had occurred.
Discrimination
Diversity and non-discrimination in the workplace are cornerstones of the SCA Code of Conduct. SCA has a system in place for reporting and investigating discrimination incidents and applies procedures to avoid similar incidents in the future.
Compensation
SCA offers employees a market-tested total remuneration package. Levels vary in each local market in which the company operates.
Restructuring and reorganisation
SCA is committed to providing effective support to all employees affected by organisational changes. The first step in the restructuring procedure is early and transparent information to the affected personnel. SCA also notifies the SCA European Works Council and other employee representatives in accordance with SCA policy, national legislation and collective agreements. Employees are informed about the reasons for the changes, expected consequences, and how the changes will be implemented. The average notice period in the SCA Group in connection with organisational changes is 4.8 weeks.
Social plans, which address both Group and individual needs, are created. Typically, the social programmes contain employment search assistance combined with financial support and assistance with further education. Agreements, which include severance pay and provisions that address the search for alternate employment, are made with affected employees. Services available include individual career counselling, job searches, workshops and administrative support.
Employee development
At SCA, training and development of employees is assigned high priority. There are a number of centrally and locally run development programmes available for various employee categories throughout the organisation, as well as opportunities for employees to attend specialised courses as the need arises. The average number of training hours for all employees in 2010 was 18 (14) hours.
Recruitment
In 2010, SCA continued the development of The Job Portal, which was launched in 2009 on the Group's intranet and www.sca.com. The portal contains all available jobs in SCA. A total of 45 countries have joined the portal and 1,086 positions were filled through the job portal in 2010.
Leadership and talent management
SCA has best-in-class ambitions with respect to leadership and has developed a global leadership platform based on the Group’s core values and strategies. It is a common framework that describes what is expected of SCA leaders and is designed to meet short and long-term needs for current and future leaders. The platform was developed in 2009 and was integrated into daily leadership activities in 2010. To further strengthen leadership in the Group, SCA will launch more tools in 2011 with the aim of developing the Group’s leaders, including a new leadership training programme.
A global performance management review system
During 2010, SCA implemented a new Group-wide performance management review system that will serve as a congruent language to define and clarify the conduct that is required at SCA. The establishment of a uniform performance review process strengthens the culture of openness and transparency that already characterises the Group. In 2010, 68% of employees participated in performance reviews.