Human Resources Policy and Management: Each of Atlantic Group’s subsidiaries manage its human resources in accordance with corporate and country based regulations and procedures that cover all aspects, including recruitment process, job descriptions, training, working conditions, general rules governing the rights, obligations and responsibilities arising from employment, performance evaluation, non-discrimination principles, social benefits, disciplinary actions and dismissal in line with PS2 and country based labor legislation. Upon employment, each staff member is provided with their labor contracts, comprehensive handbooks related to working principles and instructions, internal rules, occupational health and safety and code of conduct.
The minimum age of employment is 18 at all facilities and the Group does not use forced labor. Part-time trainee students are employed in cooperation with their vocational high schools and working conditions are applied as per relevant country regulations.
Atlantic Group has internal regulations to define the benefits to which all employees are entitled to: right to the annual award, extra monthly salary, Christmas bonus, Easter bonus, Baby bonus. The Group also encourages sports, culture and healthy habits for the employees at both corporate and plant level. It co-finances the expense for various programmes in fitness centres; free vaccination against the flu; co-finance theatre tickets; give valuable packages on special occasions (holidays, vacations, etc), organize purchasing company products under special prices, organize team building programmes and support various types of employee gatherings throughout the year.
There is a documented system for evaluating the employee’s performance annually and implementing performance based system, which includes individual rewards. Remuneration system in Atlantic Group is guided by country’s legislative and internal acts (labour law, collective agreements, regulations, instructions).
All human resources processes at Group level are annually audited and certified by an independent Croatian certificate body (www.PoslodavacPartner.org). This certificate is awarded to organizations that fulfil the highest standards in managing people in the following fields: strategy, recruiting and selection; work, motivation and rewards; specialization and development; relationship with employees.
Atlantic Group had 4,333 employees in total as of August 2012. Average age is around 40 years, ratio of female and male employees is 50 / 50, among which 25% have college and university degrees, 49% high school degrees and 39% of the employees in managerial positions are women. For workers at all levels, Atlantic Group guarantees more than minimum wage and pays more than the average of the regional salaries for the industry.
Atlantic Group works in a way that respects all positive regulations which forbids child labour, forced or obligatory work that protects the employees’ dignity in a way that the employee is protected from mobbing or sexual harassment from their employers, superiors, associates and others with whom they may work.
Workers’ Organizations: There are several unions in Atlantic Group companies and each employee is free to join a worker organization. Approximately 50% of the workers are the members of various unions depending on the country. Collective agreement mechanism properly functions at each facility and there has been no strike in the Group’s history.
Contracted Workers: Security and logistics workforces are contracted (total number is approximately 350 out of 4,333 employees). They receive OHS and life and fire safety training periodically and Group’s HR department reported that they have same rights as direct workers.
Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity: The employees’ salaries and performance rewards depends on the required qualifications and complexity of their job, necessary competencies for fulfilling tasks, results, and the state of the market. It is not influenced by gender, race or any other personal characteristic. Atlantic Group’s subsidiaries pay attention to hiring from the local work force. There are no cases filed against the Group and its subsidiaries for discrimination based on gender, race, age, nationality, political or religious beliefs, physical handicaps or any other type of discrimination.
Atlantic Group is in close cooperation with both Croatian and international universities, whose students have the opportunity to do case studies and complete their work experience in one of the companies within Atlantic Group. Well-known Croatian job portal MojPosao (www.MojPosao.net) listed Atlantic Group repeatedly over years among top employers when observing opportunities for promotion, leadership position in the sector, security of employment, business image and harmonious employee relationships.
Grievance Mechanism: The Group facilities adopt an open door policy and a formal employees’ grievance mechanism exists. As reported, employees can directly communicate their concerns to superiors. Aside from internal grievance mechanism, external worker protection mechanisms are ensured by the national labor laws and union activities, where relevant.
Retrenchment: There are no current plans for retrenchment in the Atlantic Group and its subsidiaries, however if it becomes unavoidable, the Group and each of its subsidiaries will implement retrenchment plan in accordance with PS2 and, in consultation with the union representatives.
Occupational Health and Safety: For each facility, responsible for work safety and fire protection has been appointed. There are internal Regulations for Work Safety which encompass workplace risk assessment at plant level. OHS risk procedures are being mainstreamed into contractual agreements. There are records kept on work safety (no of accidents, lost days, LTIFR- Lost time injury frequency rates, accident reports, statistical data for root causes) and regular training of employees in the area of work safety and handling dangerous and explosive substances are organised. The fire protection equipment and emergency equipment are regularly controlled by authorised legal persons. The employee''s health is regularly monitored and findings are recorded. Once in every three years, the working environment conditions are checked (micro-climate, physical harms, illumination and biological harms).
Atlantic Group facilities have detailed maintenance programs for lines and equipment, such as forklifts, pressurized vessels, boilers, coffee roasters etc and the preventive/ corrective maintenance activities are regularly tracked. All chemicals and hazardous materials are labeled and stored appropriately with relevant material safety data sheets (MSDSs).
All companies of Atlantic Grupa are performing its business activities in compliance with the applicable local regulations in the area of work safety, Corporate Security Director is submitting periodic reports on the status of work safety for all plants with comprehensive set of parameters, including overview of employees, working environment tests, employees training sessions, findings of work safety inspections, work equipment maintenance, etc. Within the total workforce of 4,333, number of lost time accidents at Group level are 35 with 574 lost days in 2011 which is within industry benchmark.
OHS risks are generally associated with logistics operations, work at height, rotating machinery pieces, slippery conditions, internal transport equipment, confined spaces, noise (especially at bottling units and coffee plants), cleaning chemicals. All facilities have prepared official risk analyses concerning above mentioned risks. However, as set forth in the ESAP, safety management will be further improved, including enforcement of necessary technical, behavioral and administrative precautions.
Supply Chain:
Atlantic Group sources its coffee supplies from Brazil ( app. 25,000 tons/ year) and Colombia (238 tons/year), and cocoa (1700 tons/ year) from Ivory Coast and Ghana, peanuts from Argentina and Senegal (1600 tons/ year) and hazelnut from Croatia and Turkey via international traders, like Olam, Volcafe, Cargill, Aldebaran, etc.
According to U.S. Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced By Child Labor or Forced Labor, 2010, cocoa from Ivory Coast and Ghana, and hazelnut from Turkey may carry child or forced labor risks. In addition, migrant labor from Southeastern and Eastern Anatolian region and neighbor countries to Black Sea Region are issues in Turkey according to FLA (Fair Labour Association) and recent newspaper articles in Turkey which indicates risks of Traffic accidents, Presence of illegal foreign workers; Lack of employment records; Compensation discrimination; Harassment; Under-age workers; and, Lack of supply chain transparency.
Child labor and impacts on biodiversity through land conversion are key social and environmental issues for cocoa production in West Africa. These issues have been widely reported in public documents from UN organizations, journalists reports, private sector, and NGO’s (for example, the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) oversees and sustains efforts to eliminate child labor in the production of cocoa). Major cocoa buyers and the worldwide cocoa industry have increased their interest in purchasing certified cocoa products from West Africa in line with internationally accepted labor and environmental standards. Third-party certification is the most established approach to promoting and securing sustainable environmental and social farming practices while ensuring the improvement of farmer livelihoods. The expansion of cocoa certification has been hindered by the dispersion of smallholder growers over large areas, the small number of farmer associations or cooperatives with an inherent internal control system and limited monitoring at the smallholder level. Trading of cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire is done through a wide range of private traders.
Therefore, to mitigate the risks, Atlantic Group will adopt a corporate purchasing policy incorporating supply chain requirements (harmful/child labor, biodiversity related issues), will commit to increase its sourcing of sustainable raw materials over time, will assess the third party monitoring opportunities of its suppliers, as per attached ESAP.