Working Conditions and Management of Worker Relationship: As of mid-2015 Anima had approximately 5,800 full-time staff, c. 125 reception and guard staff hired at Universidade São Judas Tadeu, and 635 consultants working as part-time instructors for post-graduate courses. Of the full-time staff, more than 50 percent are women. Anima and its subsidiary educational institutions appear to have developed excellent relations between management and its workforce. The company offers its workers competitive salaries, all basic benefits guaranteed by Brazilian law, and additional benefits in order to attract and retain high-performing staff, such as educational grants for employees and their children. In addition, all staff regardless of status or pay level were offered free stock options prior to the company’s IPO in late 2013. In addition, Brazil’s labor code is detailed and highly prescriptive, and the country’s labor inspection and court system provide multiple channels for workers to raise complaints and/or allegations of abusive practices. Based on information provided during the appraisal, the company has resolved outstanding labor claims that it inherited from the acquisition of other educational companies or addressed weaknesses in its labor management and payroll systems. For example, guards had previously complained that they were being paid overtime incorrectly for working on weekends or holidays; this problem has since been rectified through a new time clock and payroll system.
There are currently no civil action suits by the Public Prosecutor for Labor Issues against Anima or its subsidiaries regarding allegations of systematic labor abuses. The company does have a dozen law suits or administrative actions pending against it with regard to routine labor issues, such as claims of back-pay, non-transference of union dues, incorrect payments of social security and other payroll taxes, and the like. Given the complexity of Brazilian labor regulations and the size of the company’s workforce, this number of cases is not considered unusual, and Anima is taking steps to correct faulty procedures and/or set aside resources for any eventual payments or fines that might be levied as part of final judgments.
The company conducts regular staff satisfaction surveys, which are anonymous and allow employees to provide candid feedback on the work environment. Based on the results of these surveys, Anima seeks to address specific complaints or take up suggestions for how to improve the workplace and the employee experience. For five years in a row, Anima subsidiaries have been included in the list of the best places to work in Brazil as a country and/or Minas Gerais as a state, compiled by one of the country’s leading business magazine on the basis of online surveys completed anonymously by a minimum number of company staff.
Human Resources Policies and Procedures, including Working Conditions and Terms of Employment: The company has a comprehensive set o
f human resources policies and procedures. At the group level, Anima has well-defined statements regarding non-discrimination and equal opportunity, and the company strives to maintain transparency and equal treatment in hiring, promoting, and terminating staff. The company as a whole and its subsidiaries have rigorous selection, performance review, and advancement processes. During appraisal, IFC met numerous staff who had started out as teaching staff or more junior professionals and were then promoted into positions of increasing responsibility, including mid-to-senior administrative roles, based on noteworthy professional performance. As described below, the company is also in the process of rolling out a confidential grievance mechanism based on its internal ethics code.
Workers’ Organizations: Worker rights in Brazil, including those to association and to the formation of unions, are safeguarded by the 1988 Constitution and an extensive, detailed labor code known as the Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho, or CLT. Under Brazil’s corporatist system all workers are registered with a union, and in the case of Anima and its subsidiaries, its employees are represented by São Paulo and Minas Gerais affiliates of the professors’ union SINPRO (Sindicato dos Professores) and those of administrative workers in the education sector (Sindicato dos Auxiliares de Administração Escolar). Anima and its subsidiaries abide by the collective agreements on salaries and benefits negotiated for the educational sector.
Retrenchment: Brazil’s recent economic downturn and the change in the federal government’s student financing policies have prompted slower growth in the education sector. Nonetheless, Anima’s policy is to avoid any large-scale layoffs by seeking greater efficiency in its operations and allowing for staff attrition through natural turnover. The company also seeks to minimize layoffs that might arise in the course of acquiring another education company. In its recent acquisition of Universidade São Judas Tadeu, which has approximately 1,200 staff, only 25 were laid off. All such layoffs are done in accordance with Brazilian labor laws and the concurrence of the union representing the employees. In the event that the need for a large-scale retrenchment should arise, Anima will follow the requirements of PS-2 in addition to whatever Brazilian law and union practices might demand.
Grievance Mechanism: Anima has recently established an internal complaint mechanism (known as “Quem Avisa Amigo É” in Portuguese, roughly translatable as “A Real Friend Speaks Up”) to provide employees, including third-party workers, service providers, and other suppliers with a confidential channel to raise grievances about any misconduct in the workplace and improve governance and the working environment. This channel directs confidential complaints to a committee composed of the directors of HR, legal, and academics at the corporate level and the administrator and head of
HR at the institution at which misconduct is alleged. The mechanism is currently being rolled out to Anima’s main units (UNA, UniBH, Unimonte, HSM, and corporate headquarters) in the coming months, and it will be expanded to the recently-acquired Universidade São Judas Tadeu approximately six months later. This mechanism will be available to all staff, consultants, and suppliers who work for Anima or its subsidiaries, and the rollout plan reviewed by IFC indicates clear measures to ensure that all such parties are well-informed of this grievance channel.
Protecting the Work Force: Anima abides by all legal prohibitions against under-age employment and forced labor.
Occupational Health and Safety: Brazilian regulations and labor inspection practices require employers to abide by a detailed, rigorous, and prescriptive set of standards, known as the “normas regulamentadoras” or NRs. Anima implements these requirements by developing occupational risk evaluations (known as PPRA, or Programa de Prevenção de Riscos Ambientais) and administering a comprehensive system of medical exams upon intake and departure of any staff and periodic testing, depending on the nature and risk profile of the occupation concerned (via an occupational health control program known as a PCMSO, or Programa de Controle Médico e Saúde Ocupacional). It has developed appropriate risk maps, standard operating procedures, and clear signage for OHS issues. As required by the NRs, Anima has also established a workplace accident prevention committee known as a CIPA (or Comissão Interna de Prevenção de Acidentes) representing all of its locations, and it promotes various training and awareness efforts on workplace safety. For those functions involving hazardous activities (e.g. laboratory work), it requires the use of appropriate personal protection equipment. Anima has an approximately 10-person team working exclusively on OHS issues. This team reports to the HR Department under the Vice-President for Academics and Innovation.
Anima’s workforce faces relatively low OHS risks, with the exception of personnel working in its laboratories and third-party workers engaged in construction and remodeling of Anima campuses. In 2014 and in the year to date, Anima staff experienced only 10 and 8 accidents, respectively, that resulted in lost workdays. There was a total of 131 lost workdays for 2014 (in which 908,352 hours were worked), and in 2015 there as so far been 100 lost workdays (as against 636,832 hours worked). Recent accidents which resulted in prolonged sick leave (above 15 days Brazilian social security pays worker compensation) occurred both en route to the workplace (considered a workplace accident under Brazilian regulations) and at Anima facilities (such as ergonomic problems or falls). Appropriate corrective measures have been recommended and are being implemented to prevent recurrence. The company’s OHS monitoring system appears to be robust, and it includes monthly reportin
g from all units to the corporate-level OHS team with all relevant data on cases. Incident reports appear to be properly completed and communicated to relevant authorities (e.g. Brazil’s social security system in the event of an accident involving 15 days or more of sick leave).
Under the first investment, Anima was to create and operationalize an OHS management program to effectively address the risks of its operations (mainly the operation of laboratories and maintenance of facilities), including identification of key occupational risks and implementation of a relevant OHS management program (plans and procedures) and a monitoring and reporting system created with defined indicators. Anima hired a consultant in 2014 to carry out a global review of its workplace risks and hazards, and the company is harmonizing its practices to bring them in alignment with the NRs, including NR 10 on electrical installation and NR 17 on ergonomics, for those locations where such an evaluation has not yet been completed. In response to the first IFC investment and as a management tool to ensure thorough application of Brazilian OHS norms, the company has developed and is using an internal tracker (known as the Planilha de Saneamento Sistema de Segurança e Medicina do Trabalho) to resolve shortcomings and improve the functioning of its OHS system.
Under the ESAP for the second investment, Anima will extend its OHS monitoring system to cover third-party construction workers engaged in building or remodeling its campuses, including expansion projects (see below).
Workers Engaged by Third Parties: As noted above, the vast majority of Anima’s workforce consists of direct-hire employees, including teaching and administrative staff, cleaning and guard services, and the like. One of Anima’s subsidiary institutions, Universidade São Judas Tadeu, does contract c. 125 reception and unarmed guard staff via a third-party, and there are currently. 635 part-time instructors hired on consulting contracts for short-term post-graduate courses. Anima’s contracts with these companies include legal requirements on proper labor and OHS practices, and Anima pays them only on the basis of evidence that they are in compliance with them.
In addition, Anima acts as its own general contractor for its expansion projects, hiring local building contractors and tradespeople as necessary. In its contracts with such construction companies and skilled laborers, Anima requires the full payment of all social security and other benefits and requests evidence that such payments are made and that all necessary work authorizations are in place. In addition, under the ESAP, it will extend its OHS monitoring system to such third-party construction workers to ensure that they are abiding by Anima safety standards and national legislation as applicable.
