Overall there are over 6,700full-time employees in Aversi Group. Over 52% of employees work in health care facilities, 38% of employees are with 230 retail pharmacies and the remaining 10% are office and administrative employees for wholesale pharmaceutical and insurance businesses. Aversi Pharma does not have contracted workers, but has contracts with third parties to provide various services. The number of workers employed through third party contractors is within the range of 30-100/per project implemented by the third party contractors.
Human Resources Policies and Procedures
Georgia is signatory of all 8 International Labor Organization core conventions, and their requirements are incorporated into the national law, compliance with which Aversi Pharma promotes through its Human Resources (HR) procedures and practices. Detailed guidelines and procedures are created for candidate selection, screening and recruitment processes. Aversi Group makes employment decisions based on professional characteristics related to a particular position. The principles of equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment are stated in the labor law, and Aversi Pharma sets up and follows those principles through its HR policy and procedures.
All employees have contracts. There is a standardized form, which is based on the requirements and legal framework defined by the Ministry of Justice and the Code of Labor of Georgia. Employment contract details information on employees’ rights and responsibilities, business days and holidays (5 business days, two weekends, 40 hours week, which shall not exceed 48 hours), reimbursement and payment rules, paid and unpaid leave, termination of employment contract. The contract also includes as an attachment the terms of reference describing general and functional responsibilities, rights, obligations, and schedule of work.
Each new employee is made aware of rights and responsibilities, internal policies and corporate culture during the brief introductory meeting with the head of HR, CEO and the head of the department, which recruits a particular employee.
HR system is centralized for Aversi Pharma in terms of information system and communication. Clinics’ specific issues are managed by HR departments of those clinics. In this respect, each individual clinic has own HR procedures, as required by and is in line with the national labor law, appropriate to their sizes and scope of work. To have unified approach to HR management, Aversi Pharma will develop a corporate-level HR policy in line with requirements of the IFC Performance Standard 2 on Labor and Working conditions as per ESAP action item#2.
Workers’ Organization
There are no unionized employees, or workers’ organization members at Aversi Pharma. However, any employee is free to form, or join any workers’ association, which is recognized in the national laws. This has been confirmed during informal interviews with employees at various positions in Aversi Clinic and Eristavi Clinic.
Retrenchment
Aversi Pharma does not anticipate retrenchments, but rather will be hiring new employees with construction of new additions to the existing facilities and the new clinic in Telavi.
Grievance Mechanism
Aversi Group has set up and maintains a grievance mechanism for its employees, which is in line with national law and PS2 requirements, and, is the same for all clinics under Aversi Pharma. According to the company’s policy, any grievance should be addressed to the direct supervisor/manager of an employee. The grievances are reviewed within 10 working days. Subsequently, it is reviewed by the middle management and an appropriate decision is taken. If the middle management is unable to solve the issue, or an employee is not happy with the decision, employees can schedule an appointment with the CEO of the company and discuss their grievance. HR department guides employees in the process. Employees can file anonymous complaints by putting those in special boxes available throughout the clinics. Those are reviewed periodically and corresponding actions are taken.
Protecting the Work Force
In Georgia, minimum age for work is 16 and minimum age for hazardous works is 18. Most of Aversi Pharma’s business activities require qualified licensed employees, i.e. pharmacists, doctors, nurses, etc., so Aversi Pharma does not have activities, where child labor could be present. Nonetheless the company controls and monitors external contractors and outsourced services for any inconsistency with ethical and legal issues. To do so, Aversi Pharma verifies the availability of corresponding work permits and certificates possessed by third parties, and periodically monitors the construction sites operated by contractors for any signs of inconsistence with those principles.
Occupational Health and Safety
In Aversi Clinic, Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is the responsibility of the HR department along with the quality assurance department, which manage and monitor the related issues. Additionally Aversi Clinic has an OHS officer appointed in line with ISO requirements, who works part-time. Eristavi Clinic does not have an OHS responsible person; these responsibilities are handled by the head of administration, with the input from other units.
HR and ISO compliance team assess any new position for OHS risks, develop the corresponding OHS instructions and ensure that jobs description and jobs environment are arranged accordingly. Trainings are provided to employees periodically and cover such issues as ordinary daily tasks, i.e. how to wash hands, how to handle sharps and broken glass, how to use elevators and movable ladder, how to treat chemicals and collect and dispose of medical waste, as well as other issues depending on the type of work performed by employees. Pre-employment and periodical medical exam are required for most of the positions and closely monitored. The medical exam is used to monitor the state of health of workers, particularly those working in X-ray and computer tomography rooms. The vaccination program for doctors and nurses to minimize the risk of being exposed to various types of diseases is in place.
Health care facilities are ventilated and special types of cleaning procedures ensure low risk of bacteria, or molds. Safety signs and equipment operation instructions and precautions are posted, were required. Doctors and medical personnel use protection gloves, masks and other types of personnel protective equipment, wherever necessary, to minimize exposure to workplace injuries and illnesses as defined by standard operation procedures developed by the clinics. Accidents log is maintained, accidents are analyzed and the corresponding remedy measures are taken. There were no any lost time OHS accidents reported by the company over the past three years.
Workers Engaged by Third Parties
Specialized services, e.g. medical waste disposal, ambulance service, laundry, construction works, security, catering, equipment maintenance, and laboratory services (the latter are outsourced by Eristavi Clinic different from Aversi Clinic) are managed by the third parties. Each and every contractor is selected based on tenders (competitive bidding). Tender process and related documentation is checked for every detail, including EHSS issues by the tender committee, which consists of representative of different departments including the quality assurance team and internal audit. Aversi Pharma takes efforts to ensure that outsourced companies’ employees are treated fairly and their OHS is ensured. The contracts contain the corresponding provisions, and the workers undergo a general OHS induction training from Aversi Pharma. The company will need to make sure that all contracted companies’ workers have specialized OHS training depending on the type of service they deliver. The OHS officer will need to review the outsourced services, develop and carry out the corresponding OHS training and check-up procedures, regularly monitor the performance of contractors and working conditions of labor force, and provide reports to the management in line with PS2 requirements, as per ESAP action item # 3.
