Friendly, major employer

We are making every effort to build a work environment in which all employees are able to maximise their potential while being appreciated and respected.

JSW Group’s employees receive a variety of non-wage benefits. Most of the companies have introduced Company Social Benefit Funds. They provide co-funding for:

• holidays for employees
•  holidays for employees’ kids
• financial relief
• cultural and sport events,

Specific JSW Group companies also offer other benefits such as insurance discounts, sports vouchers, medical care packages.

We are diagnosing the employees’ current situation on an on-going basis through a cyclical employee satisfaction survey. The questionnaires, collected in boxes, are anonymous, and the survey results, especially those criticising, are a valuable source of knowledge about areas requiring improvement and repair.

The following tables present:

JSW Group companies have their own employee remuneration rules. Average remuneration at JSW Group entities in 2018 ranged from PLN 2 867.35 to PLN 12 632.83. Average remuneration for management board members reached 14x the lowest salary at JSW.

Average monthly wage at JSW

In accordance with internal regulations, JSW employees receive remuneration consisting of:

• basic salary, bonus or piecework bonus
• Miner’s Card (length-of-service increment)
• functional increment (e.g. longwall increment)
• increment for work in arduous, harmful and hazardous conditions

There were 131 trade unions at JSW Group (including 66 at JSW) in 2018. 110 formal meetings with trade unions were held at the Group. As part of dialogue with employees in 2018, an agreement streamlining significant pay elements at JSW was developed.

As a result of these activities, no strike actions took place in 2018. The quality of dialogue with trade unions is confirmed by the title Employee-Friendly Employer, received by JSW and awarded by trade union NSZZ „Solidarność” to employers excelling at good practices in observing labour laws, especially through employment stability, observance of occupational health and safety rules and the right to form trade unions.

The following was achieved in 2018 through agreements signed with trade unions:

•  certain wage elements for JSW employees were harmonised
• uniform rules for calculating school-aid increment and reimbursement of vacation travel costs were introduced
• rules for death allowances were harmonised
• an agreement was reached concerning a 7% increase in wages from June 2018 by increasing basic wage rates

Countering discrimination, in any form, is a commitment made by managers towards employees in the Sustainable Development Strategy 2017-2020. These measures include a non-discriminatory remuneration system and a non-discriminatory system for promotions and development. The Sustainable Development Strategy also pinpoints the need to ensure previously-absent formal mechanisms that help to eliminate the threat of unethical behaviour in interpersonal relations (including mobbing, discrimination based on gender, or nepotism). The lack of tolerance for such behaviour directly results from laws, upon which all of the Company’s internal regulations are based.

JSW Group’s Code of Ethics, adopted in 2017, is a tool intended to shape desired behaviours and make it possible for whistleblowers to report potential violations. It also constitutes an ethics and anti-discrimination policy. It sets out procedures for reporting violations and inconsistencies, breaches of obligations resulting from laws, threats to occupational health and safety, health of customers and third persons, safety of the natural environment, unfair competition practices and attempts to hide any of the above. Taking into account the nature and scale of JSW Group’s business, areas potentially exposed to corruption behaviour are identified. These include purchasing processes, investment planning and providing inside information to unauthorised persons. In order to eliminate inappropriate behaviour, the Code of Ethics also sets out anti-corruption guidelines. No instance of corruption was reported or confirmed in 2018.

The Code of Ethics makes it possible for all employees, regardless of their position, to report problems high up the ladder and receive protection from any repressions on the part of their superiors. The code also helps in resolving conflicts of interest, which are an inherent part of any organisation.

Furthermore, at the end of 2017, the Management Board issued an order to apply an ethics clause in contracts with counterparties, allowing JSW’s ethical regulations to extend to its supply chain. Over 750 counterparties signed the clause in 2018.

No potential infringements of JSW Group’s Code of Ethics were reported in 2018. One instance of potential mobbing was reported at JSW based on the Internal Anti-Mobbing Policy. Following an explanatory proceeding, this case was not proven.

Although JSW’s diversity policy does not have the form of a single document, it is manifested in the Group’s Code of Ethics.

At JSW, diversity is applied to its key managers. The selection process takes into account elements such as: education, professional experience and competences, and in no way disqualifies candidates based on the elements of diversity policy indicated in this rule.

Issues related to respect for human rights at JSW Group are divided into two categories

• respect for the personal freedoms of the people working for the Group
• respect for the freedom of association and the right to participate in and organise peaceful protests.

Aspects related to ensuring proper respect for the inalienable rights and freedoms of every human being have become the foundation of activities planned within the Sustainable Development Strategy in the employee area and referring to building a healthy, non-discriminatory organisational culture.

The Code of Ethics is a tool that supports the shaping of desired behaviour and creates an opportunity for all employees, regardless of position, to report problems high up the ladder and receive protection against repressions from their superiors. The code also helps in resolving conflicts of interest, which are an inherent part of any organisation.

In 2018, advanced works were conducted at JSW involving the design and implementation of a comprehensive compliance system, consisting of internal regulations aimed at countering and reducing the effects of legal sanctions related to potential non-compliance. The company’s compliance system consists of:

In accordance with best practices, the approach to compliance takes into account legal requirements as well as ethical aspects and recommendations in this area. All of the regulations that together create JSW’s comprehensive compliance system are expected to enter into force in 2019.

JSW Group employees have opportunities to raise their professional qualifications by participating in various training workshops. In order to optimise development activities, in 2018 we initiated works on introducing an employee competence evaluation system. A Book of Competences was created at JSW SA and was approved by the Management Board in January 2019. The first evaluation was conducted on this basis.

In 2018, we launched an internal Employee Website. Once logged in, every employee has access not just to basic information about the Company but also to his/her pay slips, the „Foreman’s Section and more…” and an electronic version of the company magazine. A module with useful HR and payroll information was also implemented (information on unused holidays, dates for upcoming periodic medical check-up and periodic training, payroll data, length-of-service data and history of employment). As the website is developing, the number of users is constantly increasing. Additional sections in the HR and payroll module are expected to be launched in 2019, where employees will be able to check their working time over the past 12 months and when and what benefits from the Company Social Benefit Fund they used in a given year.