Commitment to Freedom of Association

We support freedom of association and collective bargaining as part of our commitment to support the fair and equitable treatment of workplace workers.

As stated in our Human Rights Policy, H&G supports the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Our Code of Conduct explicitly states that:

• Workers are free to join associations of their own choosing. We shall not interfere with workers who wish to lawfully and peacefully associate, organise or bargain collectively. The decision whether or not to do so should be made solely by the workers.
• The right to organise and bargain collectively allows those workers who so choose to find a common voice and provides a framework through which they can engage with our management structure on their right to receive fair wages, sufficient benefits, and the ability to conduct their work in fair and decent conditions.
• We use a wide range of approaches to ensure the rights of our workers are respected. One way in which we do this is to support open and productive dialogue between workplace workers and line managers.
• We seek to help bridge the divide between these two groups while ensuring that freedom of association is respected both in principle and in practice.
• We demonstrate support for these rights by partnering with trade unions to bring about positive communication between workplace workers, labour organisations and our workplace management.
• We believe that collaborative dialogue among workplace management, labour groups and workers is critical to addressing issues when challenges arise. It also leads to improvements in other aspects of workplace conditions. In addition, we will work with other workers’ rights groups to protect freedom of association rights.
• We adopt a simple approach to initiate and maintain a constructive and consistent dialogue among groups with sharply divergent points of view. Providing for a culture that provides a forum for transparency and openness towards freedom of association and collective bargaining

Our freedom of association & collective bargaining policy

• Is included in our workers’ handbook
• Is included in our workers’ induction training
• Is included in our contracts with subcontractors such as Second tier labour agencies and payroll intermediaries
• Is provided to workers and posted where they can easily refer to it on our notice boards and website

H&G recognises trade unions of its workers only for negotiating purposes. Although H&G does not have a collective agreement with a recognised trade union, the company permits trade union representatives access to their members in the workplace. All is conducted in line with the company grievance procedure. The company welcomes and is open to audits under any buyer code of social compliance. The company participates transparently in social compliance data exchange in schemes such as Sedex. The company is not a member of any social certification scheme currently but this is under review.

This policy is reviewed annually by Directors and the board.