Communication on Progress

Participant
Published
  • 16-Apr-2021
Time period
  • January 2021  –  April 2022
Format
  • Stand alone document – Basic COP Template
Differentiation Level
  • This COP qualifies for the Global Compact Active level
Self-assessment
  • Includes a CEO statement of continued support for the UN Global Compact and its ten principles
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Human Rights
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Labour
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Environment
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Anti-Corruption
  • Includes a measurement of outcomes
 
  • Statement of continued support by the Chief Executive Officer
  • Statement of the company's chief executive (CEO or equivalent) expressing continued support for the Global Compact and renewing the company's ongoing commitment to the initiative and its principles.

  • Sustainable business is future-proof business. It is an important matter for the innovative and future-oriented KATEK Group to present its first COP report (Communication on Progress) in accordance with the framework of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The United Nations Global Compact is the world's largest and most important initiative for responsible corporate governance. Based on 10 universal principles and the Sustainable Development Goals, it pursues the vision of an inclusive and sustainable global economy for the benefit of all people, communities and markets, today and in the future. More than 15,000 companies and organisations from civil society, politics and science in more than 160 countries have already signed the contract and thereby show a strong commitment to realising the vision of a sustainable transformation.
    ...
    In all our business activities, innovation and the environment play a vital role. It is hence important to us to act in a particularly sustainable manner. We take our responsibility as an innovation leader seriously and contribute to environmental protection with specific and effective measures. We know that there is still a lot of potential for our innovative group to become even. more sustainable and we are looking forward to successively tackling this challenge.
    As a signatory of the UN Global Compact we hereby underline our commitment to the 10 principles and the annual presentation of our progress in the area of sustainability.
    KATEK Group is proud to be part of the UNGC initiative and to contribute to a sustainable future for all its stakeholders with its business activities.

    Sincerely yours

    Rainer Koppitz, CEO KATEK SE
    Dr. Johannes Fues, CFO KATEK SE

Human Rights
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of human rights for the company (i.e. human rights risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on Human Rights.

  • As a global technology leader, we take human rights and our social responsibility in the KATEK Group very seriously. According to the motto "Think Global, Act Local", we do what is within our sphere of influence to take social concerns into account as much as possible.
    We attach particular importance to compliance with our binding standards, which are intended to ensure that our business partners also fulfill the social and ecological responsibility we demand. It is therefore mandatory for every business partner to commit to and comply with our ethical standards.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement Human Rights policies, address Human Rights risks and respond to Human Rights violations.

  • Forced labour in any form is prohibited. This includes forced labour in prisons, bonded labour, forced labour in general or similar.

    Child labour in any form is prohibited. Unless a higher age limit is prescribed by local law, children of school age or persons under 15 years of age (except as provided in ILO Convention No. 138) shall not be employed. Workers under 18 years of age must not perform hazardous work and must be exempted from night work.

    Harassment. The personal dignity, privacy and personal rights of each individual must be respected. Employees must not be physically punished or physically, sexually, psychologically or verbally harassed.

    Anti-discrimination: All employees, regardless of color, race, nationality, social origin, disability, sexual orientation, political or religious beliefs, gender or age, will be treated strictly according to their abilities and qualifications in all employment decisions. This applies to all employment decisions including, but not limited to, hiring, promotion,
    compensation, benefits, training, dismissal and termination.

    Freedom of association and collective bargaining: We respect the legal right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • We measure the relationship to our employees, and the labor standards behind, with the fluctuation rate, which is less than 3% at the moment. Our NPS (Net Promoter Score) as an Employer also measures Employee Satisfaction. This indicator increased by around 10 points from 2019 to 2020, to -33.9. We strive to keep our trainee takeover rate at 100%. As an indicator of the health of all our employees, we measure the sickness rate, which was 6.8% in 2020.

    Goals: Further development of a sustainability management system with actions and key performance indicators.

Labour
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of labour rights for the company (i.e. labour rights-related risks and opportunities). Description of written policies, public commitments and company goals on labour rights.

  • KATEK Group stands for high labor standards as well as participation and appreciation of all employees. The result of this and all our efforts is a fluctuation rate of less than 3%.
    Occupational health and safety is as important to KATEK as economic efficiency, quality, environmental and energy management.
    Our employees are crucial to KATEK’s success. Their safety, health and motivation are of great importance to the company.
    Managers and supervisors act in accordance with these convictions.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions taken by the company to implement labour policies, address labour risks and respond to labour violations.

  • Remuneration: Wages, including overtime or bonuses, shall be at or above the level required by applicable laws and regulations in factories.

    Working hours: Unless national regulations prescribe a lower maximum working time and unless there are exceptional business circumstances, employees shall not be required to work a standard working week of more than 48 hours per week or a total working week of more than 60 hours (including overtime) on a regular basis. Employees shall be granted at least one day off in each seven-day period, except in exceptional business circumstances.

    Occupational health and safety according to OHSAS 18001
    To ensure the best possible occupational health and safety at all times, we are OHSAS 18001 certified. The standard helps us to identify risks from accidents or overexposure early and to implement effective measures to protect our employees.The OHSAS 18001 standard is recognized worldwide.

    Health and Safety: We provide a safe and healthy working environment to prevent accidents and injuries and, where applicable, provide safe and healthy living facilities that comply at a minimum with applicable local law.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • Specific goals are derived from the occupational health and safety policy and measures are defined to achieve these goals. These measures apply in accordance with the obligation of §3 ArbSchG for the company management to strive for an "improvement of safety and health protection of employees". The necessary resources for this are being provided by the management.

Environment
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of environmental protection for the company (i.e. environmental risks and opportunities). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on environmental protection.

  • We take our ethical responsibility for the environment and for future generations very seriously. For this reason, the management declares increased and systematic environmental protection to be an standalone corporate goal. In such way, each individual employee can make an important contribution to all decisions of his or her
    daily actions and contributes to the achievement of this goal.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement environmental policies, address environmental risks and respond to environmental incidents.

  • The following guidelines serve as a basis for our environmental policy:
    We take our responsibility for the environment into account in all our decisions, even beyond the scope of legal requirements, and constantly take actions to improve environmental protection.
    We motivate all employees to act in an environmentally conscious manner, both on and off the job.
    We are open to communication with our business partners and employees on all issues of environmental protection.
    We use material and energy resources responsibly and ensure that production is as resource-saving as possible by using the latest manufacturing technologies. This also applies to the packaging of supplier parts and goods for sale.
    We want to keep the pollution of air and water as well as the emission of noise and residual substances in our production processes as low as possible. Additionally, we are using measures such as energy generation through photovoltaic systems, the purchase of electricity from sustainable sources, the recycling of electronic products and returnable packaging at our locations.
    We strive to assess the environmental impact of our actions as early as possible in order to avoid environmental pollution. To this end, we exploit all organisational and technical possibilities that are economically justifiable.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates environmental performance.

  • Environmental management according to ISO 14001
    We are ISO 14001 certified. ISO 14001 has been a globally recognized framework for environmental management systems since 1996 and covers all aspects for continuous improvement of environmental performance. It defines and certifies the establishment, implementation, maintenance and continuous improvement of our environmental management system.

    Energy management according to ISO 50001
    We are ISO 50001 certified. The continuous improvement of our company's energy-related performance is the goal of this certification. It certifies that we have met the requirements for our company to implement, operate and continuously optimize an energy management system. This enables us to improve our energy-related
    performance, increase our energy efficiency and at the same time optimize our energy use.

Anti-Corruption
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of anti-corruption for the company (i.e. anti-corruption risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on anti-corruption.

  • KATEK Group employees must comply with all relevant laws and government regulations in their work environment, as well as mandatory internal instructions.
    Employees are obliged to behave honestly and fairly and to avoid any conflict between private interests and the business interests of KATEK or the interests of our customers.
    The awarding of contracts to relatives, life partners or other related persons of employees must be reported to Management and Compliance if they are known. This also applies to transactions with companies in which relatives are directly or indirectly involved.
    All employees are explicitly requested to contact the Compliance Officer or their supervisor if they have determined that the conduct of an employee does not comply with the rules.

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement anti-corruption policies, address anti-corruption risks and respond to incidents.

  • Gifts, business meals and events
    Gifts, business meals and events for informational, representational or entertainment purposes may be a legitimate means of building and supporting business relationships. However, they must never serve the purpose of gaining unethical business advantages and must not be of nature or extent that could call into question the professional independence and judgement of those involved. In order to provide guidance to the employees of the KATEK Group and to protect itself from misunderstandings, KATEK provides clear rules. For example, KATEK's Code of Conduct states which amenities they may accept without hesitation and at which points they may violate the guidelines. Accordingly, employees do not have to worry about direct business-related hospitality and invitations to meals to a reasonable extent. Employees do not have to worry about accepting promotional items, so-called "give-aways" or socially acceptable gifts and invitations in accordance with the applicable guidelines for the acceptance of
    gifts and invitations. However, these gifts shall not be accepted immediately before the conclusion of contracts or negotiations, if they are sent to the private address of employees or if they are handed over in another non-transparent way. The acceptance of cash or other consideration such as cheques, vouchers or similar is prohibited. Invitations for representation purposes or with predominantly or partially entertaining components are also not accepted. Exceptions may be made after special consideration of the question if invitations are in line with normal business practices, especially if the invitations include life partners or spouses. Subsequent approval by the management
    is required. Exceptions may also be possible if different representatives of the host are present, attendance is exceptional and not regular and travel expenses are not covered by the inviting business partner. In cases of doubt, KATEK Group employees are to consult Compliance department.

    Donations and sponsoring
    The management decides on donations and sponsoring. These may not be used to gain unfair advantages over business partners.

    Zero tolerance of corruption, special caution for public office holders
    Our success in the market is based on performance, flexibility and service availability and must not be achieved through unethical performance. Our business partners trust in the professional judgement of our employees. KATEK therefore does not tolerate any form of bribery or corruption and neither accepts nor grants advantages. To ensure this, KATEK communicates the following details to its employees in the Code of Conduct. Anyone who violates the regulations on gifts and invitations (above) runs the risk of being prosecuted for corruption offences. Promising or demanding unfair advantages can also be punishable. In the case of invitations and benefits to public officials, the internal regulations for gifts and invitations must be observed. The granting of advantages to public officials may be punishable. Granting advantages to public officials is punishable as acceptance of an advantage or bribery because they were granted with regard to the office. It is not even necessary that the person that has been unfairly influenced is a public official. Anyone appointed for the purpose of performing official duties can be viewed as a public official. No distinction is made between salaried or voluntary work, even editors of public broadcasters are considered as public officials according to the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH).

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates anti-corruption performance.

  • All employees are explicitly requested to contact the Compliance Officer or their supervisor if they have determined that the conduct of an employee does not comply with the rules. No employee who reports with honest intentions needs to fear sanctions, even if the reported issue will not be pursued further. Reports can also be made anonymously. Executives have a role model function. They are responsible for their own conduct and that of the employees in their area of responsibility as well as for the proper
    compliance with all prescribed processes to avoid reputational and legal risks.