fairness and diversity
in the workplace

We believe in the ingenuity of our people to drive innovation and meet our stakeholders’ evolving needs. Increasing diversity and respecting human rights is central to our approach. We’re committed to providing a fair and inclusive workplace that secures good working conditions and labour rights.

A diverse workforce thinks more creatively and enables us to respond to local contexts and needs, particularly the needs of our diverse customer base. We depend on a strong pipeline of people from all backgrounds to grow and succeed.

We work together to create an inclusive environment where differences are valued and embraced. Equal opportunity is a priority and we aim to engage, involve and inspire everyone who is part of Mondi. We have zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment. 

Promoting diversity and inclusion

Our policy is to treat everyone fairly and with respect. Opportunities for employment, engagement, promotion, training or any other benefit are based on skills and ability. We provide equal opportunities regardless of gender, race, age, sexual orientation or ethnicity.

Increasing the representation of women at all levels remains a priority in the traditionally male-dominated forest products and packaging industries. We became a signatory of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles in 2019 and committed to take action to promote its seven principles.⁽¹⁾

Our Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Policy reflects the Hampton-Alexander Review⁽²⁾ recommendation that Boards and Executive Committees and their direct reports should be 33% women by 2020. The Policy includes a focus on ethnic and racial diversity across our Board and Executive Committee members and supports our Labour and Human Rights Policy.

We took a key step during 2020 when we set D&I targets as part of our MAP2030 sustainability commitments. Our new roadmap will help strengthen D&I at Mondi, covering concrete actions on strategic performance and management areas, including our policies and governance; leadership and culture; HR practices; training; tools, data and reporting; infrastructure; and transparency and external engagement.

Enhancing wellbeing

Mental wellbeing and health is a material business issue that has increased in importance. For Mondi, supporting our people to be well and feel well is also the right thing to do. We are developing our approach, and as a first step have rolled out our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and similar support systems in 16 countries (covering more than 80% of our employees).

EAP is a 100% confidential hotline that can be used by Mondi employees and their families free of charge 24/7/365. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the EAP proved valuable in supporting people’s mental wellbeing. Our EAP partners hosted webinars with managers and employees to promote mental and physical health. 

Respecting human rights

We aim to protect the safety, health and wellbeing of our employees, those working in our supply chain and local communities. As a minimum, we comply with all applicable laws and industry standards on working hours and strive to provide workplace flexibility and promote a healthy work-life balance.

Mondi does not tolerate any form of forced labour, child labour, slavery, human trafficking, physical punishment or other abuse. We take measures to identify and tackle risk of modern slavery in our supply chain.

We provide fair wages and benefits that meet or exceed legal or industry minimum standards. Reward and recognition is based on performance and we offer performance-related pay schemes in which the majority of employees participate. Mondi respects the rights of its employees to form and join trade unions and take part in collective bargaining. Please see our 2020 Integrated Report for our approach to executive and Board remuneration.

We provide robust internal processes and tools to facilitate the reporting, investigation and resolution of grievances. SpeakOut is our confidential hotline operated by an independent third party; in 2020 we received 125 messages relating to 74 cases (2019: 104), and 2 further cases through other channels (2019: 4). Topics included Human Resources-related concerns, business integrity issues, as well as environmental and safety topics. We responded and took appropriate corrective action for all issues. 

What’s next?

As outlined in MAP2030, we aim to provide purposeful employment for all, in a diverse and inclusive workplace. We will work towards a score of 90% for inclusiveness in our employee survey and to employ a minimum of 30% women across Mondi (21% in 2020) by 2030, meaning that four in ten hires will need to be women throughout the next decade. In 2021, we will further develop our human rights due diligence approach and continue to work on understanding and addressing our impacts.