On 7 April 2020, Polyus officially updated its Human Rights Policy regulating HR, labor conditions and security, amongst other issues.
The updated policy has a broader scope of application, and reflects the following principles, which Polyus has adhered to for a long time:
- right to freedom of association and collective bargaining of all employees; ensuring the prohibition of forced and child labor both by the company and by all contractors and vendors;
- compliance with regulations regarding working hours and commensurate compensation for overtime;
- guaranteeing fair employment opportunities, prohibiting discrimination on any possible grounds, including sex, age, race or ethnicity, religion, etc.;
- ensuring all employees are compliant with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, in particular with regard to the use of force by the Security department;
The Policy has been updated in accordance with international best practice and is based on such documents as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Global Compact, Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, ICMM Principles, etc.
Polyus takes responsibility for ensuring that its contractors, vendors and all business partners are fully committed to the company’s principles on human rights, and undertakes to communicate the requirements of the policy to all relevant parties.
In line with the requirements of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, the corporate practice adopted across the Group requires that human rights are strictly observed when ensuring the security of personnel, facilities and operations. Polyus’ engagement with governmental and non-governmental security services is also based on the utmost compliance with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and Polyus’ corporate principles are fully applicable to the providers of these services. The requirements of the Human Rights Policy supplement the legal standards regulating the performance of Polyus’ security department, whose high professionalism is maintained by the company through a thorough selection process, training system, corporate documents and internal policies.
The document outlines the implementation of Polyus’ Human Rights Policy principles and the methods of monitoring compliance with the policies.
An on-line training course based on the document has been rolled out to ensure company personnel understand the company’s provisions of the document which includes both theory and practice was developed to make the company’s personnel familiar with the Human Rights Policy principles.