DS Smith signs Employee Charter with European Works Council
DS Smith has today (3 April 2017) confirmed the signing of a ground-breaking agreement between the organisation and representatives of its European Works Council (EWC).
The new Employee Charter clarifies DS Smith’s commitment to, and expectations of its 26,000 employees.
It is a visible and tangible commitment to all DS Smith employees and enshrines the DS Smith core values; be caring, be challenging, be trusted, be responsive, and be tenacious. The Charter both reinforces and enhances DS Smith’s commitment to consistent, transparent and effective information sharing and consultation with all of its employees.
The Charter is a wide-ranging statement, which covers many aspects of the employee-employer relationship. It encompasses commitments to safeguarding fundamental employee rights, as well as establishing longer term aspirations. Examples of the pledges that DS Smith makes to its employees are to keep them safe while working, and to apply a zero-tolerance approach to child labour; to provide open access to senior leaders, to support flexible working and to reward employees fairly and equitably, wherever they are based.
The document also sets out DS Smith’s core expectations of its employees - from taking pride in their work and being a good ambassador for the business, to taking their full holiday entitlement and avoiding excessive working hours. Viewed alongside the DS Smith Code of Conduct and individual contracts of employment, it will provide employees with greater clarity on what is expected of them– and what they can expect in return.
This move reinforces our existing, and long-standing commitment, to maintaining a culture where all employees can engage in an open, and effective, working dialogue on important issues that matter to us all. It builds on the success of our EWC, which has informed and guided many aspects of how we run our operations and has been the formal voice of our employees since it was established in the mid-1990s.
— Miles Roberts, DS Smith Group Chief Executive
“The creation and signing of an Employee Charter is a natural progression for DS Smith. It builds on two decades of close working, cooperation and collaboration between DS Smith and its European Works Council and supports our drive to become an exemplar employer in our sector,” said Joseph Reed, European Works Council Chairman, “we are delighted to have signed this agreement, on behalf of all its employees, and look forward
to working with the business to drive this forward”.