People & Rights
Human Rights
We conduct our business in a manner that respects the rights and dignity of all people. Kerry’s Global Human Rights Policy reflects our commitment to upholding internationally recognised Human Rights, as established in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation’s Core Conventions and fundamental principles and rights at work. The Group has specific policies addressing each of these priority areas.
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Child labour
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Forced labour
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Discrimination at work
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Freedom of association and the right of collective bargaining
Kerry’s Human Rights policy applies Group-wide to all employees and also sets out our expectations of business and supply chain partners to conduct their business in a way that upholds the principles set out in the policy.
The use of child or forced labour is strictly prohibited across all our operations and facilities. We do not tolerate any form of unacceptable treatment of workers and we respect all laws establishing a minimum age for employment.
Our Supplier Code of Conduct is explicit in demanding that those who seek to do business with the Group uphold the rights of workers and expressly forbids the use of child labour or forced or involuntary labour of any type. For more details on our approach, see our current Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement.
We also set out our position on pay, freedom of association, discrimination and diversity and we extend our standards on these and other labour issues into our supply chain, through our Supplier Code of Conduct. This code sets out the expectations we have of our key business and strategic supply chain partners. You can access our policy on Human Rights and details of some other relevant policies are outlined in brief below.
Child or Forced Labour
All employment with Kerry is voluntary. We do not use child or forced labour in any of our operations or facilities. We do not tolerate any form of unacceptable treatment of workers, including but not limited to the exploitation of children, physical punishment or abuse, or involuntary servitude. We fully respect all applicable laws establishing a minimum age for employment in order to support the effective abolition of child labour worldwide.
Freedom of Association
The success of our business depends on the contribution of every employee in our global enterprise. We are committed to fostering open and inclusive workplaces that are based on recognised workplace human rights, where all employees are valued and inspired to be the best they can be. While Kerry believes that direct dialogue with employees is an effective way to develop an engaged workforce, we respect the right of our employees to freely form and join trade unions and enter into collective bargaining agreements. Kerry also recognises elected employee representatives and dialogue with them regarding important workplace concerns in accordance with customary labour rules and principles.
Non-discrimination
Kerry treats its employees as individuals independent of gender, race, age, religion, political opinion, social or ethnic origin, economic status, sexual orientation, disability or other status unrelated to the ability to perform the job. Employees’ terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, training, working conditions, compensation, benefits, promotions, discipline, termination or retirement, are based on the individual’s qualifications, performance, motivation, skills and experience.
Harassment Free Workplace
Kerry believes it has a responsibility to provide a working environment free of harassment to all employees. All Kerry Group employees have an important role in preventing harassment, both through our own behaviour and by being alert to the actions of others. Any behaviour which disrespects or discriminates against an employee or is at odds with our commitment to a respectful and dignified work environment, will not be tolerated. This includes the harassment of any individual or group.
Learning & Development
At Kerry we aspire to develop a culture of high performance and are committed to helping colleagues grow and develop. We believe in people with big ideas and want to encourage learning opportunities.
Training or development needs are supported through the Kerry Learning Academy, which facilitates the provision of tailored and more general learning solutions across the organisation. These solutions include classroom, online and interactive content that provides instruction, stimulates discussion and encourages collaboration from structured graduate training through to leadership development programmes.
Working within each of our different functions and business areas we develop a series of career frameworks that offer step-by-step guidance for our people in developing a challenging and rewarding career within Kerry, aligned to their individual capabilities and interests.