Chinese initiative helps improve safety and protect worker’s rights
Novozymes opened in China thirteen years ago. We have grown rapidly ever since, finding practical, local solutions for the human rights challenges we encountered along the way.
The right to form and join associations is one of Novozymes’ minimum standards. However, Chinese legislation bans anything but the union of the ruling party. So Novozymes has had to find an alternative solution to ensure employees can enter into dialogue with management.
1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
We have set up an internal committee with employee representatives who can discuss various issues with management, including benefits, the working environment, canteen facilities and feedback to employees. Various activities have also been organized in cooperation with the local union, focusing on employee welfare, work-life balance and corporate culture. We have also taken the initiative to set up similar internal committees at several of our US facilities taking into account the general skepticism towards unions in the U.S.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Tired drivers
The right to time off and to avoid extreme overtime is another of Novozymes’ minimum standards. An example of a specific challenge in this area involves drivers. Some years ago, Novozymes realized that in some parts of China our subcontracted drivers were working longer hours than specified in local legislation and the Novozymes minimum standards. As tired drivers are more likely to have accidents, the issue compromised more than just worker’s rights – it also involved safety. We solved the problem by employing drivers at Novozymes instead of using subcontractors, giving us more scope for controlling working hours and coordinating drivers’ workloads.
Corporate Affairs Director in Novozymes China, Chen Hong explains: "The initiative makes more responsible use of our workforce, and both the drivers and our other employees appreciate it. With initiatives like this, we show that we take employee welfare seriously, and that improves our image in the eyes of existing and potential Novozymes employees, business partners and local authorities."
