Goals and performance

Orion respects human rights in all its operations and works towards eliminating any human rights violating practices from the Group’s as well as its subcontractors' and suppliers' operating procedures. Orion is committed to the principles of the UN’s universal declaration of human rights and the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples as well as the ILO agreements, and expects the same from its partners as well.

Orion regards that every Orion employee and everyone involved in the manufacturing of Orion products has the right to be treated well and with respect by supervisors, subordinates and colleagues. Orion does not accept discrimination in any form. Orion acknowledges the right of indigenous peoples to their cultural and spiritual values. Orion does not condone or tolerate the use of child labour or forced or compulsory labour in any of its operations nor in any such operations of its subcontractors that are related to Orion’s products.

Orion acknowledges that its employees are legally entitled to freedom of association and collective agreements. Freedom of association is considered a personal matter. Orion respects the legal rights of the employees and their representative organisations and treats them openly and honestly.

According to the Group’s general principle of legal compliance, Orion honours binding collective agreements. This is also recorded in Orion’s Human Resources Policy, which is part of Orion’s mandatory Corporate Governance Manual.

The “Orion Requirements of Suppliers” document, which specifies the principles, requirements and approval criteria for Orion’s purchase operations, contains Orion’s responsible purchase principles according to which Orion selects partners to its supply chain and excludes candidates not matching them.

When selecting suppliers, Orion is especially critical towards so-called risk countries where there is a risk of possible human and employee right violations and/or use of child labour and where the national labour legislation is weak or weakly endorsed. In countries where a better position for the employees is ensured by the international labour norms and ILO’s central labour agreements in particular than by the national legislation, Orion requires the supplier to honour the ILO norms. 

Organisational responsibility

Every manager at every level of the organisation is responsible for ensuring that the human rights principles are upheld and that the necessary steps re-taken without delay if they are violated. Orion also emphasises the personal responsibility of every Orion employee to ensure that human rights are respected in the workplace.   

Training and awareness

All Orion managers receive training on human rights in the mandatory supervisor training and also in the trainings which focus on human resources policy and the procurement and investing principles of Orion. Employee rights, including freedom of association, are also discussed during supervisor training. As part of the Human Resources Policy, these rights are also regularly discussed in company-wide human resources information sessions.

Orion controls the enforcement of the requirements set for its partners by performing reviews and by auditing the facilities of the product and service suppliers.  Follow-up and auditing measures are in place to ensure the continuity and compliance of Orion’s operations and to manage supply chain risks.  Should an external party, which operates in Orion’s supply chain, blatantly violate the human rights principles, international agreements or legislation, Orion would undertake corrective action and, in an extreme case, terminate the cooperation with such party and appoint a compliant supplier.