Ethics
L’oréal’s Ethics Program
L’ORÉAL’s Ethics Program is voluntary and proactive, and develops in tandem with the Group’s growth. Under the supervision of the Director of Ethics, the program centres around :
- Policy and guidance
- Communication
- Training
- Open Talk process
- Monitoring
Policy and guidance : the Office of the Director of Ethics regularly offers guidance to management on ethical decision-making and also publishes tools and policy papers on various subjects. Recent examples include a risk analysis tool for Management Committees and a policy paper on child labour.
Communication : the Office of the Director of Ethics runs the Ethics intranet site, open to all employees and accessible to visually-impaired employees. It offers information and resources, including the Ethics Maze learning tool. The Office of the Director of Ethics also helps countries develop local communication campaigns on various ethical issues.
Training : the Ethics training model is based on blended learning techniques and, as far as possible, integrated into existing training modules to be as close as possible to day-to-day operations. The aim is not only to train employees on specific ethical subjects such as corruption, supply chain management etc.. but also to develop a series of ethical competencies which include "Demonstrating a High Level of Personal Integrity", "Developing Ethical Reasoning" and "Understanding the Business Case for Ethics and its Relation to Value Creation".
Open Talk : We encourage all our employees to air their views, express their opinions and signal unacceptable behaviours or demands. We recognize that employees may have concerns about certain practices and need advice and guidance to help resolve them. The normal route for raising such issues is via management. If for any reason employees do not feel comfortable with this route, employees can raise the issue with their Human Resources Manager. There may be additional resources available in countries, such as staff representatives, grievance procedures or a helpline. In each country, it is the Country Manager who is ultimately responsible for ensuring the respect of the Code of Business Ethics. If the employee has raised the issue locally and is not satisfied with the answer given, or in the exceptional case that it is inappropriate to raise the issue locally, employees may contact the Group Director of Ethics of L’ORÉAL.
Monitoring : Country Reporting Ethics, an annual reporting system on ethical issues including communication of the Code of Business Ethics, prohibition of child and forced labour, discrimination, sexual and moral harassment and integrity and loyalty, has been helping assess the Group’s performance since 2005. L’ORÉAL ensures the respect of fundamental rights and in particular the Fundamental Conventions of the International Labor Organization by its suppliers. All L'ORÉAL suppliers must commit to respect these ethical standards and agree to be audited.
These social audits, carried out by external auditors, cover the following issues:
• Child labour
• Forced labour
• Health & safety
• Freedom of association
• Non-discrimination
• Disciplinary practices
• Sexual and moral harassment
• Remuneration
• Working time
• Relations with sub-contractors and suppliers
Since 2005, 1043 audits have been carried out with a target of 500 audits for 2008.
In 2006, our own factories and warehouses were audited. In a spirit of fairness, the audits of our sites were conducted by the same external auditors and according to exactly the same standards as we set for our suppliers and subcontractors.
By 31st December 2006, 101 sites in 40 countries had been audited. The audits confirmed important points such as the absence of any employee under 16 years old. Certain areas of improvement were however identified such as “house-keeping” health and safety issues, and better control of working hours. Such issues have all been integrated into corrective action plans which will be monitored both internally and through follow-up audits by external auditors.
Link to information on L’ORÉAL Ethics Program:
- Policy and guidance
- Communication
- Training
- Open Talk process
- Monitoring
Policy and guidance : the Office of the Director of Ethics regularly offers guidance to management on ethical decision-making and also publishes tools and policy papers on various subjects. Recent examples include a risk analysis tool for Management Committees and a policy paper on child labour.
Communication : the Office of the Director of Ethics runs the Ethics intranet site, open to all employees and accessible to visually-impaired employees. It offers information and resources, including the Ethics Maze learning tool. The Office of the Director of Ethics also helps countries develop local communication campaigns on various ethical issues.
Training : the Ethics training model is based on blended learning techniques and, as far as possible, integrated into existing training modules to be as close as possible to day-to-day operations. The aim is not only to train employees on specific ethical subjects such as corruption, supply chain management etc.. but also to develop a series of ethical competencies which include "Demonstrating a High Level of Personal Integrity", "Developing Ethical Reasoning" and "Understanding the Business Case for Ethics and its Relation to Value Creation".
Open Talk : We encourage all our employees to air their views, express their opinions and signal unacceptable behaviours or demands. We recognize that employees may have concerns about certain practices and need advice and guidance to help resolve them. The normal route for raising such issues is via management. If for any reason employees do not feel comfortable with this route, employees can raise the issue with their Human Resources Manager. There may be additional resources available in countries, such as staff representatives, grievance procedures or a helpline. In each country, it is the Country Manager who is ultimately responsible for ensuring the respect of the Code of Business Ethics. If the employee has raised the issue locally and is not satisfied with the answer given, or in the exceptional case that it is inappropriate to raise the issue locally, employees may contact the Group Director of Ethics of L’ORÉAL.
Monitoring : Country Reporting Ethics, an annual reporting system on ethical issues including communication of the Code of Business Ethics, prohibition of child and forced labour, discrimination, sexual and moral harassment and integrity and loyalty, has been helping assess the Group’s performance since 2005. L’ORÉAL ensures the respect of fundamental rights and in particular the Fundamental Conventions of the International Labor Organization by its suppliers. All L'ORÉAL suppliers must commit to respect these ethical standards and agree to be audited.
These social audits, carried out by external auditors, cover the following issues:
• Child labour
• Forced labour
• Health & safety
• Freedom of association
• Non-discrimination
• Disciplinary practices
• Sexual and moral harassment
• Remuneration
• Working time
• Relations with sub-contractors and suppliers
Since 2005, 1043 audits have been carried out with a target of 500 audits for 2008.
In 2006, our own factories and warehouses were audited. In a spirit of fairness, the audits of our sites were conducted by the same external auditors and according to exactly the same standards as we set for our suppliers and subcontractors.
By 31st December 2006, 101 sites in 40 countries had been audited. The audits confirmed important points such as the absence of any employee under 16 years old. Certain areas of improvement were however identified such as “house-keeping” health and safety issues, and better control of working hours. Such issues have all been integrated into corrective action plans which will be monitored both internally and through follow-up audits by external auditors.
Link to information on L’ORÉAL Ethics Program: