14. Employment Rights

The company reports on how it complies with nationally and internationally recognised standards relating to employee rights as well as on how it fosters staff involvement in the company and in sustainability management, what goals it has set itself in this regard, what results it has achieved thus far and where it sees risks.

The operational life at Fraunhofer UMSICHT is regulated by different legal sources (laws, ordinances, collective bargaining agreements). This includes the laws of individual (e. g. working hours act, social security code volumes, youth employment law) and collective (e. g. works council constitution act, collective bargaining act) labor law. Located in between the collective bargaining agreements and the contract of employment as a contract under private law are the works agreements that are negotiated between the works council and the employer. To Fraunhofer UMSICHT, the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement for civil service employees (TVöD - Tarifvertrag des Öffentlichen Dienstes) of the federal government are valid.

15. Equal Opportunities

The company discloses in what way it has implemented national and international processes and what goals it has for the promotion of equal opportunities and diversity, occupational health and safety, participation rights, the integration of migrants and people with disabilities, fair pay as well as a work-life balance and how it will achieve these.

We support equal opportunity measures and actively pursue diversity management: all employees are treated and valued without prejudice – independent of gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion or world view, disability, age, sexual orientation and identity. Fraunhofer acknowledges that work and family need to get along with one another and in this respect supports the employees with flexible offers. A central measure is the TALENTA program started in 2013 by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. "Fraunhofer TALENTA" is a targeted and holistic supporting and development program to attract and develop female scientists which approaches career development in three ways on its different levels.

All employees of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are covered by the collective bargaining agreement for civil service employees (TVöD - Tarifvertrag des Öffentlichen Dienstes). This ensures that male and female employees receive the same pay for equal work according to their qualification.

16. Qualifications

The company discloses what goals it has set and what measures it has taken to promote the employability of all employees, i.e. the ability of all employees to participate in the working and professional world, and in view of adapting to demographic change, and where risks are seen.

The success and performance of Fraunhofer UMSICHT is decisively influenced by the staff’s competencies. Human resources management and development are therefore considered to be central responsibilities at the institute. In addition to the promotion of young talents, human resources marketing and recruiting, both the needs-oriented qualification as well as the individual development planning of the staff are the focal points of human resources development. As part of the systematic human resources development at Fraunhofer UMSICHT, a comprehensive training program is being offered that includes thematic and cross-thematic qualification measures. Please find more detailed information on pages 12 - 14 of our Sustainability Report.

Key Performance Indicators to criteria 14 to 16

Key Performance Indicator G4-LA6
Type of injury and rates of injury, occupational diseases, lost days and absenteeism, and total number of work-related fatalities, by region and by gender.

In 2013, there was one commuting accident; no other accidents in 2012/2013. The absentee rate due to illness, for the first time determined in the last report, is constantly hovering around 3 percent. In 2012, it was at 2.7 percent, and in 2013 at 3.3 percent.

Key Performance Indicator G4-LA8
Health and safety topics covered in formal agreements with trade unions.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft applies the collective bargaining agreement for civil service employees (TVöD - Tarifvertrag des Öffentlichen Dienstes) that does not contain statements concerning this matter. The participatory rights of the employees are subject to, among others, the German Occupational Health and Safety Act as well as the Works Constitution Act, which renders further agreements between individual staff members and the labor unions obsolete.

Regulations concerning personal protective equipment can be found, among others, within the trade association regulations; labor unions are represented in the self-administration of the trade associations.

Key Performance Indicator G4-LA9
Average hours of training per year per employee, by gender and by employee category.

The qualification rate per employee was 2.7 days in 2012 and 2.5 days in 2013.

Key Performance Indicator G4-LA12
Composition of governance bodies and breakdown of employees per employee category according to gender, age group, minority group membership, and other indicators of diversity.

While in 2011 3 women worked in management positions at Fraunhofer UMSICHT, the number was already 21 in 2013.

In 2011, the permanent staff consisted of 198 employees, 74 of them women. In the growth in staff levels to 245 people in 2013, it was possible to increase the women’s share from 37 to 40.5 percent.

Any further diversity statistics of the employees, including e.g. diversity of educational background, are not tracked as a standard feature.

Key Performance Indicator G4-HR3
Total number of incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken.

There are no known incidents of discrimination during the reporting period.

17. Human Rights

The company discloses what measures it takes, strategies it pursues and targets it sets for itself and for the supply chain for ensuring that human rights are respected globally and that forced and child labour as well as all forms of exploitation are prevented. Information should also be provided on the results of the measures and on any relevant risks.

The influence of Fraunhofer UMSICHT has been considered low up to now (only purchasing of small amounts of special equipment). In addition to the pure price criterion, Fraunhofer may also take other assessment criteria into consideration when purchasing. Legal formalities like German Awarding and Contract Regulation for Services (VOL/A and VOL/B), Public Sector Contracts (VgV), Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) and the budget law (HGG) are the basis for purchasing. Explicit sustainability aspects have not been considered yet (for example: compliance enquiry UNGC).

Since our component suppliers are usually located in Germany or in other European countries and we do not aim at establishing business contacts with suppliers who subvert the safety provisions, we do not regard this topic as relevant for us.

Key Performance Indicators to criteria 17

Key Performance Indicator G4-HR1
Total number and percentage of significant investment agreements and contracts that include human rights clauses or that underwent human rights screening.

Up to now no significant investment agreements and contracts have been examined in matters of human rights. This indicator was not regarded as significant in the external stakeholder dialog and by Fraunhofer UMSICHT.

Key Performance Indicator G4-HR9
Total number and percentage of operations that have been subject to human rights reviews or impact assessments.

Fraunhofer UMSICHT has no business locations outside of Germany.

Key Performance Indicator G4-HR10
Percentage of new suppliers that were screened using human rights criteria.

Up to now no component suppliers have been examined in matters of human rights. This indicator was not regarded as significant in the external stakeholder dialog and by Fraunhofer UMSICHT.

Key Performance Indicator G4-HR11
Significant actual and potential negative human rights impacts in the supply chain and actions taken.

Up to now no human rights impacts in the supply chain have been examined and no measures taken. This indicator was not regarded as significant in the external stakeholder dialog and by Fraunhofer UMSICHT.

18. Corporate Citizenship

The company discloses how it contributes to corporate citizenship in the regions in which it conducts its core business activities.

Since 2012, UMSICHT has been cooperating with the Sophie-Scholl-Gymnasium high school in Oberhausen. The local public is also integrated via guided tours of the institute. In 2012 and 2013, 33 and 35 guided tours were performed, respectively, with 338 and 603 people, respectively. The 2013 figure is very high due to guided tours of large groups of students – over the course of the year, those figures amounted to between 300 and 400 attendees. A tradition at our institute are events and formats that promote social discourse regarding social, ecological, and ethical concerns.

Key Performance Indicators to criteria 18

Key Performance Indicator G4-EC1
Direct economic value generated and distributed.

In 2013, Fraunhofer UMSICHT generated an operating budget of EUR 27 million at the Oberhausen and Willich sites. In 2012 and 2013, UMSICHT furthermore invested approx. EUR 4.7 million in total into the establishment of new laboratory facilities.

19. Political Influence

All significant input relating to legislative procedures, all entries in lobby lists, all significant payments of membership fees, all contributions to governments as well as all donations to political parties and politicians should be disclosed by country in a differentiated way.

According to its mission the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is independent and retains its neutrality against the interests of individual groups from politics, economy and society. For this reason the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft does not take part in lobbying-activities or political opinion building. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is listed as a “not for profit Organization“ in the transparency register of the European Union.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is independent in its strategic orientation and derives its research planning from it. Being an independent state-funded organization, we retain our neutrality against the interests of individual groups from politics, industry, and society. We put special emphasis on an intensive exchange with our funding authorities, especially with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry of Defence.

Because of this no grants in terms of money or materials assets to political parties, politicians or other organizations connected to them were made.

Fraunhofer UMSICHT and individual employees are members of different subject-specific associations and committees. These memberships are not documented centrally. An overview of Fraunhofer UMSICHT Networks can be found on the Internet.

Key Performance Indicators to criteria 19

Key Performance Indicator G4-SO6
Total value of political contributions by country and recipient/beneficiary.

Being a not for profit organisation, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft makes no political donations.

20. Conduct that Complies with the Law and Policy

The company discloses which measures, standards, systems and processes are in place to prevent unlawful conduct and, in particular, corruption, how they are verified, which results have been achieved to date and where it sees there to be risks. The company depicts how corruption and other contraventions in the company are prevented and exposed and what sanctions are imposed.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft complies with the "Federal Government Directive on Prevention against Corruption". The internal audit department has a comprehensive right to assess all tasks and activities within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The individual organizational units are therefore systematically checked in a risk-oriented manner or incident-related. The examining of corruption risks is an integral part of the audits. In addition to that, the internal audit continuously assesses the work areas which are highly prone to corruption in order to sensitize the employees about the corruption risks.

All employees are instructed regarding the prevention of corruption and confirm this with their signature. Since March 2012 new employees and new appointed executives can use the new electronic learning software »corruption prevention for new employees« and »corruption prevention for new executives«. Employees in especially corruption-prone areas of operation have to use the learning software »Especially corruption-proneareas of operation« in constant intervals.

Key Performance Indicators to criteria 20

Key Performance Indicator G4-SO3
Total number and percentage of operations assessed for risks related to corruption and the significant risks identified.

Fraunhofer UMSICHT is assessed regularly (e. g. through the internal audit department).

Key Performance Indicator G4-SO5
Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken.

In the report years, no incidents of corruption were reported. The training of the employees at regular intervals is being continued.

Key Performance Indicator G4-SO8
Monetary value of significant fines and total number of non-monetary sanctions for non-compliance with laws and regulations. Link

In the report years, no administrative fines or non-monetary sanctions were imposed.