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.
Whether it is in sales, purchasing, administration, logistics or IT, the roughly 69,000 ALDI employees in nine different countries make a decisive contribution to the sustained success of the ALDI North Group. All of them can be proud to work for the ALDI North Group. In exchange, they receive secure working conditions, attractive framework conditions and long-term career development prospects. Open and respectful dealings in an approach based on partnership are very important to us. Our focus is on appreciating each and every one of our employees and promoting their sense of connection with the ALDI North Group. By way of this total package, we aim to retain the loyalty of employees over the long term and recruit new talents. The ALDI North Group has been successfully expanding its ALDI discount concept in Europe since the 1970s. More and more consumers in Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain trust the ALDI promise. The supply chains behind the products are diverse and complex. During production, non-food products often pass through several production sites in various different countries. Company guidelines
- “Simplicity, responsibility and reliability” – these values guide our actions and have been codified in our “Simply ALDI” mission statement.
- Our Corporate Responsibility (CR) Policy is an integral part of the entire ALDI North Group. It picks up on our corporate mission statement and presents our understanding of CR.
- The mission statement, HR concept and “real traders” leadership serve as a common HR platform.
- We require ourselves and our suppliers to comply with the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is based on numerous international agreements including the core conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations (UN). This enshrines all eleven central employee rights, including the right to safety in the workplace and proper pay. It also excludes discrimination, child labour and forced labour.
- Further international guidelines can be found in the respective "key topic" under guidelines/regulations/policies.
Employee representative organisation Since the 1970s, an elected employee representative organisation has been in place at ALDI North Germany directly when a new company is established. Once again, each of the 34 regional companies was represented by its own works council in 2017. At the beginning of 2018, business operations at the regional companies Hoyerswerda and Könnern underwent restructuring; the stores were not affected. Some of the employees in administration and logistics were transferred to other regional companies. A reconciliation of interests and a social compensation plan were drawn up for the remaining employees. Works councils also exist in Belgium and the Netherlands. Please use the following link for further information:
Employee communication and -involvement
We are expanding our internal communication efforts as part of our HR concept. The goal is to expand the available formats, make them more up to date and offer further dialogue opportunities. In Germany, we have been publishing a quarterly employee magazine since April 2017. Belgium and Poland followed suit in early 2018. We are also increasing the frequency and scope of ad hoc communication with employees in stores in Germany through flyers, posters, brochures and videos, among other media. ALDI Portugal set up a monthly employee newsletter in 2017. We also regularly publish CR newsletters tailored towards an internal target audience in Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Poland and Portugal.
Because sustainability is such a central issue for ALDI Nord, it is also a topic that is repeatedly discussed at various points in the magazine. Since 2017, ALDI Portugal has been working to educate employees and customers about sustainability-related topics in the Portuguese customer magazine, in flyers, in internal newsletters and on a training poster for employees in stores as part of a CR communication concept. Furthermore, we provide information about our environmental management activities in our redesigned stores through display panels that draw attention to our rooftop photovoltaic systems and posters that explain how we dispose of our packaging while showcasing our new reusable shopping bags. To prepare our sustainability report, we specifically engaged in dialogue with our customers (by way of a customer panel survey), ALDI employees (through an online survey), suppliers, experts and the works councils of two German regional companies. In 2017, we organised creative employee competitions. Corporate runs promote employees’ health and strengthen their sense of identification with the ALDI North Group. The results of the first employee surveys in early 2017 showed us that employees are proud to work for the ALDI North Group. The first measures have been taken on the basis of the survey results. Among other things, we are encouraging our managers and promoting a respectful and appreciative approach to interpersonal relationships. Please use the following link for further information: