Fun, Fair & Equitable
Our dedicated employees deserve the highest human resources management standards, and a safe, engaging and rewarding working environment.
As a global company, we believe our business can be conducted only in a manner that is respectful and protective of those we employ and those with whom we partner. We recognize our responsibility to be respectful of the rights of all individuals – wherever we conduct business. The fair and equitable treatment of our employees is our top priority.
We believe our people deserve the highest of standards in human resources to create a safe workplace where all are treated fairly and equitably. We strive to provide all our people – whether direct employees or those retained through third-party agencies – a work environment that is fun, engaging and rewarding.
We are a responsible employer
We offer our employees a truly diverse and inclusive working environment. As documented within our Human Rights statement, throughout our Group, we value diversity and do not tolerate discrimination, unfair or unequal treatment in any way, shape or form. Perfetti Van Melle has in place a Whistle Blowing Policy that encourages all our employees, customers and others to report any concerns related to any business practice within our organization. Our whistleblowing procedure is designed to make it easy for disclosures to be made, without fear of retaliation.
We engaged Willis Towers Watson to conduct our first global engagement survey in 2015 with 97% of our workforce participating in our first-ever global Employee Engagement Survey. Our overall sustainable engagement score is higher than the benchmark of Food and Beverage companies worldwide. The engagement score reflects that we feel motivated, energized and enabled to deliver our best every day at work and sustain it over time. In autumn of 2021, we conducted our third global Employee Engagement Survey, with a Sustainable Engagement score of 90%.
Our health & safety commitment
We have a strong commitment to the safety and health of employees. Developing a safe workplace is a process in which PVM continuously strives for improvements. We routinely run safety campaigns in all our production sites. All workplaces have been equipped to comply with laws and regulations. Internal occupational health and safety study groups have been established specifically to monitor and improve working conditions. And all our manufacturing facilities are ISO 14001 certified.
We are striving for ‘Zero accidents and work-related injuries – illness.’ Raising awareness is crucial to enabling this achievement. By providing information, training (safe ways of working, first aid and emergency response) we want to make employees more aware of the measures they can take themselves to work in a safe and healthy manner.
Sharing the fun: we celebrate our achievements
In 2021, we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of Perfetti, our original company established in 1946 in Lainate (Italy). While much of our celebration may still need to be virtual, we look forward to celebrating 75 years of innovation.
An employer reputation we’re proud of
We take pride in our Group reputation as an honest, fair and capable company with which to do business. It’s a reputation we’ve earned and one we continually seek to improve. Maintaining high ethical standards within our company and in our relationships with customers, suppliers, authorities and the general public is vital to our continuous success wherever we operate.
Our Perfetti Van Melle Code of Conduct (CoC) sets forth the principles that apply to all our employees. It highlights our responsibility, as a Group and as individuals, to implement and protect our core values and our ethical standards in the way we do business. It is important that its content is well known and understood by each of us. To facilitate this, we provide our employees with CoC eLearning courses with local translation, as well as on-site classroom and face-to-face training.
We also have a toll-free EthicsPoint Hotline and EthicsPoint.com for employees to utilize. Employees, customers and others can provide feedback or report concerns related to any business practice within our organization – online or by calling the hotline. This system is designed to make it easy for disclosures to be made, without fear of retaliation.
You can see our Code of Conduct, as well as our Human Rights statement, both of which are posted on this website.
Our customers expect and demand safe products of high quality, especially as more and more retailers are requiring food manufacturers to have a food safety certificate. As such, our Group Quality Policy specifies the certifications that our Manufacturing Operating Companies need to obtain and work toward:
- All our Manufacturing Operating Companies have obtained Food Quality ISO 9001 certification.
- All but one (to be completed soon) of our Manufacturing Operating Companies have obtained ISO14001 certification.
- All our Manufacturing Operating Companies have obtained Food Safety FSSC 2200 certification.