Human rights
Kalmar is committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights as laid forth in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN Global Compact, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Kalmar’s Human Rights Policy serves as a vital extension of the social principles outlined in the Kalmar Code of Conduct, and explicitly defines the company's core human rights-related principles and workplace practices. This policy framework underscores our dedication to ethical conduct and social responsibility at every level of our global operations.
Kalmar implements an ongoing human rights due diligence to identify and address adverse human rights impacts on people in its operations and value chain, in line with international standards for human rights due diligence. The due diligence process is complemented by our remediation practice, where we aim to put right any actual adverse human rights impact that we might have caused or contributed to. In addition to taking action based on our findings, we track our responses and maintain transparent communication regarding how these impacts are being addressed. This comprehensive system ensures accountability and continuous improvement in our human rights performance.
Identification and prioritisation of human rights impacts
While our overarching goal is to ensure the respect of all human rights throughout our entire value chain, we recognise the strategic importance of prioritising those impacts that are the most severe, most likely to occur, and/or have the greatest potential to affect the largest number of people. To effectively identify and assess these impacts, Kalmar employs a risk-based approach. This methodology specifically incorporates high-risk aspects identified within our value chain, including high-risk sourcing categories such as certain industries and raw materials, as well as specific geographical areas.
As we consistently carry out our due diligence, we are dedicated to continuously improving and expanding our understanding of our human rights impacts. Kalmar collects on-going insights from its yearly audits; supplier sustainability assessments; dealer assessment; health and safety assessments; as well as from its Annual employee engagement survey to pinpoint any adverse impacts. This information feeds directly into our human rights impact assessment. This dynamic process means that our identified impacts may evolve over time. Consequently, we regularly review our human rights priorities and update them as needed, ensuring our efforts remain relevant and effective.
Our due diligence efforts are concentrated on the human rights most pertinent to our business activities and those facing the greatest risk of negative impact from our operations, products, or services. These identified rights constitute our salient human rights issues and include:
- Health and safety: Ensuring a safe and healthy working environment for all individuals impacted by our operations.
- Equal opportunities and non-discrimination: Promoting fairness and prohibiting discrimination based on any protected characteristic.
- Respectful treatment and non-harassment: Fostering a workplace culture free from harassment and promoting dignity for all.
- Freedom of association and collective bargaining: Upholding the rights of workers to form and join unions and engage in collective bargaining.
- Fair employment – wages & working Hours: Ensuring just wages and reasonable working hours in accordance with applicable laws and industry standards.
- Freely chosen employment: Prohibiting all forms of forced, bonded, or involuntary labor.
- Prohibition of child labour: Strictly adhering to national and international laws prohibiting child labor in all its forms.
Due to Kalmar’s extensive global reach and the inherent complexities of our operating environment, our most significant human rights risks are primarily concentrated within our intricate supply chain.
Prevention and mitigation strategies
For our own workforce: Human rights risks related to our internal workforce are managed through policies, processes, and follow-up tools specifically designed for safety and human resources. Kalmar has proactively implemented topic-specific policies, detailed instructions, best practices, well-defined processes, targeted training programs, and clear communications to effectively prevent and mitigate any adverse impacts on our employees. Human rights-related risks and impacts are addressed through, but not limited to, the following integrated processes:
- Management systems, such as ISO 45001: Implementing internationally recognized standards for occupational health and safety.
- Local action plans and risk assessments: Tailoring preventative measures to specific local contexts and identified risks.
- Employee engagement, including surveys: Actively soliciting feedback from employees to identify and address concerns.
- Internal and external social audits: Conducting regular assessments to ensure compliance with human rights standards.
- Training and awareness raising: Educating employees on human rights principles and their role in upholding them.
- Proactive communication and guidelines: Providing clear and timely information to foster a culture of respect and compliance.
For our suppliers: Kalmar has embedded stringent people-related sustainability requirements directly into our supplier onboarding and ongoing engagement processes. Through our Business Partner Code of Conduct, we mandate that our suppliers and business partners adhere to a set of human rights-related standards, in addition to complying with all relevant applicable laws and regulations. We are committed to advocating for internationally recognized best practices at every level of our value chain. The policies and processes that underpin our supply chain due diligence include:
- Acknowledgement of Kalmar’s Business Partner Code of Conduct (BPCoC): Ensuring all partners formally commit to our ethical standards.
- Supplier approvals and contracting: Integrating human rights considerations into the selection and contractual agreements with suppliers.
- Supplier sustainability assessments and audits: Regularly evaluating supplier performance against our sustainability and human rights criteria.
When monitoring and auditing suppliers, Kalmar implements a strategic risk-based approach, that focuses on suppliers that have demonstrated poor sustainability performance in the self-assessment. The proactive identification of these high-risk areas enables Kalmar to engage with relevant suppliers, implement corrective actions, and foster continuous improvement in their social and environmental performance.
In the downstream: Kalmar integrates sustainability criteria in the approval & contracting, and yearly review processes ensuring our commitment to human rights extends throughout our entire network.
- Acknowledgement of Kalmar’s Code of Conduct (CoC): Ensuring all partners formally commit to our ethical standards.
- EHS assessment: Kalmar integrates a sustainability assessment as part of its third party onboarding process covering environmental, health & safety topics.
- Annual performance review: yearly review of the dealers’ performance on various topics including sustainability and safety.
Grievance mechanisms and remedy
Kalmar has established grievance mechanisms designed to encourage both employees and external stakeholders to report any human rights concerns, including instances of non-compliance with our policy commitments. Our primary channel for such reports is the confidential SpeakUp line, which is an externally hosted reporting tool that allows for anonymous reporting where legally permissible, ensuring that individuals can raise concerns without fear of retaliation. In addition, Kalmar’s Business Partner Code of Conduct explicitly mandates that suppliers and other partners also maintain effective reporting mechanisms for their own employees and stakeholders.
Kalmar is committed to remedy any situation where its activities have caused or contributed to adverse human rights impacts. Kalmar determines remedial actions on a case-by-case basis. Kalmar does not hinder impacted peoples' access to other remedy initiatives.
Stakeholder engagement
Kalmar is dedicated to fostering transparent and inclusive dialogues with a diverse range of stakeholders. We recognise that different stakeholders often possess invaluable insights into the potential and actual impacts of our operations and value chain. Specifically, we seek to engage with stakeholders when identifying impacts and when developing measures to prevent, mitigate, or remediate adverse impacts. By actively listening to and collaborating with our stakeholders, we strive to ensure that our business practices contribute positively to society and that any adverse impacts are effectively addressed.
Country specific human rights requirements
Norwegian Transparency Act
The Norwegian Transparency Act became effective on 1 July 2022. According to this law, companies are required to:
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Establish and carry out a human rights due diligence process in their own business operations and value chain;
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Publicly disclose information about their due diligence process, including steps taken and impacts identified.
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Be responsive to requests for information from the general public regarding how they address actual or potential human rights issues within their organisation and supply chain.
To learn more about the due diligence process of our Norwegian subsidiaries, see the respective file.
If you want to submit an official request for information in accordance with the requirements of the Transparency Act, please use the contact details provided below.
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Kalmar Norway AS: transparency.norge@kalmarglobal.com