EasyJet 2010 Annual Report Download - page 33

Equality and diversity
easyJet is an equal opportunities employer. We ensure that our employees
and applicants do not receive less favourable treatment on the basis of
their age, colour, creed, disability, full or part time status, gender, marital
status, nationality or ethnic origin, race, religion or sexual orientation.
Applications from disabled employees are always fully considered,
bearing in mind the aptitudes of the applicant concerned. Inthe event
that one of our people becomes disabled every effort is made to ensure
that their employment at easyJet continues and training is arranged
where appropriate.
Charitable donations
easyJet supports a “charity of the year”. The airline provides access to
staff and customers to raise funds and promotes the charity through
brand awareness. Following a Europe-wide staff vote, easyJet is proud
tosupport the Alzheimer’s Society.
The partnership raises money to support people with dementia and
their carers. As easyJet’s charity of the year, Alzheimer’s Society receives
donations from summer onboard collections where passengers are
asked to donate their spare change to support the charity. The Society
also receives a percentage of all scratch cards sold on easyJet ights.
Throughout the year, our staff have also been actively involved in
fundraising for the charity and have undertaken a variety of fundraising
events, including the London Marathon and the Three Peaks Challenge.
The Society is a member of Alzheimer’s Europe. Through this
organisation the Society plays an important part in raising the prole
of dementia throughout the European Union and has recently been
involved in obtaining support in the European Parliament for making
dementia a health priority throughout the Union. There are over ve
million people with dementia in Europe so it’s not surprising that staff
across the business chose Alzheimer’s Society as the charity of the year.
Political donations
easyJet does not make any donations to any political party. This is
notinline with our values and would be deemed as inappropriate.
Gifts and gratuities
easyJet employees are sometimes sent gifts from various companies
throughout the year. In order to provide clear guidance to employees
and avoid potential conicts of interest, we have a strict policy that
prevents any employee accepting gifts over a nominal value of £35.
EveryChristmas (and less frequently, at various times through the year)
easyJet holds a staff rafe of all the gifts that are received. Every employee
across Europe is entered into the draw and allocated a unique reference
number. Numbers are then drawn at random and winners have the gifts
sent directly to their home.
easyJet and the environment
The aviation industry is highly regulated, both for safety and many
of its wider operations, so we therefore operate within a very dened
framework. Similarly, our environmental impact is almost entirely from
aviation activity – ying planes. Fuel is our largest single cost item, so we are
heavily incentivised to minimise its use, and therefore CO2 emissions. But
this also means that there are no easy ways to further reduce our emissions.
Unlike many companies we face a very limited set of choices in our
efforts to reduce our environmental impact. We are constrained by the
technology available to us, the development of which is a highly regulated
and lengthy process. Our steady growth almost inevitably means that
easyJet’s total emissions will increase, as we are already at the front of the
technology curve. However, easyJet is one of the most efcient airlines
for short-haul European travel, an easyJet passenger is responsible for
22% fewer emissions than a passenger on traditional airline to the same
destination and using the same plane. So as we gain market share over
other less efcient operators we are improving the overall efciency
ofEuropean air travel. Signicantly reducing our environmental impact
requires technological change across the industry, so our environment
policy focuses on these long-term gains. easyJet is actively engaged with
the major manufacturers and providing operational data to inuence
new technology.
Environment
The aim of our business is to be as efcient as we can be – this applies
to our environmental impact as well. Our environmental policy is
governed by three promises:
– To be efcient in the air
– To be efcient on the ground
– To lead in shaping a greener future for aviation
Governance
Many people within easyJet help deliver our environmental aims.
Oversight of our environmental policy is carried out by a manager
in our regulatory team, and the executive management team receives
regular updates on environmental policy as part of the reporting
on regulatory issues.
Three peaks challenge
Fundraising events included a gruelling ascent of the three
largest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales, where our
team raised more than £2,230.
£2,230
Overview Business review Governance Accounts Other information
31
easyJet plc
Annual report and accounts 2010