Unilever 2015 Annual Report Download - page 69

TERMS OF REFERENE
The orporate Responsblty ommttee oversees Unlever’s
conduct as a responsble multnatonal busness The ommttee
s also charged wth ensurng that Unlever’s reputaton s
protected and enhanced A central element of the ommttee’s role
s the need to dentfy any external developments that are lkely to
have an nfluence upon Unlever’s standng n socety and to brng
these to the attenton of the Boards
The ommttee comprses three Non-Executve Drectors Louse
Fresco, who chars the ommttee, Laura ha, and Feke
Sbesma, who was apponted to the ommttee on 30 Aprl 2015
The hef Marketng & ommuncatons Offcer attends the
ommttee’s meetngs
The ommttee’s dscussons are nformed by the perspectves
of the roup’s two sustanablty leadershp groups, both of whch
are chared by the hef Marketng & ommuncatons Offcer
The frst s the Unlever Sustanable Lvng Plan ouncl – a group
of experts from outsde the roup who advse Unlever’s senor
leadershp on ts sustanablty strategy The second s the Unlever
Sustanable Lvng Plan Steerng Team – the group of Unlever’s
senor executves who are accountable for drvng sustanable
growth The nsghts from these groups help to keep the Boards
nformed of current and emergng trends and any potental rsks
arsng from sustanablty ssues
Durng 2015 the ommttee revewed ts terms of reference of
the ommttee and, on the recommendaton of the ommttee,
the Boards approved mnor changes to the terms
The ommttee’s terms of reference and detals of the Unlever
Sustanable Lvng Plan ouncl are avalable on our webste at
wwwunlevercom/corporategovernance and
wwwunlevercom/sustanable-lvng/governance respectvely
OMMITTEE MEMBERS AND ATTENDANE
ATTENDANE
Louse Fresco 4 / 4
har
Laura ha 3 / 4
Feke Sbesma (Member snce Aprl 2015) 1 / 2
Ths table shows the membershp of the ommttee together wth ther
attendance at meetngs durng 2015 If Drectors are unable to attend
a meetng, they have the opportunty beforehand to dscuss any agenda
tems wth the ommttee har Attendance s expressed as the number
of meetngs attended out of the number elgble to be attended
HIHLIHTS OF 2015
• Revew of Unlever’s ode of Busness Prncples and
Responsble Sourcng Polcy
• Mlestones on the Unlever Sustanable Lvng Plan
• Launch of frst human rghts report
PRIORITIES FOR 2016
• omplance, partcularly socal complance, by thrd partes
• Progress on the Unlever Sustanable Lvng Plan (USLP)
• orporate reputatonal rsk assessment
MEETINS
Meetngs are held quarterly and ad hoc as requred The ommttee
harman reports the conclusons to the Boards Four meetngs
were held n 2015 Takng nto account the ommttee’s terms of
reference, Unlever’s corporate rsks and the prortes the
ommttee sets tself for the year, the ommttee works to a
structured agenda, enablng members to focus n detal on the
responsbltes assgned to them
The agenda covers Unlever’s ode of Busness Prncples (the
ode), ltgaton and nvestgatons as well as occupatonal safety,
product safety and qualty, the USLP and corporate reputaton as
well as a range of strategc and current ssues
ODE OF BUSINESS PRINIPLES
The ode and assocated ode Polces set out the standards of
conduct expected of employees omplance wth them s an
essental element n ensurng Unlever’s contnued busness
success The hef Executve Offcer s responsble for
mplementng these prncples, supported by the lobal ode and
Polcy ommttee whch s chared by the hef Legal Offcer
The ommttee s responsble for the oversght of the ode and
ode Polces, ensurng that they reman ft for purpose and are
approprately appled The Audt ommttee also consders the
ode as part of ts remt to revew rsk management
The ommttee mantans close scrutny of the mechansms for
complance wth the ode and ode Polces as ongong complance
s essental to promote and protect Unlever’s values and
standards, and hence the good reputaton of the roup At each
meetng the ommttee revews the completon of nvestgatons
nto non-complance wth the ode and ode Polces and s alerted
to any trends arsng from such non-complance
In addton, the ommttee keeps a close watch on complance wth
Unlever’s Responsble Sourcng Polcy for supplers and ts new
Responsble Busness Partner Polcy for thrd partes By ntatng
a new polcy specfcally for busness partners such as
dstrbutors, Unlever s makng a step change n ts complance
approach Unlever ploted the Responsble Busness Partner
Polcy n a number of countres durng 2015
SAFETY
The ommttee revews quarterly scorecard analyses of progress
on occupatonal safety and product safety These scorecards are
complemented by regular n-depth dscussons so that ommttee
members may reassure themselves that Unlever’s systems and
processes reman robust
Occupatonal safety remans a prorty for Unlever The ommttee
welcomed Unlever’s ncreased focus on road safety, especally
the ban on usng moble phones and other electronc devces
whle drvng
The ban was ntroduced because moble phone use s consdered
one of the leadng causes of vehcle accdents worldwde
Research shows that drvers usng mobles – even hands-free –
are four tmes more lkely to be nvolved n an accdent And 90%
of road deaths happen n developng and emergng countres, the
same regons n whch Unlever s seekng to grow ts busness
Between 2007 and 2015, car accdents were the man cause
of death and lfe-changng nures to employees and members
of the publc
The ban came nto effect n July 2015 and was supported by the
campagn ‘Motor On, Moble Off’ to alert employees to the new
mandatory safety practce The ommttee wll contnue to
scrutnse ths area to ensure rsks are mtgated
62 Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2015Governance
REPORT OF THE ORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY OMMITTEE