SUSTAINABILITY

Our people

Our employees and contractors are fundamental to our success. At Glencore, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We foster an environment where we support and encourage different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs. 

We believe that diversity is essential to our business and prohibit discrimination on any basis. We do not tolerate any form of racial, sexual or workplace harassment. We protect and uphold fundamental human rights around the Group, with fairness, dignity and respect. We uphold the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. 

We recognise and uphold our people’s rights to a safe workplace, freedom of association, collective representation, just compensation, job security and development opportunities.

Our approach

Our success relies on our ability to attract, develop and retain the best talent, at every level. We have a highly capable, entrepreneurial and engaged workforce that brings a diverse range of experience and perspectives to the organisation. 

We hire, promote, reward and develop our people according to their ability, contributions and skills. We generally tie our remuneration policies to experience, ability and performance, with rewards for self-improvement and ambition. We review our pay and incentive practices regularly, and are currently looking to better align our approach with international best practice.

We prohibit all forms of child, forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking throughout the Group. We do not allow employees aged less than 18 to carry out hazardous work.

We are signatories to the United Nations Global Compact, a set of principles covering human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. We work in accordance with relevant international frameworks, including the of the ILO Core Conventions (on prohibition of forced labour, child labour, freedom of association and protection of the right to organise, the right to organise and collective bargaining, equal remuneration, discrimination and minimum age).

We do not tolerate any form of racial, sexual or workplace harassment. We protect and uphold fundamental human rights around the Group, with fairness, dignity and respect. We recognise and uphold our workforce’s rights to a safe workplace, freedom of association, collective representation, just compensation, job security and development opportunities.

We have a transparent and fair internal disciplinary process.

Equal opportunities

Providing equality of opportunity enables Glencore to attract, retain, develop and motivate the best talent to support business growth wherever we operate.

Equality of opportunity means establishing a workplace where everyone can achieve their full potential. It is  where human resource practices are based on fairness and solid foundations, where there are no barriers to opportunities in employment, development and career progression for any employee due to unlawful or unethical decisions and where people feel safe to speak up when things may appear to be inappropriate.

We provide equal opportunity to our employees regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family status, pregnancy, age, national origin or ancestry, disability status, union affiliation, political belief or other characteristic protected by law.  

We prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, ancestry, social origin, political or other opinion, or any other bias. 

Our supervisors and managers implement our equal opportunities policies and guidelines. Our position is included in all training materials for new and current employees, and reinforced regularly in management training.

Diversity and inclusion

Our Group diversity objective is to create a diverse and inclusive workforce; we seek to achieve this objective through building a working environment that provides full and equal participation for all groups in our workforce and creating an inclusive team culture.

A truly diverse and inclusive culture is crucial to helping us grow Glencore’s business and attract, develop and retain talent. Diversity and inclusion is a business and commercial imperative and a diverse workforce strengthens our culture and our ability to deliver our business objectives. We believe that employing people from different cultures, countries, races, ethnicities, genders, abilities, beliefs and backgrounds is essential to our culture. Diversity brings new and innovative ideas that allow us to advance our business and continue to improve. 

We aim to employ workforces that reflect the demographics of the communities in which we operate. At many of our assets, achieving gender parity is a major challenge due to geographic remoteness or shift working rostering. In these regions, we focus on maximising local employment instead, including any vulnerable communities represented there. 

Like many of our peers, we are trialling a number of approaches to improve gender diversity in our business. We want to encourage more women to enter the industry by creating an inclusive culture, and by being a great place to work - for all. Through providing flexible working arrangements, part-time employment and job-sharing when appropriate, we can encourage and support diversity of thought and experience.

We are proud to support Women in Mining and of our employees recognised by WIM’s biennial Top 100 initiative. Read more

We work on improving gender diversity and preventing gender discrimination or any other divers attribute in relation to employment matters. 

We include information on equality and diversity in employee induction and diversity training programmes; these are available via multiple learning mediums to suit a range of adult learning styles (including but not limited to classroom training and online self-paced e-learning in multilingual formats). We ensure that all our employees can report grievances through either formal or informal processes.

Inuit employment at Raglan Mine

Inuit employment at Raglan Mine
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Inuit employment at Raglan Mine

Developing our talent pipeline

Attracting and developing entry-level graduate engineering talent is part of our wider set of talent initiatives, which also includes bursaries, summer vacation placements, internships and apprenticeship programmes.

The numbers of students choosing engineering and geological careers has declined in recent years in some geographies and our talent sourcing strategy focuses on school leaver and apprentice programmes alongside traditional graduate recruitment in many jurisdictions. It also includes direct engagement with educational institutions and active participation in collective industry efforts.

Employee retention and turnover

We make every effort to minimise the impact of redundancies on our employees and our host governments and communities. We engage extensively with all those affected to ensure they are aware of our planned actions.

Our severance and compensation packages are in line with labour agreements and employment contracts; they either meet or exceed the requirements of local legislation. Many of our assets include voluntary redundancies in their processes in the first instance.

If we are forced to make employees redundant, we make every effort to find roles them within the business, within their local communities and across the wider Group. We engage in retraining and up-skilling for employees affected by redundancies in the lead-up and notice periods to closures, to increase their prospects for redeployment within the Group. Affected employees receive retraining subsidies.

We work with our people to find suitable alternative employment wherever possible. We have local and global preferred supplier agreements with career transition and outplacement support and offer employees career counsellor as part of local support arrangements.

We can offer financial support for career transition that includes but is not limited to job search workshops, one on one coaching and job placement. Job placement support includes identification of opportunities in other organisations and individualised mentoring to help the finding of new jobs. Many of our assets also offer specific support to employees with low financial literacy, including basic financial management training.

We carry out all redundancies in consultation and agreement with local government and community stakeholders and trade unions. We negotiate with local unions on severance agreements.

Local employment

Employment is one of the most direct opportunities for us to support the local development of our host countries. We provide families with their livelihoods, via direct employment at our operations and indirect employment via contractors and our use of local suppliers.

We are committed to employing locally wherever possible. To support local markets and provide further economic uplift, we invest significantly in workforce development, as well as offering our host communities training for non-mining jobs.

We emphasise diversity in our training initiatives and work with local governments, education authorities and community representatives to identify skill gaps and find the best ways to meet the needs and expectations of our stakeholders. We fund and operate training centres and programmes around the world that include complete secondary education, as well as artisanal skills for the mining sector and elsewhere.

Our Raglan Mine in northern Quebec, has worked with local Inuit communities

Our Raglan Mine in northern Quebec, has worked with local Inuit communities

Labour relations

We uphold the International Labour Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We recognise and uphold the rights of our workforce to a safe workplace, freedom of association, collective representation, collective bargaining, just compensation, job security and development opportunities.

Our assets ensure that working hours are not excessive by monitoring rosters, shifts and other recording procedures, in compliance with local legislation and agreements with unions or works councils.

We are committed to working honestly and openly with labour unions at all our locations and treating employees with respect. As unions play different roles at our assets depending on geographical region and industrial sector, our assets engage with unions active at their sites in different ways and at different levels. We do not interfere with the rights of unions and prohibit any form of intimidation or retaliation against workers seeking to exercise their rights to freedom of association, collective representation and/or collective bargaining.

Whenever there are significant organisational changes, such as closures, acquisitions, mergers and divestitures, we consult, communicate and provide appropriate support to our people. We work with our employees, unions and host governments to identify and agree alternative opportunities, severance packages and support during transition.

We have clear, formal processes for our people to report labour grievances. Our assets hold regular meetings with union representatives, to provide updates on safety, production and costs and discuss upcoming business challenges, opportunities, and risks to longer-term viability.

Where appropriate, we involve union leaders in day-to- day management, eg health and safety councils. We engage directly with full- time union health and safety representatives on ways to improve safety performance.

We actively advise retiring unionised employees with education on pensions and optimisation of post-retirement health benefits, as well as wellbeing. We have joint disability management programmes to ensure effective return to work programmes for workers who have previously been on leave due to injury or illness. 

UK Gender Pay Gap disclosure

This statutory disclosure is the gender pay gap report as at 5 April 2022 for Glencore UK Ltd. Based on 420 employees (276 males and 144 females). 

At Glencore, our objective is to create a diverse and inclusive workforce; we seek to achieve this objective through building a working environment that provides full and equal participation for all groups in our workforce and creating an inclusive team culture. Providing equality of opportunity enables Glencore to attract, retain, develop and motivate the best talent to support business growth wherever we operate. Equality of opportunity means establishing a workplace where everyone can achieve their full potential. It is where human resource practices are based on fairness and solid foundations, where there are no barriers to opportunities in employment, development and career progression for any employee. We are committed and focused to build an inclusive work place providing equal opportunity to all of our employees.

Our analysis indicates that our gender pay gap relates to an underrepresentation of women in senior leadership roles and the structure of our workforce where less women are in commercial and strategic roles. Encouragingly, we are comfortable that people in similar roles are being paid equitable and any existing pay differences are not based on gender and instead are based on performance, skills and experience. 

We remain focused on addressing the under-representation of women in senior leadership and commercial roles. We have a commitment to attracting females into entry-level commercial roles via our Graduate Programme and Industrial Placement Programme and to retain and support female talent as they develop their careers. Our efforts to attract females to our Commercial Graduate Programme has seen a significant year on year increase in female applicants resulting in a 50% female intake ensuring a continuous evolvement of a diverse pipeline of talent. We have a successful track record of being able to retain employees and have a large portion of long service employees. As we adapt and grow our business, we remain committed to attracting more females to the commodity trading industry that has historically been predominantly male creating a truly diverse workforce.

Glencore UK Ltd

Mean and median pay and bonus

  Mean Median
Gender Pay Gap 18.2% 17.6%
Gender Bonus Gap 59.9% 38.9%

 

Proportion of employees in each pay quartile
 

  Male Female
Upper 75.2% 24.8%
Upper Middle 74.3% 25.7%
Lower Middle 61.9% 38.1%
Lower 51.4% 48.6%

 

Proportion of employees receiving a bonus

  Male Female
Received a bonus 90.9% 91.7%

This statutory disclosure is the gender pay gap report as at 5 April 2021 for Glencore UK Ltd. Based on 415 employees (273 males and 142 females). 

At Glencore, our objective is to create a diverse and inclusive workforce; we seek to achieve this objective through building a working environment that provides full and equal participation for all groups in our workforce and creating an inclusive team culture. Providing equality of opportunity enables Glencore to attract, retain, develop and motivate the best talent to support business growth wherever we operate. Equality of opportunity means establishing a workplace where everyone can achieve their full potential. It is where human resource practices are based on fairness and solid foundations, where there are no barriers to opportunities in employment, development and career progression for any employee. We are committed and focused to build an inclusive work place providing equal opportunity to all of our employees.

Our analysis indicates that our gender pay gap relates to an underrepresentation of women in senior leadership roles and the structure of our workforce where less women are in commercial and strategic roles. Encouragingly, we are comfortable that people in similar roles are being paid equitable and any existing pay differences are not based on gender and instead are based on performance, skills and experience. 

We remain focused on addressing the under-representation of women in senior leadership and commercial roles as such we have a commitment to attracting females into entry-level commercial roles via our Graduate Programme and Industrial Placement Programme and to retain and support female talent as they develop their careers. We have a successful track record of being able to retain employees and have a large portion of long service employees. As we adapt and grow our business, we remain committed to attracting more females to the commodity trading industry that has historically been predominantly male creating a truly diverse workforce.

Glencore UK Ltd

Mean and median pay and bonus

  Mean Median
Gender Pay Gap 19.9% 18.6%
Gender Bonus Gap 60.6% 33.3%

 

Proportion of employees in each pay quartile
 

  Male Female
Upper 78.8% 21.2%
Upper Middle 71.2% 28.8%
Lower Middle 67.3% 32.7%
Lower 45.6% 54.4%

 

Proportion of employees receiving a bonus

  Male Female
Received a bonus 91.2% 90.8%

This statutory disclosure is the gender pay gap report as at 5 April 2020 for Glencore UK Ltd. which had 386 employees (255 males and 131 females). 

Our Code of Conduct reflects our Purpose and Values and we have a commitment to value our people. In practice, this means that we have a commitment to hiring, promoting, rewarding and offering development opportunities. 
Our analysis indicates that our gender pay gap relates to the structure of our workforce and the value that we place on commercial and strategic roles, which are often at the individual contributor level. We have equality of opportunity and evidence of a gender pay gap positively skewed towards females within our structure.

We have a commitment to attracting females into entry-level commercial roles via our Graduate Programme and to retaining and supporting female talent as they develop their careers. We are able to retain individuals and have a number of long service employees. As we adapt and grow our business, we remain committed to attracting the best people on merit. 

Glencore UK Ltd

Mean and median pay and bonus

  Mean Median
Gender Pay Gap 16.4% 22.0%
Gender Bonus Gap 36.8% 43.8%

 

Proportion of employees in each pay quartile
 

  Male Female
Upper 78.1% 21.9%
Upper Middle 70.1% 29.9%
Lower Middle 70.1% 29.9%
Lower 45.8% 54.2%

 

Proportion of employees receiving a bonus

  Male Female
Received a bonus 89.8% 90.1%

Glencore UK Ltd

Mean and median pay and bonus

  Mean Median
Gender Pay Gap 23.5% 21.7%
Gender Bonus Gap 59.1% 44.4%

 

Proportion of employees in each pay quartile
 

  Male Female
Upper 80.4% 19.6%
Upper Middle 71.7% 28.3%
Lower Middle 62.0% 38.0%
Lower 52.7% 47.3%

 

Proportion of employees receiving a bonus

  Male Female
Received a bonus 94.0% 91.9%

This statutory disclosure is the gender pay gap report as at 5 April 2018 for Glencore UK Ltd which had 368 employees (241 male, 127 female).

At Glencore UK Ltd, we continue to recognise our employees as being key to our success and we remain committed to attracting and retaining the best people in order to maintain a capable and engaged workforce that meets our business objectives.  A key part of that is our commitment to equal opportunities for everyone regardless of any particular characteristic such as gender.   To this end, we continue to develop our people through our training programmes and advancement in the business.  In March 2018, we appointed a female director who was promoted through the business to become one of the three directors of Glencore UK Ltd.

As we reported last year, our analysis indicates that our gender pay gap relates to the structure of our workforce and also the nature of our industry rather than inequality of pay – employees in similar roles are paid equitably.  Recruiting and developing our people on merit remains at the core of our strategy and we are committed to supporting women during pregnancy, maternity leave and return to work in order to enable career development.

Glencore UK Ltd

Mean and median pay and bonus

  Mean Median
Gender Pay Gap 26.8% 22.6%
Gender Bonus Gap 70.5% 40.0%

 

Proportion of employees in each pay quartile
 

  Male Female
Upper 81.5% 18.5%
Upper Middle 68.5% 31.5%
Lower Middle 59.8% 40.2%
Lower 52.2% 47.8%

 

Proportion of employees receiving a bonus

  Male Female
Received a bonus 90.0% 92.9%

In 2017, the UK government introduced legislation requiring all UK-based companies employing more than 250 relevant employees as at 5 April 2017 to report on their gender pay gap.

This statutory disclosure is for Glencore UK Ltd., which had 348 employees (232 male, 116 female).

Across the Glencore group, we recognise that it is our people who are key to our success. Glencore UK wants to attract and retain the best people and a key part of that is ensuring everyone has equal opportunities, regardless of particular characteristics such as gender, race and age.  

Our analysis shows that our pay gap relates to the structure of our workforce rather than inequality of pay.  In our sector, similar to many others, there has traditionally been a greater proportion of men than women pursuing careers and, as a result, 2/3 of our employees are men. This has led to a greater number of men than women in senior and other positions that attract a higher level of pay. We maintain our position to recruit and develop our people on merit. We are committed to supporting women going on and returning from maternity leave and have policies in place to support both. 

Our approach
We are committed to maintain a capable and engaged workforce in order to meet our business objectives. Our approach incudes:

  • continuing to support the development of talented people regardless of age, gender or race through local employment;
  • developing and strengthening of our trainee programmes and leadership training and advancement; 
  • taking an equal approach to family-friendly practices, including flexible working; and
  • becoming an employer of choice in the marketplaces where our main offices and industrial operations participate.

Glencore UK Ltd

Mean and median pay and bonus

  Mean Median
Gender Pay Gap 27.7% 24.0%
Gender Bonus Gap 57.1% 39.1%

 

Proportion of employees in each pay quartile
 

  Male Female
Upper 83.9% 16.1%
Upper Middle 66.7% 33.3%
Lower Middle 63.2% 36.8%
Lower 52.9% 47.1%

 

Proportion of employees receiving a bonus

  Male Female
Received a bonus 90.5% 94.0%

Principles we follow

UN Global Compact
UN Global Compact
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Principle 3
Principle 3

businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining

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Principle 4
Principle 4

the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour

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Principle 5
Principle 5

the effective abolition of child labour

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Principle 6
Principle 6

the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation

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Principle 1
Principle 1

Ethical Business

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Principle 9
Principle 9

Social Performance

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Principle 3
Principle 3

Good Health and Well-Being

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Principle 4
Principle 4

Quality Education

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Principle 5
Principle 5

Gender Equality

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Principle 8
Principle 8

Decent Work and Economic Growth 

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Communities
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Human rights
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Safety
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