Society
Managing Business for a Sustainable Society
SK networks defines the ultimate goal of all management activities to be ‘employee happiness’ and states clearly the need to pursue continuous happiness for both its stakeholders and employees. In particular, based on the principles required by international organizations related to human rights and labor, such as the United Nations, the "SK networks Human Rights Policy" has been enacted. We reflect the policy below in all our policies and activities related to human rights and labor.
SK networks Human Rights Policy
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SK networks respects the human rights of its employees.
The company recognizes basic human rights inherent to all employees and strives to guarantee their human rights. If the company becomes aware of any disrespectful action, including but not limited to assault, violent language, sexual harassment, and workplace bullying, measures will be taken according to company regulations.
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SK networks does not discriminate.
The company shall neither apply different working conditions such as recruitment, wage, and promotion nor take any other action against its employees based on gender, age, nationality, race, religion, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, etc., without any reasonable ground.
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SK networks pays wages above the legal minimum in a timely manner.
The company pays wages above the legal minimum according to labor relationship laws enforced in each country and provides wage slips accordingly. In addition, allowances are paid as required in case of any overtime labor including extended, nights and holidays.
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SK networks prohibits forced labor.
The company does not allow forced labor of its employees by means of violence, blackmailing, confinement, or other measures that restrain both their physical and mental freedom in an unjust manner. Also, the company prohibits holding one’s original copy of identification recognized internationally so as to prevent any forced labor, and the freedom of retirement is guaranteed as well.
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SK networks complies with relevant regulations regarding working hours and paid leaves.
The company complies with regulations regarding working hours, extended/nights/holidays, work breaks, and paid leaves stipulated in labor relations laws. Regular assessments are conducted to check the compliance status. In addition, measures are in place to grant off-time leaves if employees have worked overtime in excess of their working hours.
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SK networks does not hire underage workers.
The company complies with the minimum employment age regulations specified by each country and operates a recruitment process to prevent hiring underage workers. In addition, we conduct regular inspections to check whether underage workers are hired or not. If such cases are identified, employees are taken off duties not only directly related to production but also involving moral or health-related hazards/risks, suspended from nighttime work, holiday work, and overtime work. Upon operating internship or apprentice programs, continuous verifications are performed to check if relevant laws and regulations in each country where the company operates are followed.
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SK networks guarantees freedom of association.
The company guarantees rights of organization, collective bargaining, and collective action stipulated in labor relations laws and does not treat workers unfairly because of their labor union membership or activities. This is the freedom of association that guarantees both the freedom to participate or not in peaceful assemblies.
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SK networks operates on/off-line grievance settlement procedures.
The company listens continuously to difficulties experienced by employees through ethical management reporting and in-house grievance counseling programs. If any grievance is found to be true, adequate measures are taken according to in-house policies, and a whistleblower protection policy is carried out, as necessary.
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SK networks conducts annual inspections on its performance in terms of human rights protection.
The company conducts self-inspections every year to check if policies are operated properly following the UNGC(UN Global Compact) guidelines. Immediate measures are taken place if any deficiency is identified.
* Established in 2021
Goals and roadmap for Human Rights Protection
SK networks is building a human rights management system to protect the human rights of the employees.
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2023
Establishment of a human rights management system
- Human rights due diligence
- Human rights impact assessment/risk diagnosis
- Improvement of weaknesses drawn by the human rights risk diagnosis results
- Expansion of human rights management programs
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2025
Outward expansion of the human rights management
- Disclosure of Human rights management performance
- Reaching a consensus of human rights policy, management system working with SK group member companies, business partners, and global human rights initiatives.
- External Recognition of human rights management policy
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2027
Advancement of the human rights management
- Extended application of the human rights management system to the global supply chain
- Support for establishing business partners’ human rights policies/due diligence system
- Enhancement/development of human rights policy to the level of global best practices
Due Diligence on Human Rights
- Declaration and internalization of human rights policy
- Human rights impact assessment
- Establishment and implementation of human rights policy
- Monitoring and Disclosure
- Operation of grievance mechanism
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Survey on the employees' level of awareness of human rights
Identifying the level of human rights management awareness/priority of employees/stakeholders -
Analysis on Human Rights Violation
Case analysis on inside/outside the organization -
Human rights impact assessment design
Index setting for human rights impact assessment based on analysis results -
Human rights impact assessment
Self-evaluation of internal business personnel (surveys, etc.)
On-site due diligence by external experts -
Identification of improvement points for Human rights management
Publication of human rights impact assessment report
Recommendations on human rights management
Suggestion of direction for human rights management
To identify improvement opportunities relevant to human rights and develop applicable action plan, SK Networks conducted a human rights impact assessment in 2022. The assessment consisted of a survey on SKN people, checklist-based self-assessment and risk assessment by an independent 3rd party. As recommended by the assessment findings, a human rights declaration was selected as the primary initiative; a human rights declaration was promulgated in September, 2022 as reviewed and endorsed by the company-wide ESG Implementation Committee; and SKN people’s commitment was secured by obtaining digital signatures from all SKN people.
Furthermore, a roadmap has been developed to better uphold human rights, with issues identified in the human rights impact assessment analyzed and worked on step by step. As a result, SKN people are engaged in human rights management, with a sense of ownership of corporate management activities boosted by lofty awareness of human rights cause.
According to a human rights survey on SKN people in 2023, 81% of the SKN people surveyed rated SKN’s respect for human rights as excellent, with negative responses dropped to 3% when compared with the previous year (5%). In addition, almost all or 93% of the respondents answered that human rights were given consideration in business processes, with the share of SKN people positively rating SKN’s organizational respect for human rights in comparison with other employers at 82%, 3% up from the previous year. SK Networks will continue to conduct human rights impact assessment regularly to identify risks to human rights and work on human rights issues in a bid to enhance systematic respect for human rights.