We are committed to attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse group of talented individuals and creating an inclusive culture.
We realise this is critical to achieving our strategy, how we live our purpose and values, and how we ‘show up’ in the communities and markets we operate in. We measure and report on how we’re tracking and support all our people in their diversity through a range of formal and informal initiatives.
We achieved our FY24 Gender Target
40:40:20 representation in global senior leadership by the end of FY24.
Which refers to 40% female, 40% male and 20% of any gender.
40.1% female representation in senior leadership.
This is an increase from 39.5% in FY23 and 37.6% in FY22.
Meet some of our whānau
Meet the people that make up our Co-operative – a diverse group of people, doing great things every day. Their stories, in their words.
Our D&I Commitments
Workplace Flexibility
We encourage and support our people when they need to work from different locations, or at different times. We welcome talking to you about your flexibility needs and understand these may change.
Equal Opportunities
Fonterra applies the principles of equal opportunity and equity to all recruitment and employment processes. We work to sustain an environment respectful of difference free from harassment and discrimination.
Gender Pay
Our approach is that no unexplainable gender pay gap exists for the same job. For waged employees, this is embedded in our collective employment agreements. For salaried, we use a range of independent pay market data.
Hiring Locally
By hiring and developing local talent, we contribute toward the shared success of Fonterra and the countries where we operate. For our main locations, locals comprise a minimum of two-thirds of the team.
Human Rights
Fonterra’s approach prioritises the rights and protections of our employees around the world. In 2014 we adopted ISO26000 and continue to adhere and build on the principles of a socially responsible organisation.
We are driven to achieve our global diversity and inclusion goals and create environments where we can bring our best and authentic selves to work, every day.
Ethics and compliance
Our Code of Conduct
A culture of honesty and integrity is vital to Fonterra’s commitment to become the world’s most trusted source of dairy nutrition. The Way We Work is Fonterra’s business code of conduct. It is underpinned by our set of Group Policies, in particular our Ethical Behaviour Group Policy which defines Fonterra’s expectations in regard to conflict of interest situations, corruption, business gifts and entertainment. Together with our Board Charter, these three documents comprise Fonterra’s code of ethics. All three documents are required to be reviewed and approved annually.
Fonterra does not allow corporate contributions of any kind to a candidate or political party in connection with political elections. No political contributions were made in the past year. We do not offer money or anything of material value to government officials, parties or candidates for the purposes of influencing the acts or decisions of officials.
Our Code of Conduct
Fonterra Code of Business Conduct
Awareness and training
The Way We Work is included in employee induction programmes, and is made available in multiple languages. An online Ethics Portal supports employees to be aware of all potential conflicts of interest and, where these exist, put in place steps to manage conflicts appropriately. A Conflict of Interest e-learning module is also available on this portal. This e-learning module explains how to ‘Do What’s Right’ to maintain our culture of honesty and integrity.
We operate an annual process to ensure managers are familiar with requirements around ethics, compliance and corruption. This is completed through online training and evaluation, with participants required to pass an online test to ensure they have read and understood what is required by the policy.
These policies, in combination with the Board Charter, also set the expectation for Fonterra’s Board of Directors. Directors are expected to keep themselves abreast of trends in the economic, political, social and legal climate. As a group, the Board holds several workshops on relevant subjects each year, and Directors are also expected to keep up to date with governance issues.
Our approach to tax
Fonterra has a clear set of principles that guide how we manage our tax obligations in New Zealand and around the world.
We pay our fair share of tax in all jurisdictions and do not use tax havens to avoid our tax responsibilities. We are transparent and work with tax authorities to ensure we continue to act responsibly. In New Zealand, co-operatives and corporates are treated differently in tax law. Rather than being taxed directly, Fonterra passes our income on to our farmer shareholders, who pay the tax at their level.
Our approach to tax
Fonterra Tax Principles
Legal compliance
Our Group Legal Policy requires all Fonterra’s business units to assign clear accountabilities to ensure compliance with all laws and regulations applying to our operations. It also stipulates that business units develop and implement effective processes, including training, to ensure our employees are familiar with, and comply with, appropriate laws.
The Way We Work Hotline
It is important to provide employees with a safe and confidential channel to seek advice and raise concerns related to ethical and lawful behaviour. Fonterra provides an independent service, facilitated by Deloitte, available to all our employees around the world. The Hotline is promoted through communications to employees, and is displayed on staff notice boards at operational sites.
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Partnering with organisations committed to Diversity, Inclusion and Equality.