Focus area
Mölnlycke expects all its employees to live up to its commitment to complying with applicable laws, regulations and industry codes that are relevant to conducting business ethically. We continuously improve our compliance framework supported by an embedded integrity mindset throughout the organisation.
We set high standards of ethics and responsibility in our business.
We act with integrity and care for human rights1 throughout our value chain.
Our goals
- 100% of employees to receive annual training or awareness session within Ethics and Compliance by 2023.
- 100% of employees feel safe to report concerns without fear of retaliation by 2025.
- 100% of active distributors assessed through the distributor due diligence process by 2025.
For details please see our Annual Report for 2022.
Current progress
white collar employees trained in
Mölnlcyke's Code of Conduct
Building an integrity mindset
Having an integrity mindset means going beyond compliance and considering the impact of our decisions and actions on stakeholders. It also means raising employees’ awareness level within this area, training them in ethical dilemmas and ensuring that they are comfortable and empowered to handle them.
The Code of Conduct commits us to comply with laws and regulations and to be an ethical company in the broader frame of international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Code of Conduct provides all employees with guidance and is regularly updated.
Our approach starts with empowering our employees to raise concerns and report misconduct. The 2022 culture survey showed that 75% of employees felt safe to raise their concerns without the fear of negative consequences. We regularly raise awareness of risks and challenges through communication and training activities, including the annual Code of Conduct training for our white-collar employees.
Ad hoc training and presentations on topics, such as general business ethics, healthcare compliance, competition law and receiving concerns, are delivered throughout the year to various employee groups based on their needs and demands. Our ambition is to expand the business ethics training program to include more topics and increase the number of in-person sessions to maximise its impact. This will include a dedicated program on the Code of Conduct for all leadership teams and for the manufacturing workforce.
Our employees can voice their ethical concerns or seek advice through the Business Ethics Compliance function or by using the company’s whistleblowing tool, the Ethics Hotline. All concerns are investigated by dedicated personnel. In 2022, the majority of the cases (55%) were related to employee relations. After thorough investigations, only 35% of cases were substantiated while another 21% led to process improvement or other change. We have revised our procedures in this area in line with the EU directive on the protection of whistle-blowers and will launch a dedicated campaign to raise awareness throughout the organisation in 2023.
Mölnlycke ethics hotline
The Ethics Hotline enables internal and external stakeholders to report concerns and grievances or any other suspected violations of laws, policies and procedures or inappropriate behaviour. Topics of reports can include issues such as, but not limited to, fraud, corruption, working environment issues and discrimination.
Training to support ethical growth in India
Mölnlycke carries out a screening and due diligence process before entering business relationships with distributors. We also offer training for distributors to give them an understanding of the ethical standards expected from them. As we expand our distribution network in this region of the world, we launched training for its sales teams on compliance rules, ethical decision making, engagement with healthcare professionals and interactions with distributors.
Then key Indian distributors were also invited for dedicated sessions to ensure mutual understanding of the risks linked to the medical technology sector. The sessions covered topics such as ethical decision making, corruption and bribery risks, engaging with government officials and the overall Mölnlycke due diligence process. It was an occasion to explain to distributors what they can expect from our new due diligence process and discuss any questions they may have.
We promote workers’ rights in our factories and those of our suppliers
Respecting human rights
Due to our global footprint, we can have a major direct and indirect impact, both positive and negative, on human rights in our own operations, as well as across our value chain – for example in the way we treat our own employees or how suppliers comply with labour rights. Therefore, we continuously identify, assess and address potential and actual adverse human rights impacts, taking into account their severity and probability.
Read moreRELEVANT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
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