SoCIAL Information
Qualified, committed employees are the bedrock for United Internet’s sustainable business success. Consequently the Company sets store on actively promoting diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunities, along with training and a healthy work-life balance. United Internet is convinced that only a workforce that reflects the many different facets of society offers optimal conditions for creativity and productivity.
United Internet’s double materiality assessment identified both positive and negative material impacts on employees’ well-being, plus associated business risks. These are described in the following.
Employees are exposed to a range of stresses in the workplace. If no protective measures are taken, excessive workloads, a poor work-life balance, and inadequate health and safety measures can increase stress and lead to both psychological and physical illnesses. A lack of safety measures increases the risk of accidents at work and injuries. In addition, inappropriate behavior, physical abuse, mobbing, and harassment may lead to serious psychological stress up to and including an inability to work.
As part of its active promotion of diversity, United Internet watches for negative impacts resulting from a lack of equality and inclusion. A lack of awareness leads to a wide range of disadvantages for underrepresented groups among both employees and managers. For example, they can be excluded from meetings because of language or time barriers (e.g., part-time working) or may not identify with the corporate culture. The lack of accessible workplaces can exclude people with disabilities and reduce their opportunities on the labor market. Equally, employees can experience limited career options as a result of unconscious bias, inappropriate working conditions, or unequal pay due to their age, ethnic origin and nationality, gender and gender identity, physical and mental abilities, religion and beliefs, sexual orientation, and social origin, leading to psychological stress and financial burdens.
For United Internet, safeguarding employees' rights is essential for a fair, respectful working environment and for employees’ psychological and physical health. This is why it focuses in particular on the potentially negative impacts of human rights issues and unethical working conditions in its own operations. The danger of labor and human rights issues occurring is particularly high in locations with low human rights standards (e.g., in relation to child labor or forced labor), and can impair the health of those affected. The protection of sensitive employee data (e.g., salary data) can also be endangered if the relevant provisions are not observed.
By contrast, secure, permanent employment, adequate pay, and fair working conditions can positively impact United Internet’s employees and were therefore assessed as material. These aspects can contribute to social safeguards and promote a stable society. An open social dialog allows actions to improve working conditions to be identified on a regular basis, enhancing employees’ long-term satisfaction. Clear training and development prospects and equal opportunities can enhance workers’ feeling of being valued, while comprehensive benefits in the areas of health, finance, and the environment can enhance their quality of life.
United Internet competes with other companies for good specialists and managers, especially in view of the shortage of specialists in some areas such as IT. Consequently, a shortage of specialists and employee turnover driven by unattractive working conditions were assessed as a material risk. If insufficient attention is paid to safe working conditions or invested in human resources development, e.g., via training courses and skills development programs, employee satisfaction and employer attractiveness will fall. In turn, this can lead to higher employee turnover and time lost due to sickness, making retaining and attracting qualified specialists more difficult. In the long term, this can lead to a loss of innovative ability, slower implementation, and lower potential growth, which would entail costs and the loss of customers due to competitive disadvantages.
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