The same standards are applied to our sites around the world, at our production sites as well as offices, warehouses and R&D locations, and these standards are regularly assessed through processes such as internal audits. We have also developed a dedicated training and vigilance module around our Company’s expectations on child labour and work in our supply chains, aimed at better informing and equipping our procurement colleagues and supply chain stakeholders. We started rolling out this training from the second half of 2021 and have already covered some key raw material supply chains such as Thaumatococcus in Ivory Coast, Cistus in Spain, and vanilla in Madagascar. We also participate in the EcoVadis CSR assessments, disclosing detailed information around our business practices on human rights and labour aspects besides environment, ethics and responsible procurement. In the 2021 assessment, we received a gold medal, placing us in the top 5% of more than 75,000  businesses rated. EcoVadis provides invaluable insights which help us to understand and continually improve our sustainability performance. Supporting freedom of association We aim to provide and promote an environment where employer and employee can engage in open dialogue. Genuine open dialogue with freely chosen employee representatives, we believe, improves understanding between employees and employers and helps find ways to mutually resolve potential conflicts. We respect every employee’s right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and we follow commonly recognised best practices with all of our employees globally. In addition, it is necessary to support the freedom of individuals to join trade unions, and regular union / works council consultations are held with a group of employees representing union / works council members at all applicable sites around the world. The purpose of these consultations is to inform and consult employees about significant changes in the organisation, ensure the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining is not put at risk, and to report any feedback to our Executive Committee to take any suitable action as required Respecting notice periods and working hours We respect local laws and practices concerning legal notice periods and communicate either directly to the affected employees or through their elected representatives, unions/ works council or other groups. To ensure working hours at our sites are not excessive and do not generally exceed the 60 hours a week limit as defined under the Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI) principles, we are committed to the ETI Base Code principles and are a member of Sedex and AIM- Progress forums. Where local regulation and the ETI’s international working hours rule differ, we follow the higher standard, and if there is a conflict then we follow the national regulation with the aim of aligning with the ETI’s international standard. Here we put all our sites through the Sedex SMETA assessments under which the working hours as defined by national regulation and ETI principles are regularly checked. The same applies for our suppliers as we encourage and support them to become part of Sedex platform and undergo SMETA assessments. READ MORE 2021 GRI Sustainability Report ▸ page 104–107 ▸ Human rights We promote an environment where employer and employee can engage in open dialogue. EcoVadis CSR assessments Gold medal Top 5 % out of more than 75,000 companies assessed Givaudan – 2021 Integrated Annual Report 114 Value-based governance Go od corporate citizenship