Equality and human rights policy
Arion equality and human rights policy 2024-2027
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Arion equality and human rights policy 2024-2027
The following policy applies to Arion Group, i.e. Arion Bank, Stefnir and Vörður. Together the Arion Group provides comprehensive financial services to the people of Iceland. The policy jointly refers to the three companies as Arion.
Arion’s policy is to respect human rights and equality throughout its activities. Arion places importance on creating an environment where people of similar education, work experience and responsibility have equal opportunities and terms, irrespective of origin, ethnicity, religion, view of life, disability, occupational disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual characteristics, gender expression or other factors. Any kind of discrimination is contrary to this policy and is prohibited by law.1
Vacant positions shall be open to all applicants with the requisite education and experience, irrespective of gender or other factors. Specific efforts shall be made to have gender parity in departments, job families and committees at the Bank to elicit more diverse viewpoints.
We ensure that employees in comparable positions have equal opportunities to pursue continuing education, lifelong learning and vocational training, irrespective of gender or other factors. The learning and development (L&D) courses available under Arion’s annual L&D programme take into account the goals in the action plan.
We ensure that there is no unjustified wage gap. Arion’s goal is for all employees to enjoy the same terms for the same or equally valuable jobs . In order to support the equal pay policy, Arion complies with the Icelandic standard ÍST 85:2012 on equal pay management systems.
Employees shall be enabled to coordinate their professional duties with their family duties. We offer employees flexibility and at the same time promote a healthy work-life balance
Employees are encouraged to use their right to parental leave irrespective of gender. We do our utmost to support employees when they return from parental leave and find ways to bridge the gap between parental leave and daycare.
Communication at the work place should be based on mutual respect and it should be ensured that employees feel comfortable. There is zero tolerance of bullying, gender-based and sexual harassment or other types of violence and if employees witness any such behaviour, they must report it to the appropriate authority.
We place the utmost importance on creating an egalitarian and positive workplace where employees enjoy respect, diverse viewpoints can be expressed and inclusion is a cherished value. The work environment should take into account people’s diverse needs so that each and every person gets the opportunity to thrive, both because of and also in spite of their uniqueness.
We do our utmost to bridge the gender gap on the financial market. Ensuring that all genders participate in their own financial affairs is key to ensuring the successful and equal development of society. By doing so we have an equal impact and an equal voice in the development of society. We place a special emphasis on empowering women when it comes to investment.
We want Arion’s services to be customized to the needs of all customers irrespective of gender, nationality, background or other factors.
We ensure that international human rights are respected and that equality is safeguarded in the Arion’s value chain, including in purchasing, lending to companies and investments.
To advance these focuses Arion works in accordance with an equality and human rights action plan.In addition to these key focuses we will also strive to safeguard equality in the wording, messages, visuals and marketing from Arion.Arion’s Equality and Human Rights Policy, along with the Action Plan through 2027, can be found here.
It is the policy of Arion Bank to pay equal salaries for jobs of equal value. Arion’s goal is for all employees to enjoy the same terms for the same jobs or equally valuable jobs and to ensure that no unjustified wage gap exists. Equal pay means that salaries are determined in advance using a particular methodology which applies to all employees and ensures that there is no discrimination on the basis of gender or other factors. It must also be ensured that all decisions on salaries are in compliance with collective wage agreements.In order to support the equal pay policy, Arion complies with the Icelandic standard ÍST 85:2012 on equal pay management systems.According to the standard, Arion pledges to:
Implement a documented and certified equal pay management system. The system shall be maintained through monitoring and constant improvement and preventive measures are taken.
Maintain equal pay certification in accordance with current regulations and respond to anomalies and criticisms as applicable.
Categorize jobs according to requirements of equal pay management system and carry out a pay audit at least annually.
Carry out an internal audit and perform regular management review of equal pay management system, equal pay policy and targets.
Present equal pay policy to employees and publish it on internal and external websites.
Present the results of the annual equal pay certification to employees.