It is the policy of Legal & General America and its subsidiaries to seek, employ and assign the best qualified staff and to provide employment opportunities to all employees and job applicants without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or status as a Vietnam-era or special disabled veteran in accordance with applicable federal laws. In addition, the Company complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which we have facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, recruitment, placement, promotion, termination, redundancy, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, remuneration and training.
We are committed to eliminating discrimination in all employment activities. It is the responsibility of all managers and staff to share equally in making equal employment opportunities a reality. Legal & General America and its subsidiaries have also adopted a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ with respect to unlawful employee harassment. Improper interference with an employee’s ability to perform his/her expected job duties is not tolerated.
Employees are our most valuable resource, and how well they perform their jobs will determine how well the Company does at providing outstanding products and service to our customers. For this reason employees have access to a range of training and educational opportunities to enable them to broaden their skills and knowledge, including:
In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for the insurance industry, a new basic pension plan has been established. The pensionable age has been raised from 62 to 65, and a Flexible Supplementary Pension Plan has been implemented, replacing the previous early retirement plan and providing for an annual supplementary retirement pension budget amounting to 2.5% (average).
As a result of the Lifespan Plan, introduced in January 2006, it is now possible for employees to finance a period of unpaid leave during their career. The aim is to enable employees to accumulate an income provision for a period of additional leave, such as parental leave, study leave, sabbatical leave or long term care leave. The plan can also be used to enable employees to take early retirement.
As our organisation is knowledge-intensive and our people are our principal asset, it’s important that we continually improve their skills. In 2006, we spent €268,500 on internal and external training courses and seminars. In 2005 we also piloted a Personal Development Plan (PDP). This was made available to the management team by the end of 2006, and will be extended to all other managers in 2007 and to all employees in 2008. This voluntary plan gives employees the opportunity to further develop themselves and focuses on knowledge, attitudes and career development.
In addition, tailor-made training was organised for all managers to enable them to better deal with, and prevent, absenteeism due to illness. Periodic workplace assessments, introduced in 2006 and carried out in departments where work consists mainly of work in front of a screen, assist with this goal. Problem areas which emerged from the assessments were analysed and will be dealt with in 2007.
In accordance with the Working Conditions Act, in 2006 Legal & General Netherlands also carried out a Periodic Occupational Medical Assessment (of our employees’ occupational health) with the assistance of the Health, Safety and Welfare Service. This assessment enables health problems to be acknowledged in a timely manner. A plan of action will be developed and the issues that emerged will be dealt with in a structured manner during 2007. Two internal prevention officers have been appointed with responsibility for taking preventative measures in relation to health, safety and welfare.
In common with all insurance companies, Legal & General France’s employees benefit from the provisions of the insurance industry’s collective labour agreement (‘convention collective’). In addition to this, we have signed internal agreements for the benefit of our employees, including:
By law, employees must visit a doctor specialised in working environment and professional disease when they join Legal & General and every alternate year thereafter, in order to ensure they are physically and mentally able to perform their jobs.
Employees have the opportunity to attend a training session whenever necessary to increase their professional knowledge or when they change accountabilities. We have also developed a training programme for our employed sales force to maintain and improve their competence and provide a good quality of customer service and commercial efficiency. This programme consists of four training periods which take place in an employee’s first year.
A four-day commercial seminar takes place annually in September, which is aimed at rewarding successful sales people as well as updating them on new products or regulations.