Equal Opportunities

As a global company, WACKER operates in international markets and multicultural environments. Holding each employee’s skills and dedication in high regard, we see diversity as an enrichment. We oppose unequal treatment or disparagement on account of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, ideology, disability, sexual orientation or age. These principles are valid across the WACKER Group and, as part of our corporate culture, are embodied in our Code of Conduct.

For several years now, we have been requiring all employees at our German sites to familiarize themselves with Germany’s General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) by completing an e-learning course. This course is compulsory for all levels of corporate hierarchy, from the Executive Board down to standard-payscale employees, as well as all new employees.

Special arrangements are in place to help and promote WACKER employees who are disabled or suffer from long-term occupational disabilities. Representatives of WACKER’s disabled employees play a key role in finding suitable positions for anyone with a long-term occupational disability. On average, 827 disabled employees worked in Germany in 2010 (2009: 772). Accounting for 6.7 percent of WACKER’s workforce (2009: 6.5 percent), this figure was well above the legally prescribed German rate of 5 percent. Even so, we had to pay a small compensatory levy, as not every subsidiary achieved the 5-percent target. More than 45 percent of WACKER’s disabled employees were aged between 55 and 64.

In 2009, the WACKER plant at Nünchritz was honored by the Saxony state government for its exemplary integration of disabled workers. Integration management has been an intrinsic part of HR work at the site since 2005. There is close cooperation between supervisors, employees, HR, disabled-employee representatives and Health Services to permit physically disabled employees to remain in their workplace or to change to a suitable job. This allows us to retain skilled staff and their qualifications, and valuable knowledge acquired over many years remains with WACKER.

WACKER also supports severely disabled people who cannot find work on the general job market, e.g. via collaborative ventures with workshops for the disabled. Our Burghausen site, for instance, sources key products, such as mounting plates, angle bars and packaging for Siltronic, from the charitable Ruperti workshops. At the Nünchritz site, we have for many years been using the services of “Lebenshilfe für geistig Behinderte Riesa e.V.” (a charity for the mentally disabled) for landscaping and garden maintenance.

WACKER hires new employees and executives solely on the basis of qualification. We therefore do not give preference to local applicants when we have senior management posts to fill. In Germany, the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) in any case forbids the selection of personnel according to origin, but in the other WACKER regions, such as China and the USA, we also select candidates exclusively by qualification.

Equal treatment applies to both men and women at WACKER. It goes without saying that we offer equal opportunities to all employees, regardless of their gender. This approach also applies to compensation. The amount earned reflects each job’s specific demands and responsibilities. The average annual salary of female employees is slightly lower than that of male employees. The reason lies in the statistical analysis, where parameters such as seniority, age and performance content of the salary are not compared.

WACKER is trying to increase the number of its female executives. For this purpose, we participate in Munich’s Cross-Mentoring Program. To get girls interested in jobs such as industrial mechanic or electronics specialist, we take part in the Girls’ Day event held throughout Germany.

In 2010, WACKER joined a German Ministry of Education and Research study investigating developments on the subject of women in executive positions at large companies. Alongside WACKER, five other chemical and technology companies are taking part. The study focuses on developing the careers of women with university or technical-college degrees. 14 percent of graduates employed in Germany are women. By participating in the study, WACKER intends to analyze why women are under-represented and to determine what it needs to do to deploy its female employees more effectively. The research project is scheduled to end in 2012.