Staff Policies

Improving labor efficiency remains one of the Company’s top priorities. For that purpose, in 2013, the Company updated its internal corporate methods for calculating labor productivity indicators for the Company as a whole, the main business units and the Group Companies of the main business units. The target value of the Company’s overall labor productivity indicator since 2010 (under comparable conditions) was met. A list of measures was developed to increase labor productivity in the Company. The activities are included in the Company’s Long-term development program, the report on the implementation of which is carried out on an annual basis. Labour productivity indicators for the Group companies of the main business units are taken into account when approving the planned number of employees as part of the annual business planning procedure.

During 2018, standard organizational structures (SOS) were developed for the production and functional areas of the Company’s main business units and their phased implementation in the period up to and including 2020.

SOS – standard organizational structure, includes a typical chain of command, a detailed description of functions, and function-specific staff number standards (if applicable and possible)

The success of each of the Company’s employees in their professional activities and teamwork depends on their knowledge and skills. HILSON provides opportunities for its employees to continuously improve their abilities and skills. The key aspect of the staff training and development policy is the strategy of internal growth and professional development.

HILSON has a unified corporate personnel training system covering all areas of business and categories of personnel.

The corporate system of training and development of HILSON personnel is aimed at addressing the following strategic objectives:

• to ensure the level of professional and technical competence of employees corresponding to the current and future needs of the Company’s business;
• to strengthen the Company’s management competencies, including through the development of the internal talent pool;
• to provide the Company’s strategic projects with trained personnel;
• to comply with mandatory state requirements to the level of training of fuel and energy complex personnel aimed at ensuring quality and safety at production facilities; to ensure the necessary level of competence of all Company employees involved in the industrial safety management system;
• to ensure the necessary level of competence of all company employees involved in the corporate industrial safety and labour protection management system.

In accordance with the aforementioned tasks and depending on the goals for which training and development is carried out, the programs are divided into the following categories: mandatory training programs to ensure safety and quality of work on site, professional development programs, including vocational training, retraining, professional development, specialized courses of professional competence development, management programs.

The training covers government requirements, corporate policies and procedures, and best Ghanaian and foreign practices.

Much attention is paid to the key areas of vocational technical training. In the field of development and production: geology and field development, well drilling, development of continental shelf oil and gas resources, development of hard-to-recover reserves, advanced technologies for intensification of oil production and enhanced oil recovery, offshore production systems. In the field of refining, commerce and logistics: improvement of oil and gas refining processes, increase of efficiency of primary and secondary oil refining, advanced technologies at retail facilities, development of related business, transport logistics, international trading of oil and oil products.

The Company provides management training to managers, identifies and develops its talent pool.

The existing distance learning system contains a large number of corporate courses and multimedia aids, providing employees with quick and convenient access to the knowledge database.

Internal resources and expertise are actively used to share experience and knowledge among employees to improve their performance. Continuity of internal training is ensured by the joint effort of human resources employees, department managers and experts in various professional fields, which helps to preserve the accumulated organizational potential, accelerate the implementation of corporate standards, improve knowledge of business processes and cross-functional interaction.

The Company implement a system of mentoring and development of workers, the effectiveness of which ensures the development and implementation of corporate educational standards for working professions, including not only corporate requirements for the professional qualification of workers, as well as training and program documentation and control and measurement materials for the assessment of knowledge and skills. The Company’s experts take part in the state project on the development of professional standards for the industry.

Decent remuneration of its employees is the basis of the Company’s HR management system. HILSON consistently implements a policy of high social responsibility, including salaries, allowances and compensations.

In determining the level and structure of remuneration, the Company uses data from generally accepted salary, allowance and compensation reviews involving major oil and gas companies.

In addition, data from regional labour markets are used to monitor the competitiveness of workers’ wages in order to adjust them in a timely manner.

 The Company has developed a systematic approach to determining remuneration and compensation packages for employees, taking into account the regional specifics of the presence of the Company’s subsidiaries, including those located in areas with challenging climatic conditions.

HILSON pays great attention to the incentive program based on the assessment of the efficiency of employees’ performance. Both the collective component and the individual contribution of each employee to the overall results are assessed. The staff incentive system is aimed at achieving high production results and increasing labor productivity.

HILSON has a reputation as one of the most socially responsible employers. As part of improving the social security of its employees, the Company developed a standard Collective Bargaining Agreement, which includes a list of social benefits and guarantees provided to employees of subsidiaries in addition to the requirements of the Labor Law of the Republic of Ghana.

The priority areas laid down in the standard Collective Bargaining Agreement are as follows:

• social support for large and low-income families of the employees;
• social support for pensioners;
• providing conditions for attracting and retaining personnel in the regions of the Company’s operations with unfavorable climatic conditions and at work with unfavorable working conditions;
• support for employees in challenging life situations.

In general, the Company pursues a balanced policy in terms of remuneration, social benefits and guarantees for efficient business development.

Our company is committed to ensuring a safe and healthful workplace and protecting the environment.

We believe that safety and protecting the environment is good business and that all work-related injuries, illnesses, property losses and adverse environmental impacts are preventable.

To fulfill this commitment, our Company will:

• Ensure that management accepts full responsibility for protecting workers and the environment.
• Give health, safety and environmental considerations equal status with the Company’s other business objectives and integrate them into all aspects of our work.
• Work actively to continuously improve health, safety and environmental performance.
• Only start work after confirming that essential health, safety and environmental protection systems are in place, and willingly suspend activities if safety, health or the protection of the environment would be compromised.
• Encourage supervisors and workers (employees and contractors) to be individually responsible for identifying and eliminating hazards, preventing injury to themselves and others, and preventing adverse environmental impacts.
• Provide personnel with sufficient training, resources and systems.
• Provide and maintain properly engineered facilities, plants and equipment.
• Minimize waste generation, air emissions and other discharges from our activities to the environment.
• Actively monitor, audit and review to improve systems, processes, health, safety and environmental performance.
• As a minimum, ensure regulatory compliance at all times.
• Hold contractors and third parties accountable for adhering to the Company’s health, safety and environmental policy and audit contractor systems and procedures to ensure satisfactory health, safety and environmental performance.
• Hold supervisors accountable for ensuring and promoting a safe and healthful workplace and the protection of the environment within their areas of responsibility by ensuring that workers are knowledgeable and have access to:
• publications of the latest applicable laws and regulations
• health, safety and environment rules and safe work standards
• operating and critical task procedures
• emergency response procedures
• environmental protection requirements
• Hold workers at all levels accountable for being fit for work at the beginning and throughout their shifts and when on call.
• Develop, implement and manage a system of accountability for health, safety and environment roles and responsibilities at all levels of the company. Inform employees and contractors of this policy, and make it available at all Company worksites.
  
  

We firmly believe responsibility for application of this policy rests with management, employees and contractors associated with our Company.

The company’s social policies are based on long-term social activities that are the most beneficial to its employees and are designed to attract and retain well qualified personnel in the Company.
The Company is committed to solving its top-priority social issues and will continue to place emphasis on the social aspects that are inherent to its sustainable development philosophy.

The health care system of the HILSON Group Organizations incorporates a total of economic, social, medical, and sanitary measures designed to boost performance of the personnel by promoting physical and mental health of the HILSON employees and retirees. It specifically covers the following lines of activities:

• voluntary health insurance plans for employees;
• payments of temporary disability and maternity/paternity allowances;
• health improvement and recreation of employees;
• first medical and sanitary aid provided at the health posts of organizations;
• preventive measures.

The backbone of the healthcare system is the Voluntary Medical Insurance (VMI) plan, offering additional services to employees vs. compulsory health insurance plans, which include high-tech solutions and better quality medical aid.

To make the insurance coverage more flexible, employees may at their own cost expand the existing VMI plan, thus making sure that their personal needs are satisfied.

Commitment to a healthy lifestyle is a corporate value. Promotion of the value of one’s own health and personal responsibility for it lays the foundation for corporate and sports activities and events, which have already become traditional for the Company, including their families and veterans. The Company has been rendering first medical assistance at our first-aid rooms, pre-trip medical check-up offices, paramedic and medical aid posts. Personnel additionally attend lectures on the prevention of the most widespread diseases. Every year employees undergo a medical screening i.e. Hepatitis B, Cholesterol, Malaria, Sugar Level, Blood pressure, Full blood count, among others.

The Company’s housing program meets the requirements of HILSON’s Housing Policy Framework.

The “Framework” defines two main goals of the Company’s corporate housing support policy.

The HR policy is first of all about making sure there’s an ongoing staff rotation, with the newly employed personnel, including young professionals, being provided with housing. Provision of housing takes place solely upon the terms and conditions of a collective bargaining agreement and out of the housing stock of the organizations, comprised of the existing, leased corporate housing and that under construction.

Provision of housing to the personnel took place in full accord with the basic principles of the Company’s Housing Policy (HR and Social Activities). The Housing Policy costs as part of the HR activities are based on the demand from the production personnel (newly employed or young professionals) for housing. The Housing Policy costs as part of the social activities are based on the need to assist the employees requiring better housing by subsidizing the interest rates of home loan mortgages extended by the banks.

Allocation of Company Accommodation:

• Allocation of company accommodation would be done by HR Admin. Only those employees who have been allocated to the Guest house are allowed to stay in the guest house.
• Letter of allocation will be provided by HR Admin to every occupant before occupying the company apartment. During Admin visit to Guest house employee may have to produce ID card or letter of authorization, if needed for verification purpose.
• Occupant’s friends or any unauthorized person(s) are not allowed to occupy guest house for any period of time. Any event of an unauthorized person(s) found occupying the company accommodation will lead to strict action against the employee. Also occupants would be jointly responsible in case any authorized person(s) is / are allowed to stay in company accommodation.
• HR Admin reserves right to cancel any allocation done after approval from Management.
• Occupants shall deposit the room keys and allocation letter to the HR Admin when they leave the company accommodation. The security deposit will be refunded to them with that month’s salary or Full and Final settlement whichever applicable.

The Company seeks to expand access of its employees to insurance services, develops its corporate personal insurance system to enhance the level of protection enjoyed by the families of its employees in case of hospitalization. The employer bears all extra costs sustained as a result of the cause. The Company has also been developing and supporting critical decease insurance and life insurance in case of death for any reason whatsoever. Such personal insurance types being part of the corporate plan may involve shared funding.

The Company also offers free information and advisory services to its employees to expand their insurance coverage and protect their interests on the insurance market.