Impact on the society

PKO Bank Polski follows the principles of social responsibility and takes into account the impact of its actions on all stakeholders: shareholders, suppliers, employees and the general public. [GRI 102-12] In accordance with our strategy, we actively engage in activities that benefit local communities whose participation we encourage. For many years, we have initiated and implemented social projects that combine our business objectives with initiatives for the benefit of all stakeholder groups. We support a range of educational, civic, cultural and sports events and projects. Our sponsorship activities are aimed at promoting the bank's image as a reliable financial institution, one that is socially involved, modern and open to its customers' needs.

The bank and the Foundation of PKO Bank Polski in their respective sponsorship and charity activities verify every partner and beneficiary of the support they provide. Care and due diligence in ensuring rationality of the sponsorship and charity policies is also achieved through a synergy of the activities of both institutions. This falls within the scope of responsibilities of the foundation's Program Council, which is composed of the representatives of the bank. In particular, the bank and the foundation implement projects separately or jointly in the most important program areas, i.e. those that have an impact on the institutional brand image such as culture, tradition, education and sport. In addition, the foundation engages in other activities whose objective is to improve social welfare, protect life and health, and promote ecology. No negative impact on the bank’s image was identified in these areas in 2021.

Out of 724 applications for a financial donation related to social activities, 243 projects received a positive opinion. The foundation allocated almost 25% of the budget to social help addressed to people in risk of exclusion, especially the disadvantaged and the disabled. Health initiatives constituted 18.6% of charity budget in 2021.

The foundation encourages the employees of all entities of the Bank’s Group to take part in working for local communities. Since 2013, 1,634 people signed up to the employee volunteering database, and in 2021, due to the ongoing pandemic-related restrictions, 18 new volunteers registered.

The PKO Bank Polski Group also impacts the social environment and its development through products and services it offers on the financial market:

Anti-corruption system

PKO Bank Polski does not tolerate any form of corruption and counteracts all corrupt practices. Nepotism and accepting or offering any physical items in order to influence decisions or actions are in conflict with the bank’s values of credibility and trust.

The bank has a number of internal regulations for prevention of corruption including the Code of Ethics and the Principles for ensuring compliance and managing non-compliance risk. It also respects the anti-corruption principles from the Code of Banking Ethics (Principles of good banking practice) by the Association of Polish Banks. [GRI 205-3] No cases of corruption were identified in 2021 and 2020.

[GRI 205-1] In the Bank's Capital Group corruption risks are identified in particular in the areas related to the individual and business customer services, the supply of goods and services to the entities of the group, in connection with donation and sponsorship agreements, and in dealing with the bodies of state administration by the group's employees. These areas are closely monitored while decisions that have significant financial consequences require a dual approval. The bank and other entities of the group apply the anti-corruption standards to their potential trading partners by demanding specific declarations upon starting the procurement procedure. With regard to the bank's employees and others acting on its behalf the internal regulations stipulate:

1. Prohibition to accept benefits, presents or gifts intended for a personal use from customers or potential customers, representatives of entities cooperating with the bank or seeking to start such cooperation, which could result in an informal obligation to a given customer or person cooperating with the bank, cause a conflict of interest or otherwise negatively affect the manner of performance of an employee's corporate duties. The prohibition applies in particular to: cash and cash equivalents, physical donations (presents and gifts) and other material benefits (coverage of travel expenses, relaxation or training costs, participation in events or lending of assets such as a car for free use or use on terms that deviate from the market terms).

2. Elimination of possibilities to circumvent the above prohibition, in particular by persuading other people (e.g. people cohabiting in the same household, family members or relatives) to accept the gift on their behalf. Under exceptional circumstances, it is acceptable to receive a benefit or gift in business relations subject to the terms and conditions set out in the bank's internal regulations for acceptance of benefits, presents or gifts.

3. Prohibition to offer to customers, trading partners, representatives of public administration bodies and other entities any benefits, presents, gifts or incentives that are not part of the bank's product and service offering in order to persuade them to behave in a particular way, especially to take steps inconsistent with the provisions of law or good practices. If the bank’s employee has doubts whether the acceptance of a benefit, present or gift is admissible in a given situation, he is required to consult his supervisor or the appropriate organizational unit at the bank in charge of compliance risk. Every new employee commencing employment at the bank receives information about these principles.

System for reporting breaches

The bank has an anonymous system for reporting breaches. The bank's employees are obliged to report any suspicion of crime having been committed in connection with the bank's activities. If the filed report refers to a member of the Management Board, it is directly investigated by the Supervisory Board, while in other cases by the President of the Management Board of the bank. Each case is dealt with on the basis of internal regulations. In addition, there is a requirement at the bank to submit regular reports to the Management Board about all identified cases of fraud, including those that involved corrupt practices.

The bank holds regular training sessions for employees about reporting breaches and cases of non-compliance (including those bearing signs of corruption) and gives them access to all necessary information and internal regulations in this area. Every employee is required to undergo such training on the principles for counteracting corrupt practices.

Respect for human rights

In developing the group's regulations, procedures and policies for human rights (including the rights of children), we draw from the fundamental principles established in the International Bill of Human Rights and from the achievements of international organizations such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the UN's International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The respect for human rights is manifested in our internal regulations, the initiatives that we undertake and in our daily practice.

One of the most crucial elements in the analysis of human rights at the group level is the identification of human rights in our operating activities. The countries where the Group offers its financial services are generally characterized by a similar level of development, and thus similar challenges for human rights, including those related to employment. Respecting human rights in the supply chain is a task of immense importance, which boils down to our relations with suppliers and outsourcing of services by the group's entities. The group adopts the same human rights standards across the entire supply chain in its business activities while compliance with human rights is reflected in the procedures and agreements signed with those entities. [GRI 407-1] We have not identified any operations or suppliers characterized by a high risk of restricting the freedom of association and collective bargaining agreements in 2021.

At the bank, the references to respect for human rights are included in the Code of Ethics of PKO Bank Polski, the Principles for counteracting mobbing and discrimination, the Recruitment principles and the agreements concluded with service providers. The issues regarding forced labour and child labour are not directly reflected in the bank's regulations because the prohibition of forced labour arises from Article 4 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, whereas the prohibition to employ people under the age of 16 arises from Article 190, paragraph 2 of the Labour Code. 

Examples of activities conducted within the group entities, in which respect for human rights is manifested, are presented below:

• counteracting mobbing and discrimination,
• basing the rules of the periodic appraisal/summary of performance on a dialogue with the employee, the employee’s participation in the process, collecting feedback from a variety of sources,
• use of recruitment principles that ensure equal treatment of candidates during the selection process for filling vacancies, without any discrimination, prejudice and without obtaining information that could violate the candidate’s rights and personal dignity,
• basing promotion decisions on an objective appraisal of qualifications, skills and performance,
• supporting diversity in management, in particular with respect to age, experience, style of work, thinking; promotion of diversity among managers as an asset and not a limitation,
• enabling employees to express their opinions and influence important issues regarding the organization and working conditions, management, the organizational culture, as well as enabling the provision of information about perceived crimes and fraud – ensuring anonymity and confidentiality for the reporting employees (the whistle-blower mechanism),
• protecting personal rights (personal data, sensitive data) of the employees and customers through carefully prepared procedures and systems and the inclusion of restrictive provisions in contracts concluded with service providers who have access to such data,
• creating conditions for satisfying needs related to leisure and culture, as well as respect for the principle of work-life balance,
• ensuring freedom of association,
• creating a safe working environment – in view of the exceptional circumstances resulting from the pandemic, in 2021 the additional Intra websites: “Coronavirus”, “Remote work” and the website which replaced it (“Hybrid work”) were updated, as well as the dedicated newsletters in which the bank provided the necessary information and guidelines on tools and the organization of work on an ongoing basis.

Employment

The bank pays close attention to the satisfaction of its employees with their employment in the company. This is facilitated by a fair and transparent remuneration system, a package of non-salary benefits, and by taking into account the development needs of employees, and creating a friendly and cooperative work environment. In accordance with the employment policy, all employees are equal regardless of their sex, age, disability, race, religion, nationality, political beliefs, trade union membership, ethnic origin, health condition, sexual orientation, marital status, full or part-time employment.

[GRI 102-8] At the end of 2021, the group's employment reached 25 657 full-time employees (FTEs), 84% of whom were employees of the bank (21 686 FTEs). The majority of employees are women (72% in the group, 74% in the bank), while the largest age cohort are employees aged 30-50 years old (62% and 60% in the group and in the bank respectively). Most employees are employed full-time, while those who work part time are mostly women.

Structure of employment by job type, age, employment contract and gender in 2021

[GRI 401-3] In 2021, mostly women took parental leave. The share of returns to work after parental leave stood at 100% for women (75% for men), while 86% of them remained employed until the end of 2021 (67% in the case of men).

Returns to work after parental leave

Salaries

[GRI 102-41] The bank concluded a collective bargaining agreement that regulates the issue of remunerations with the trade union organizations. In accordance with the agreement, the bank's employees are entitled to the following salary components: (1) basic salary, (2) allowances for working overtime and in conditions particularly onerous and harmful for their health, (3) bonuses and rewards for extraordinary achievements at work. Basic salaries and additional benefits are set on the basis of regular job valuations and analysis of market salaries. Bonus targets for employees are closely related to the bank's key management indicators. The employee remuneration policy ensures a consistent salary system by:

• applying a salary system which is in line with market trends,
• ensuring that the variable salary components are parameterized so that they take into account the long-term cost of risk, cost of capital and liquidity risk of the bank and the bank’s group,
• determining the remuneration structure on the basis of performance at work and the appraisal of the employees’ skills,
• taking into account the ability of the bank’s group to determine the desired mechanisms and salary levels,
• acquiring optimal job candidates,
• adjusting mechanisms, tools and salary levels to the strategy and goals of the bank and the bank’s group,
• determining fixed salaries on the basis of the valuation of positions,
• building responsibility in the employees for their tasks which are assessed on the basis of objective criteria,
• establishing a system in which the forms of remuneration do not encourage the people involved to favour their own interests or the interests of the bank and the other entities of the bank’s group to the detriment of customers.

Ratio of the average salary of women to men

The calculation of the ratio of women’s salaries to men’s salaries is based on average salaries weighted by the number of employees of the homogeneous groups identified. These groups bring together employees with the same valuation levels (the valuation of work in individual positions), families of positions and the same geographical location.

Replacing the arithmetic mean with the weighted average described above led to a change in the level of both the global ratio and the ratios for individual employment categories compared with the prior year disclosures.

The gender pay gap calculated on the basis of the weighted average salary was 5% at the bank and 8% in the bank’s group. The gender pay gap at the bank based on the median was 3.9%.

The presented pay gap level does not indicate any unfounded inequalities in the amounts of women’s and men’s salaries, and the reasons for the small deviations owing to gender are the result of the nature of the organization in which female employees are more numerous.

The bank’s remuneration policy does not discriminate employees based on their gender. The process of determining the salaries at the bank is based on the valuation of positions. The salary is related to the complexity of the tasks within a given organizational structure, the level of responsibility associated with a given position and the necessary skills.

The bank performs regular salary reviews for different positions, which also analyse the relationship between the salaries of women and men, taking into account internal benchmarks and data provided in remuneration reports and studies in the process of determining and optimizing the remuneration strategy.

In order to ensure that the same positions are compared and to eliminate the total effect of other elements on the salary level, the Bank also uses the so called “Comparatio” (CR) which compares the salary offered to an employee with an appropriate market benchmark. The internal analyses performed using this ratio show that there are no differences between the remuneration of women and men at the Bank and that both groups receive remuneration at the market level.

Additional information about employment at the bank in 2021

[GRI 401-2] Caring for the level of satisfaction of our employees, we also offer to them a range of additional non-salary benefits, which are available to all employees irrespective of their type of contract or working time. The bank finds it important to adapt the benefits offered to its employees to trends on the labour market because activities in this respect promote the bank's image as a good employer. The main additional benefits offered to employees include: free medical care (including an annual preventive program “Bank-guaranteed health” for an early detection of diseases and promotion of healthy lifestyles, an Employee Pension Program (EPP) whereby employees can supplement their state-pension income, a cafeteria system through a dedicated MyBenefit platform and sports cards. Other benefits also include product offers and discounts for the bank's employees. The bank also supports sports initiatives (there are numerous sections at the bank – running, mountain sports, football teams) and charity activities of its employees.

Employee training and internal communication

[GRI 404-2] We give our employees the opportunity to use various forms for improving their professional qualifications. All employees throughout the bank's group may take advantage of the training activities regardless of their age or gender. The bank's intranet portal is updated on a quarterly basis with the latest catalogue of available trainings that contains a number of development activities. Additional projects are conducted for development of both hard and soft skills of employees. A few dozen in-house coaches conduct group and on-the-job trainings and internal workshops, also for the interns. For selected projects, group trainings are conducted by external coach companies. In order to prevent the non-financial risks, we regularly conduct trainings was on information security, bank secrecy and security, and labour protection.

The Bank conducts projects to develop both hard and soft skills. A team of several dozen internal trainers conducts group training, on-the-job training and internal workshops (also for interns). Group training is provided by external companies on selected projects. The Digital Transformation employees have access to both internal training courses in agile methodology and to certified training courses. The employees also participate in foreign language courses. As part of their professional development, the employees may apply for a subsidy to the costs of their education in the form of post-graduate studies, Master of Business Administration courses or solicitor’s training. The Bank also conducts adaptation programmes for new employees, which are adjusted to the specific nature of individual business areas. 

Principles for employee development and succession planning at PKO Bank Polski set the goals, directions and activities of the bank for management of development of the bank's employees or other co-workers. The main objectives of the adopted training policies include supporting the achievement of the strategic goals of the entities of the group and their business goals, providing induction training to new employees, assuring professional qualifications of employees and adaptation of their knowledge and skills to changing market requirements and entity-specific operating environments, and preparing employees for implementation of new solutions and products offered by the group's entities or changes to the existing solutions and products offered.

When referring employees to training, the entities of the group take into account the internal appraisal systems, e.g. regular interviews, 360 individual development plans surveys, examinations of training needs, ISO-based assessment system, and employee feedback. Companies that adopted the so-called competence model (this applies to the bank and two other subsidiaries) closely match its objectives with the improvement of the employee’s professional qualifications and skills. Based on the competence model, employee appraisals for the general corporate, leadership and specific competences are carried out on an annual basis. As part of the periodic appraisal system, each employee sets an individual development plan together with their supervisor at the time of a review.

Recruitment policy

The objective of our recruitment policy is to acquire the best external candidates, while simultaneously promoting the internal talents. We employ people with diverse professional experience and skills, and encourage all employees to take part in internal recruitment within the group's entities as part of their professional development in other business areas. In the recruitment process, we exercise care about human rights and ensure equal opportunities. The Recruitment principles are based on the highest standards for counteracting discrimination and ensuring personal data protection with the support of modern technologies and information systems. We pursue an employee referral programme to encourage the bank's employees to recommend candidates for open positions in return for a financial gratification upon a successful referral.

In order to ensure positive experience of candidates in the recruitment process, we diversify the channels that we use to reach different groups of candidates, reducing the recruitment time. We conduct the candidate experience research whose results are used to improve the recruitment process. Such activities contribute to the perception of the bank as an attractive employer. In 2021, PKO Bank Polski once again received the prestigious title of Top Employer in Poland 2021, which is the result of an independent study of HR management practices of Polish employers.

At the end of 2021, the bank conducted an audit of recruitment announcements and a workshop on inclusive language for recruiters. Its purpose was to present the best practices in drafting announcements and formulating their content in a manner that is simple and comprehensible to the reader, paying attention to inclusivity and avoiding discrimination. The project also included the provision of recommendations which will be successively implemented in job announcements, internal regulations and the Bank’s “Career” tab.

Trade unions and occupational health and safety (OHS)

Employees are represented at the bank by the trade unions and the Employee Council. The bank has two trade union organizations: (1) the National Trade Union of Employees of PKO Bank Polski (a representative union), (2) the Independent Self-Governing “Solidarity” Trade Union of Employees of PKO Bank Polski. Cooperation with these social partners takes place in accordance with the applicable regulations, including for holding consultations in the case of any planned organizational changes that would result in significant changes in the organization of work or the level and basis of employment. The employer does not prevent the employees from joining the trade unions or acting as their members in any way.

Employees may report their complaints, opinions and suggestions through the trade unions. They may also file such complaints directly through a special inbox, in accordance with the procedure for reporting complaints and irregularities. [GRI 402-1] Meetings with the trade unions and the bank’s Employee Council are organized as necessary – at least several times a year, while information on  any planned operational changes are communicated to the employee representatives without undue delay. Employees are given the opportunity to report complaints about breaches of employee rights or other irregularities. [GRI 403-4] An employee representative always participates in the Occupational Health and Safety Commissions and has the opportunity to communicate directly with an occupational health and safety representative.

All entites of the group implement their organizational health and safety tasks in accordance with the current provisions of law. These provisions are clear enough to enable a consistent application of the same health and safety rules across the whole Group. Entities that are located outside of Poland operate under corresponding rules specific to the country where they were registered. [GRI 403-8] The basic occupational health and safety management system resulting from the generally applicable laws covers 100% employees. [GRI 403-1] The OHS service at the bank has been established within the structures of the Administration Centre as the Organizational Health and Safety Office. It encompasses a number of field teams that support different units of the bank throughout the country in performing the following tasks: periodical occupational risk assessment, analysis of accidents and incidents that have occurred to date and monitoring events that may potentially lead to accidents, ongoing and periodical OHS control in all units of the bank, and conducting training. [GRI 403-2] There are no positions in the bank that would be associated with an occupational risk classified as high. The main occupational hazards include: falling and hitting against fixed objects, inappropriate lighting, overload of the musculoskeletal system or sight, electrical injury or traffic accidents. Due to dominance of mostly office positions in the group's employment structure, the occupational hazards in other entities of the group are consistent with those assessed at the bank.

[GRI 403-7] Preventive actions taken to improve safety and working conditions at the bank include: support and definition of measures that should be taken in the event of an occurrence of psychological or social hazards such as stress or mobbing, information campaigns concerning ergonomics and safety at work, additional non-mandatory training in first aid and safe driving courses for employees using company cars, vision diagnosis, and provision of personal protective equipment for employees in jobs associated with exposure to external factors. [GRI 403-3] All entities of the group have contracts with external medical service providers for providing occupational health services. Medical examinations are financed or reimbursed by the employer. [GRI 403-10] There were 5 instances of suspected occupational disease reported by former employees of the bank in 2021 (2020: 3). One decision was issued to date, the ruling authority issued 8 decisions concerning cases reported in prior years, including 6 decisions in which it was concluded that there were no grounds for classifying the illness as a case of work-related ill health, and 2 decisions in which the ruling authority identified the presence of an occupational disease. The other proceedings are still pending.

[GRI 403-6] All entities of the group undertake additional voluntary actions to promote worker's health: free preventive medical check-ups (e.g. an annual health control package, mammography or flu shots), training to promote healthy lifestyles (incl. exercise guidelines for office workers), access to a number of sports and leisure facilities as part of each employee's benefit package, organization of sports teams, competitions and events supporting physical activity of employees and care for the environment, and cyclical health-promoting campaigns.