One of the key values of Agora, declared in Agora Charter is respect for human rights, interpreted broadly, as providing employees with responsible place of work and decent work, as well as preventing any form of discrimination or mobbing, as well as ensuring equal treatment of all employees.
See Agora Group's Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs)
Gender equality
effective prevention of gender-based discrimination
increasing the participation and role of women in decision making on all levels
striving for equal treatment of genders in all aspects of employment
Decent work and economic growth
building relations with entities that abide the law, uphold industry standards and respect human rights
developing and maintaining operations along responsible business standard
Reduced inequalities
effective prevention of discrimination and introduction of equal treatment policies in all aspects of employment, regardless of: gender, age, disability, health, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, faith, atheism, political convictions, trade union affiliations, psycho-sexual orientation, sexual identity, family status, employment type, scope and contract, other types of cooperation and other aspects that might be ground for discrimination.
In 2018 Agora S.A. updated anti-discrimination and anti-mobbing policies to better serve the goal of creating a welcoming workplace that promotes diversity.
The following changes were introduced:
The function of Anti-discrimination and Anti-mobbing Officer was established. The duties of the officer are performed by Director of Human Resources. The officer is responsible for measures for preventing workplace discrimination and mobbing, including awareness-raising and educational activities. Every employee or collaborator of Agora can contact Anti-discrimination and Anti-mobbing Officer to ask questions, consult issues or report cases of misconducts;
The choice of channels for submitting questions or reporting on misconduct was expanded. Along with Agora Code of Ethics, an anonymous, confidential and safe channel was introduced - Ethics Line operated by a specialized external organization;
The responsibility of management was emphasized, tasked with monitoring and responding to situations and behaviours that bear the signs of discrimination or mobbing;
New categories of misconduct were added to the policy that might represent discrimination or mobbing, plus a report on misconduct template.
CAMPAIGN
To ensure the information about Anti-discrimination and Anti-mobbing Policy and the whistleblowing system reaches all employees and collaborators of Agora, the group delivered an internal information and education campaign.
The campaign consisted of the following elements:
Management Board of Agora issued a letter to all employees, informing them about the adoption of the new policy and stressing the importance of preventing discrimination and mobbing in the workplace;
A special section with information about preventing discrimination and mobbing was posted on the company intranet, reachable through a link under a special banner;
Batch e-mails were developed and emailed regularly to all employees of Agora;
Special information posters were produced and displayed in Agora buildings;
A webinar about Ethics Line – the whistleblowing system, was conducted, recorded and made available online;
A special webinar entitled All you want to know about anti-discrimination and anti-mobbing policy in Agora was organized; recording and materials from the webinar are available in the company’s intranet;
A series of lectures and workshops were developed.
EDUCATION
In 2018 Agora launched a number of information and education activities to increase employees’ awareness, knowledge and skills, and develop behaviours towards creating a safe and diverse working environment.
The educational campaign included on-site lectures and all-day workshops Preventing Discrimination and Mobbing in the Workplace, delivered by external experts. 12 sessions were held in total: three lectures and nine all-day workshops. Members of Management Board and senior managers of Agora Group were obliged to attend. The sessions were open to all employees upon prior registration.
In 2018 two-day in-depth courses dedicated to preventing discrimination and mobbing, were organized for the Human Resources, Corporate Communications and General Counsel departments of Agora.
143
participation
9
all-day workshops
3
lectures streamed online to all employees and collaborators of Agora
Preventing workplace discrimination and mobbing is among the topics covered in Welcome to Agora regular training for new employees.
3
superior-employee relationship cases,
2
employee-employee relationship cases
5
total number of cases reported and processed in 2018
Under Non-discrimination and Anti-mobbing Policy and Agora Code of Ethics, introduced in 2018, the company opened new channels and possibilities for submitting queries and doubts or reporting misconduct by the employees or collaborators.
The following channels and forms of reporting cases related to workplace discrimination and mobbing are currently available in Agora:
internal – confidential:
contacting the in-house Anti-discrimination and Anti-mobbing Officer (e-mail)
contacting the in-house Compliance Officer (e-mail, phonecall or personal contact)
external – confidential and anonymous
contacting an external Ethics Line (online platform, e-mail, telephone available between 7:00 and 18:00)
The whistleblowing procedure stresses that every report is confidential and whistleblowers are offered special protection. Additionally, every case is processed and the response is provided as quickly as possible. In special cases the processing might last 30 or more days.
Diversity and openness are values integral to Agora Group’s business operations as well as employment policy. Employees of Agora Group come from different backgrounds and cultures, exhibit various skills and talents, represent diverse thinking styles and viewpoints and have different life and professional experience. We strive to build a diverse yet efficient team of individuals working together.
By signing Diversity Charter, Agora undertook an obligation to:
create a pro-diversity workplace atmosphere and organizational culture,
introduce internal institutional solutions to develop equal treatment policies,
develop and implement anti-discrimination and diversity management in the workplace policies,
introduce anti-discrimination and anti-mobbing monitoring measures and a system of education about preventing discrimination and mobbing,
open dialogue with employees on the adopted diversity management policy,
issue annual reports on diversity measures and their results,
promote and educate about diversity management in Poland.
Agora fulfils these obligations on various levels. Their results are discussed in Agora’s non-financial report.
Agora signed diversity charter
On 8 March 2017 Agora Group signed Diversity Charter as Poland’s first media corporation, thus joining other European employers who recognize the importance of diversity in the workplace. By signing the charter we obliged ourselves to implement, promote and disseminate diversity management and equal treatment policies among all stakeholders of Agora.
The composition of governance bodies and breakdown of employees by employee category and gender indicate a roughly equal share of genders both in senior as well as junior positions. In terms of age, the employees of Agora Group reflect the structure of Polish society.
54.3%
share of women in middle and senior management positions in Agora Group
Employee breakdown by category, age and gender - 2018 - Other employees
Agora Group
Agora S.A.
Women
Men
Total
Women
Men
Total
< 30 y.o.
20,3%
16,7%
18,6%
18,1%
13,7%
16,0%
30-50 y.o.
67,3%
71,8%
69,4%
66,0%
71,9%
68,7%
>50 y.o.
12,4%
11,5%
12,0%
15,9%
14,5%
15,2%
Source: Human Resources Department, Agora Group.
Other employees
Employee breakdown by category, age and gender - 2017 - Other employees
Agora Group
Agora S.A.
Women
Men
Total
Women
Men
Total
< 30 y.o.
22,2%
19,1%
20,7%
19,9%
14,7%
17,5%
30-50 y.o.
67,2%
69,6%
68,3%
66,3%
70,8%
68,4%
>50 y.o.
10,6%
11,3%
11,0%
13,8%
14,5%
14,1%
Source: Human Resources Department, Agora Group.
Education levels attest to high competences of Agora Group personnel. Women are on average better educated than men, which is indicated by the share of female employees with higher education on all levels of the organization.
67.0%
share of employees with higher education
Tab. Employee breakdown by category, education and gender
Employee breakdown by category, education and gender - 2018 - Other employees
Agora Group
Agora S.A.
Eduacation
Women
Men
Total
Women
Men
Total
Primary
0,1%
0,3%
0,2%
0,0%
0,5%
0,2%
Secondary
26,9%
46,1%
36,0%
27,9%
44,2%
35,6%
Higher
73,0%
53,6%
63,8%
72,1%
55,3%
64,2%
Source: Human Resources Department, Agora Group.
Other employees
Employee breakdown by category, education and gender - 2017 - Other employees
Agora Group
Agora S.A.
Education
Women
Men
Total
Women
Men
Total
Primary
0,1%
0,2%
0,1%
0,0%
0,3%
0,1%
Secondary
27,5%
46,6%
36,7%
29,5%
44,3%
36,6%
Higher
72,4%
53,2%
63,2%
70,5%
55,4%
63,3%
Source: Human Resources Department, Agora Group.
Agora Group strives to encourage the employment of people with disabilities. The largest number of such individuals is employed by AMS. The company has been actively promoting activation of people with disabilities and boasts over 30% of such employees in their total number.
3.5%
share of Agora Group's employees with disabilities
The following employee representation bodies operate in the Agora Group: Employee Council, Solidarność Trade Union and Employee Representative. All three are invited to join consultations in key employee matters.
Employee Council operates under the Act on Informing and Consulting Employees and an agreement with the Management Board. Council Members are elected through popular vote for a four-year term. Employee Council represents the interests of the employees and acts as an intermediary between them and the Management Board, operating as an advisory and consulting body.
Employee Council is active at: Agora, Agora Poligrafia and Grupa Radiowa Agory. Information about Employee Council can be found in the Intranet.
Solidarność Trade Union in Agora S.A. and Inforadio Sp. z.o.o. has been active at: Agora, Inforadio, Agora Poligrafia, AMS, Grupa Radiowa Agora since December 2011 and at GoldenLine since January 2019. Under the Polish law, management boards of companies with employees represented by active trade unions are obliged to conduct consultations or negotiate the matters specified in the regulations with their trade unions. The remaining entities of Agora Group have Employee Representatives – mandated by the law. No collective bargaining agreements are in force at Agora Group.
FREELANCERS’ LETTER
In October 2018 Journalists Commission at OZZ Inicjatywa Pracownicza (Workers’ Initiative) issued a letter to Poland’s major publishers, presenting the situation and demands of Polish freelancers (journalists and other creators who collaborate with publishers). The purpose of the letter was to open a discussion of freelance collaborators of Polish publishers of printed media and to develop good practices in the area. Among the main topics were: contracts (symmetric and explicit), feedback on accepting the text for publication and the date of planned release, cost of execution of the commissioned work and timely payment of remuneration.
In February 2019 Gazeta Wyborcza addressed all aspects discussed in the freelancers’ letter. The following regulations were introduced to facilitate communication and cooperation between the daily and freelance collaborators:
quick and efficient response to proposals (via phone or e-mail) within seven days,
binding arrangements made via e-mail (due date, text size, acceptance criteria, etc.)
remuneration paid within 30 days for texts accepted for print (after authorisation, edition and corrections, even if the text has not been published yet), provided the author meets formal requirements (sends in the signed contract),
reimbursement of the costs of travel and accommodation, and other expenses incurred in the process of collecting information to authors of texts commissioned by the publisher with whom the author signed a framework agreement.
Gazeta.pl editorial team are going to implement the same solutions.
Meanwhile, the dialogue with Journalists Commission at OZZ Inicjatywa Pracownicza was joined by the Press Publishers Chamber. Agora is a member of this industry organization.
The aspect of human rights in Agora Group is the most present in labour laws and relations. The organization also upholds human rights in our relations with partners and collaborators. No risks were diagnosed in the operations of Agora Group in terms of child labour, forced labour or other breaches of human rights. Agora Group remains alert to potential risks in this area, following UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights.
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