Commitments

Sustainability is a high priority for HOCHTIEF. We are dedicated to actively supporting the environment and responding to social and economic concerns. Our commitment to these principles is expressed in numerous ways.

Our commitment to the principle of sustainability is anchored in our guiding principles. Further principles include: a client-oriented service spectrum, successful employees and a value-oriented strategy.
Transparent corporate governance, above and beyond the legal requirements, is important to HOCHTIEF. In this area, we are guided by the stipulations of the German Corporate Governance Code.
Our own corporate Code of Conduct lays out the requirements for a positive daily working environment. Its focus is on the ethical principles which support our business and which are binding for all HOCHTIEF staff, whether employees or management. The current edition can be consulted here. 2010 the HOCHTIEF Code of Conduct was revised and supplemented to incorporate international standards on areas such as employee rights, forced labor, child labor and environmental protection.
The ethical principles for procurement are outlined in the Procurement Directive. These describe the key values, responsibilities and standards of conduct for all HOCHTIEF employees involved in the procurement process. These rules supplement the HOCHTIEF Code of Conduct.
HOCHTIEF also demands high ethical standards from its subcontractors and suppliers and has formulated these in a special Code of Conduct for Subcontractors and Suppliers. HOCHTIEF cooperates only with partners who observe these standards and who also insist that their own subcontractors and suppliers comply with these standards.

HOCHTIEF retains the right to monitor compliance with this Code of Conduct at any time or to have compliance monitored by independent third parties.
The Crisis Information System (CIS) Directive is about the management of occurring crises and is valid for the entire HOCHTIEF Group including all subsidiaries and associated companies worldwide. The CIS defines the key responsibilities and information routes and provides for an organization via which incoming reports reach those in charge fast and directly.
HOCHTIEF works actively to fight corruption. This priority is expressed in HOCHTIEF's memberships in PACI (Partnering against Corruption Initiative), an initiative of World Economic Forum and Transparency International , the only non-governmental organization devoted to fighting corruption worldwide. Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Keitel, member of the HOCHTIEF Supervisory Board, and Prof. Dr. Peter Eigen have addressed this topic. Deputy Chairman of the organization Peter von Blomberg, and Hartmut Paulsen, attorney and HOCHTIEF Representative Director, have discussed how to create and implement successful anticorruption policies in the future. The complete interview is available here.

In our directive on occupational safety, health and environmental protection all HOCHTIEF business areas are required to comply with all legal and regulatory requirements.
The first construction company worldwide to do so, HOCHTIEF in 2000 committed to comply with the standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO). This UN agency strives to promote free, equitable, safe and humane working conditions for women and men worldwide.
We actively manage diversity to create an environment in which every individual enjoys respect and individual advancement. Equal opportunities are enshrined at HOCHTIEF not only through relevant legislation, they are part of our guiding principles. In July 2008 we signed the Diversity Charter published by the German government. In the charter we committed to creating a working environment free of prejudice.
Together with over 80 leading international companies, HOCHTIEF signed the CEO climate recommendations to the G8 nations in July 2008. In this way HOCHTIEF has demonstrated its commitment to playing an active part in combating climate change. Leighton Holdings also subscribes to the recommendations.
Taking up an initiative of the CSR Committee, HOCHTIEF Aktiengesellschaft became an official member of the United Nations Global Compact initiative at the beginning of November. Global Compact's goal is to advance a total of ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption worldwide.
Here you find HOCHTIEF's Communication on Progress 2010.
In November 2010, HOCHTIEF together with 20 other German companies, presented the Code of Responsible Conduct for Business. With this Code, the signatories give their voluntary commitment to fair competition, social partnership and sustainability. The shared aim is to integrate the stated values into the companies' management processes and to define visible, practicable and controllable standards for responsible entrepreneurship with the Code.
In June 2010, HOCHTIEF and 19 other European construction companies as members of encord, the European Network of Construction Companies for Research and Development, signed the Sustainable Development Charter. Under the terms of the Charter, the companies undertake to integrate sustainability principles into their corporate strategies and–especially in the area of Research & Development–to promote them.