Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy

Introduction

At Sophie Bille Brahe, we are committed to cultivate and preserve a culture of mutual respect, inclusion, and diversity. This Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Policy outlines our overarching scope, commitments, vision, and activities. We are dedicated to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion across our entire organisation.

We aim for all employees to work in a welcoming, engaging environment where they feel valued, respected and where all are treated equally and fair. We want to secure the well-being of our employees by supporting behavior that welcomes and includes diversity. This is essential for the work climate we want to promote. This will be a continuous progress, while we are committed to make opportunities equitable for everyone and constantly improve through our daily actions and our strategic activities outlined in this policy.

Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that we have a common framework and governance to be followed by all employees at SBB. We will create awareness of our inclusion & diversity responsibilities and commitments to ensure that all employees have a clear understanding on how they can effect change and contribute to a strong culture of diversity, awareness, and inclusion in all aspects of our business.

Scope
This Policy applies to all employees across all management levels working for Sophie Bille Brahe, both full and part time. The guidelines are applicable to the employee’s behavior, actions, and communications both internally and externally with all stakeholders.

Diversity, equity & inclusion at Sophie Bille Brahe
Diversity is individual differences and recognising every range of dimensions, experiences, skills, and perspectives that all people bring to the workplace. Diversity encompasses a wide range of identities, including, but not limited to, background, perspectives, ethnicities, nationality, skin colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, and beyond.

Diversity includes characteristics such as professional skills, work style, location, and life experiences. It's about understanding each other and moving beyond tolerances. This, to embrace the dimensions of diversity that all individuals bring to benefit our workplace and culture. Equity is recognizing that each person has different circumstances and experiences based on their background and social identities, as well as knowing that all options are not always equal. We want to focus on making our practices and policies in our organisation more equal and adjusting imbalances.

Inclusion is the purposeful act and choice to respect, embrace and value all people regardless of their different backgrounds, experiences, and social identities. We believe that inclusion is about empowering all employees to contribute with their unique skills and perspectives. We wish for them to bring their authentic selves to work and help us with creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and respected.

Our Commitments
SBB is committed to drive and promote a culture that actively values Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at all levels of our organization. We believe that inclusion and diversity are core pillars of conducting a responsible business, it includes providing all people with equal opportunities.

In december 2022 our CEO signed and committed to UN’s Women’s Empowerment Principles, a leadership for gender equality. Guided by the principles we support non- discrimination and commits to promote professional development for girls and women. Empowerment of women is an integral part of our daily work and a true value for us. We believe gender equality, equal opportunities and women’s empowerment is a necessary foundation for a meaningful, prosperous, and sustainable world. By signing and committing to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, Sophie Bille Brahe is pledging to act and to cultivate an inclusive workplace where diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and continuously ensuring gender equality in all aspect of our company.

By committing to equal rights and opportunities for all people we are fully committed to:

• A zero tolerance against any kind of bullying, harassment, and discrimination.
• Providing fairness and equality for our employees.
• Provide equal access to opportunities in our recruitment, retention, promotion, and career development processes and throughout the workplace.
• Creating processes that foster inclusiveness.
• Work actively to ensure diverse teams, which includes a balanced and representative composition.

Specific Initiatives

• Gender and age diversity is monitored on all levels of the organisation.
• Ensuring that our recruitment process is driven by objective criteria that emphasises the candidate’s competencies, experience, and potential, we encourage candidates to remove age and picture from their CV.
• Our onboarding programme for new employees involves a presentation of SBB’s focus on diversity and inclusion including this policy.

Responsibilities

Manager Responsibilities
All leaders and managers have a responsibility to be aware of biases in practices and activities. For new recruitments to recognise/reward colleagues based on their merits, skillset and behavior’s aligned with our company values, we will promote a role model within inclusive leadership.

Employee Responsibilities
All employees are expected to engage and support a culture of inclusion that actively challenges discrimination and treat others with dignity and respect.

Supplier & Partnerships
We expect all our partners and suppliers to comply and act in accordance with this policy.

Education and training
Training of managers and all employees about their rights and responsibilities under the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy. The training is mandatory for all employees.

Review and Governance
The DEI policy is updated, reviewed, and approved by the executive management when necessary or at least on an annual basis.

Grievance mechanism
If an employee or partner feel they have been subjected to treatment that disregard the commitments of this policy, we urge them to bring this to the attention of their manager, our executive management, the SBB employee representative or contact us anonymously through our Whistleblower form on our website. All grievances will be managed in a confidential, unbiased, and timely manner. A breach of this policy will not be tolerated and may lead to disciplinary actions. Any reported breaches will lead to an internal investigation.

If you have any questions regarding this policy, please do not hesitate to contact us csr@sophiebillebrahe.com. The policy has been approved by the executive management of Sophie Bille Brahe, 15th of December, 2022.