Employees and human rights

Our Sustainable Social Development Strategy through 2030 aims to:

Working conditions

In accordance with the Russian Labour Code and the Working Conditions Policy the Company guarantees that:

• the working week shall not exceed 40 hoursExcept for when a cumulative approach to time-keeping is used or when there are no fixed working hours or as otherwise provided by Russian labour laws, where employees may be requested to work outside their regular working hours. and every employee shall be entitled to a minimum uninterrupted rest period of 42 hours per week;
• the working time for production staff shall not exceed 8 hours a dayExcept for when a cumulative approach to time-keeping is used or when there are no fixed working hours or as otherwise provided by Russian labour laws, where employees may be requested to work outside their regular working hours.;
• for full‑time employees working between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am, working time shall be reduced by one hour without the need to compensate therefor;
• employees shall be entitled to a minimum rest break of 30 minutes per every working day;
• employees shall be entitled to additional rest breaks due to specific process flow requirements and for production and labour management purposes;
• employees may work a second job outside their main working hours.

Our employees are entitled to a 28‑day paid annual basic leave and additional paid annual leaves for those working in the Far North and equivalent areas, exposed to adverse and/or hazardous working conditions or otherwise. Our employees may reschedule or split up their leaves.

On an annual basis, the Company covers round‑trip travel to a holiday destination for employees in the Far North and equivalent areas and their families, including associated baggage fees.

To ensure favourable and safe working conditions, Nornickel runs its dedicated Made with Care employee comfort programme. Key initiatives include renovating, repairing and building social infrastructure for employees, such as changing facilities, shower and toilet units, eating areas, etc.

As at the end of 2023, the Group companies operated more than 3,500 sanitary, amenity, sports and fitness, catering, healthcare, and recreational facilities with a total area of over 370,000 m². In the reporting year, the Company completed overhauls at 138 social facilities with a total area of 21,000 m² and improved social and working conditions for 8,598 employees.

Collective bargaining agreements

Nornickel and its Russian business units make sure that their employees are free to form and join trade unions of their choice, and respect their right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Employees may exercise this right without prior authorisation and without fear of pressure, intimidation or retaliation.

Employee onboarding

Relocation

Due to the harsh climate conditions of the Group’s production assets, many employees need to settle into a new job. Our Relocation programme facilitates onboarding and provides for a compensation package payable to new hires in the regions where the Company operates. Nornickel offers a one‑time relocation allowance and covers moving expenses (including baggage fees), hotel accommodation and rental costs for employees and their families. Under the programme, the Company pays a relocation benefit and the highest possible bonus to those working in the Far North from the first day of employment as provided for by the collective bargaining agreement, and grants an additional paid leave for an employee to settle in during the first year of employment. As at the end of 2023, the programme covered 61 of the Company’s employees, including 27 new participants who joined in the reporting year.

Relocation support

Nornickel also provides assistance in relocating newly hired employees, their family members and apprentices (candidates) with whom the Company has entered into professional training contracts to their place of work in Norilsk and the Taimyrsky Dolgano‑Nenetsky Municipal District. The Company covers moving expenses and rental costs (for three years) in addition to lump sum payment for resettlement. With 1,900 employees joining the relocation support programme in 2023, it now has a total of more than 4,600 participants.

Other onboarding tools include:

• regular welcome breakfasts;
• automated onboarding system facilitating HR management and available via the employee’s online account (accessed by 17,100 employees in 2023);
• Our Values course at Nornickel Academy;
• memos, guides and videos on working with the Company as part of the Onboarding from A to Z course at Nornickel Academy.

These tools help new employees learn about the Company’s business lines, geography and strategic priorities, recognise their business unit’s contribution to the overall performance and embrace the corporate culture and values. 2023 saw over 3,500 managers and more than 1,000 supervisors involved in onboarding efforts, including all types of support and assistance.

The Company has a mentoring programme in place to help employees learn professional skills and integrate into the corporate culture, with seasoned professionals acting as mentors.

"In Good Company" is another corporate project that aims to promote creativity and professional growth and to build a community of young leaders aged under 35. As at the end of 2023, the programme’s mobile app had over 6,600 registered users. The programme helps young talent gain valuable experience and forge a community of like-minded people where everyone can get help.

Staff and career development

To provide all employees with career and growth opportunities based on their opinions and proposals, Nornickel offers a 360‑degree competency assessment along with individual development plans.

Employees at all levels who underwent a 360‑degree competency assessment can join a 360‑Degree Management programme for corporate and leadership competencies. Participants had the autonomy to choose learning topics based on the results of the assessment, discussions with their supervisors, and individual development plans. The programme stands out for its format, which combines interactive training sessions, business simulations, and the practical review of real management cases. A total of 59 in‑person training sessions were conducted in 2023 in Moscow, Norilsk, and Monchegorsk, with the participation of 1,081 employees. Furthermore, as part of the programme, all Company employees were also offered nine online workshops catering to skill development needs and garnering over 3,500 views.

Maternity and childhood protection

We bolster our employees’ aspirations for a work-life balance. The Company creates a favourable environment for those on maternity or childcare leave and implements projects aimed at supporting and developing children of its employees, attesting to Nornickel’s adherence to employees’ right to the protection of family, maternity and childhood.

Nornickel provides employees’ children aged 6 to 16 with discounted holiday tours. The programme offers the opportunity for parents to send their children to health resorts with favourable climate conditions. In 2023, a total of 1,592 kids of the Company’s employees spent their summer holidays at a recreation camp in Anapa, while a children’s sports team had a good time at the Universiade Village in Kazan.

Remuneration and social benefits

We show care for our employees by providing them with fair and decent remuneration, with an average monthly pay coming in at RUB 184,100 (2.5x the Russian average). The Company raised salaries by 6.1% in 2023 vs a 62% increase in 2018–2023, which is much above the inflation rate in Russia.

Nornickel also expands the range of social benefits and allowances to provide comprehensive support to employees.

Digital Investor

In 2023, Nornickel launched its Digital Investor long‑term incentive programme, where a digital financial asset (minetoken) is linked in value to a Nornickel share traded on the Moscow Exchange. This is the first corporate programme in Russia that gives employees an opportunity to use a new financial instrument and become an investor. These assets entitle employees to obtain additional income in the same amount as dividends on the Company’s shares, as well as one‑off proceeds from selling or redeeming their stake at maturity (after five years).

The programme covers all Nornickel employees who have worked with the Company for over one year.

Minetokens are issued on the following terms:

1. 100% investment financing by Nornickel.
2. Participants are free to buy or sell digital financial assets after one year of ownership.
3. Income consists of regular payments and proceeds from selling digital financial assets to the issuer after five years in the amount equal to the market value of the Company’s shares at the date of sale.

By creating and promoting such tools as Digital Investor, the Company maintains its social responsibility and implements a human capital development programme. As a result, employees become increasingly committed to the overall performance. The more productive and results‑oriented employees are, the better the Company performs driving up the share price, which ultimately determines income from digital financial assets.

On top of that, Nornickel enables employees to get an insight into modern investment and learn the fundamentals of digital and financial literacy, which creates a new employee engagement model turning hired workers into business partners. 2023 saw over 51,300 employees join the programme.

Safety culture

The Company consistently develops new projects and carries on programmes aimed at enhancing safety culture, mitigating occupational diseases, and preventing workplace accidents.

According to the 2023 survey results,

56%

of employees believe that the Company does not put its staff into an unsafe working environment (up 21 p.p. over the last seven years).

Based on our “Let Everyone Be Heard. What Do You Think?” survey in 2018–2024

The growth of recordable accidents and lost time injuries (LTIFR) in 2023 was attributed to a change in our OHS approach with a view to combating non‑disclosure practices.

Our top management seeks to develop new projects and initiatives working towards safe occupational conditions. Stanislav Seleznev, Vice President for Ecology and Industrial Safety, was personally involved in behaviour‑based safety audit trainings, which in 2023 covered managers of the Group’s branches and Russian business units, and each and every member of Nornickel’s Management Board.

Care for health

We make every effort to protect the health of our employees, prevent diseases, and promote a healthy lifestyle, all in line with basic and labour rights (to life, health, security, and safe working conditions).

Nornickel has been running the corporate healthcare development project since 2019. It involves building a network of corporate medical facilities in the Norilsk Industrial District, upgrading existing assets and creating new on‑site medical aid posts with examination rooms. In 2021, the Company opened its first corporate healthcare centre in Norilsk, with two more to be commissioned in Talnakh and Kayerkan going forward.

Workshop medical service

To address employee emergencies, take preventive measures, and monitor employee health, the Company has a workshop medical service. It is also responsible for identifying and assessing the risk of health hazards arising at the workplace, controlling health status, analysing the factors of occupational morbidity and ways to mitigate them.

Healthy Heart

Nornickel embarked on the Healthy Heart programme in 2023.

It aims to reduce the number of hospital admissions, minimise morbidities, and improve the quality and length of employee lives.

The programme focuses on:

• screening to identify and monitor health status groups, take preventive measures, and provide advice;
• ongoing monitoring to identify those to be placed under doctor’s care, schedule appointments on a quarterly basis, and urge patients to attend their appointments;
• training for paramedics in self‑control skills and protocols to handle life‑threatening cases.

Diabetes School

Nornickel pays special attention to detection and prevention of diabetes cases with a focus on knowledge and skills necessary for self‑control and healthy lifestyles. Training includes self‑control skills, therapy adjustments to specific living conditions, prevention of acute and chronic complications.

Nornickel embarked on the Diabetes School programme in 2023. It follows clinical guidelines, WHO recommendations and is based on the structured learning principle. Going forward, patients’ penchant for medical check‑ups and treatment is set to increase, also contributing to better life expectancy and fitness to work. The programme seeks to improve the quality of employee lives, making them more productive. We also expect to see fewer uncontrolled diabetes cases at our industrial sites.

IT healthcare projects

Since 2023, Nornickel has been running the medical self‑diagnostic kits project aiming to protect employee’s health. Software and hardware suites designed for quick health checks improve therapy efficiency and make it possible to assess patients’ health status in absentia, which saves doctors’ time and allows them to better manage specialist appointments.

The main target audience are office employees who rarely undergo medical check‑ups.

The disease development risk assessment system is another high‑tech corporate healthcare project seeking to predict and mitigate the risks of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other chronic diseases, as well as to inform patients about adverse factors likely to affect their lives, and to nudge employees to keep healthy.

In 2023, we managed to analyse medical data collected through regular check‑ups and used on‑site terminals to automate employee risk stratification based on the SCORE scale and to monitor the relationship between the prevailing cardiovascular disease risk factors and the resulting population risk of coronary heart disease.

Telemedicine – a health care service

Included in each employee’s VHI package, Telemedicine provides an opportunity to see the doctor online from home at any time without queues and long waiting times, which makes access to healthcare services more comfortable.

One can seek advice from both general practitioners and specialist physicians. Emergency and scheduled consultations are available. In case of a severe disease, an alternative opinion may be requested from medical experts.

Appointments and communication with the doctor take place via the insured person’s online account, where the history of visits and medical reports are stored.

Genome sequencing

Genome sequencing is included in our comprehensive health programme along with health resort treatment, VHI and corporate sports programmes. This is an advanced high‑tech DNA analysis initiative providing personalised information about employees’ health, multifactorial disease risks, cancer risks, as well as advice on disease prevention, nutrition care, optimal physical activity, selection of medications.

A total of 18,500 employees took part in the genome sequencing programme in 2020–2023, with another 3,500 people expected to join in 2024.

Remote advice on legal, psychological and financial issues

Mental health is equally important to the well‑being and development of our employees. If one needs advice or support on legal, psychological and financial issues, this can be done remotely (by phone or video conference) as part of the Nornickel Will Support programme. When applicable, you can choose to consult with a qualified expert. Everyone who joins the service receives a personal account with secure access, where the history of consultations is saved.