Businesses should conduct and govern themselves with integrity, and in a manner that is ethical, transparent and accountable
We want to create an environment where
employees not only live our values of
integrity, respect, responsibility and
pioneering, but are vigilant in identifying
potential concerns and confident about
speaking up in such situations.
We have a pivotal role in embedding an
enduring business integrity culture across
all our operations. Our Business Integrity
framework ensures that the way we do
business is fully aligned with our values
and applicable laws and regulations in the
countries where we operate. The framework
consists of simple ‘Musts’ and ‘Must Nots’
designed to be readily applied by employees
in their day-to-day work. We are committed
to eradicating any practices or behaviours
not in line with our Code Policies through our
zero-tolerance approach to such practices.
Message from Our
Leadership
“Each of us at HUL is governed by our Code of Business Principles, which serves as a manual to help us put our values into practice. It ensures that our business operations are conducted with honesty, integrity, and openness and with respect for the human rights and interests of our employees. ”
Dev Bajpai Executive Director, Legal & Corporate Affairs and Company Secretary
Nil
Bribery/corruption charges against our BoD/KMPs/ employees/workers by law enforcement agency
Nil
Material fines/penalties/ punishments as per regulation 30 of SEBI LODR
Nil
Corruption/conflicts of interest complaints against the Director/KMPs
0%
Value chain partners covered by the awareness programmes
Essential Indicators
EI-1. Percentage covered by training and awareness programmes on any of the principles during the financial year:
| Segment | Total number of training and awareness programmes held | Topics/principles covered under the training and its impact | Percentage of persons in respective category covered by the awareness programmes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board of Directors | 6 | HUL ESG Goals, National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBC) principles, Building Talent and Capabilities, Customer Development, Consumer and Market Insights, Research & Development, Code of Business Principles (CoBP), and Policy Advocacy | 100.0% |
| Key Managerial Personnel | 6 | 100.0% | |
| Employees other than BoD and KMPs## | 1@ | Introduction to Sustainability, HUL ESG Goals, Climate Change, Human Rights, Health and Safety, and Skill Upgradation | 92.2% |
| Workers## | 1@ | 94.4% |
Above table represents
HUL's Board of Directors and Key Managerial Personnel.
@ During the year, we rolled out a comprehensive training module to drive awareness among our employees and workers on the above topics, as
represented in the table. In addition to this, we undertook various thematic training programmes across the organisation during the year.
## Employees and workers include
both permanent and other than permanent/contractual (including part time).
EI-2. Details of fines / penalties / punishment / award / compounding fees / settlement amount paid in proceedings (by the entity or by directors / KMPs) with regulators/ law enforcement agencies/ judicial institutions, in the financial year, in the following format (Note: the entity shall make disclosures based on materiality as specified in Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Obligations) Regulations, 2015 and as disclosed on the entity’s website)
During FY 2023-24, there were no material fines / penalties / punishments / awards / compounding fees / settlements as specified in Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Obligations) Regulations, 2015 imposed on the Company or its Directors/KMPs.
EI-3. Of the instances disclosed in Question 2 above, details of the Appeal / Revision preferred in cases where monetary or non-monetary action has been appealed.
Not Applicable
EI-4. Does the entity have an Anti-Corruption or Anti-Bribery Policy? If yes, provide details in brief and if available, provide a web link to the Policy.
Yes, one of the five pillars of our code policy focuses on countering corruption. Under this pillar, various policies address bribery, money laundering, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and more. All these policies can be referred at Link. Our commitment to doing business with integrity requires consistently high standards. We have built a strong reputation for being an ethical, trustworthy company. We are responsible for protecting that reputation by conducting our business with integrity as we interact with business partners, consumers, and public authorities. Dealings with public officials are particularly high risk; even the appearance of illegal conduct could cause significant damage to our reputation. Accordingly, our zero-tolerance approach towards bribery and corruption applies to all our operations and prohibits any kind of bribery.
EI-5. Number of Directors/KMPs/employees/workers against whom disciplinary action was taken by any law enforcement agency for the charges of bribery/ corruption.
During FY 2023-24, there were no charges of bribery/corruption by any law enforcement agency against our Directors/KMPs/employees/workers.
| Category | FY 2023-24 | FY 2022-23 |
|---|---|---|
| Directors | - | - |
| KMPs | - | - |
| Employees | - | - |
| Workers | - | - |
EI-6. Details of complaints with regard to conflict of interest:
During FY 2023-24, there were no complaints concerning conflicts of interest against the Directors and KMPs.
| Category | FY 2023-24 | Remarks | FY 2022-23 | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of complaints received in relation to issues of conflict of interest of the Directors | - | - | - | - |
| Number of complaints received in relation to issues of conflict of interest of the KMPs | - | - | - | - |
EI-7. Provide details of any corrective action taken or underway on issues related to fines / penalties / action taken by regulators/ law enforcement agencies/ judicial institutions, on cases of corruption and conflicts of interest.
Not applicable, as we do not have any instances of corruption/conflicts of interest against Directors and KMPs.
EI-8. Number of days of accounts payables [(Accounts payable *365) / Cost of goods/services procured] in the following format:
| FY 2023-24 | FY 2022-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of days of accounts payables | 85 days | 80 days |
EI-9. Open-ness of business: Provide details of concentration of purchases and sales with trading houses, dealers, and related parties along-with loans and advances & investments, with related parties, in the following format:
| Parameter | Metrics | FY 2023-24 | FY 2022-23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concentration of purchases | |||
| a. Purchases from trading houses as % of total purchases | 22.8% | 23.0% | |
| b. Number of trading houses where purchases are made from | 296 | 246 | |
| c. Purchases from top 10 trading houses as % of total purchases from trading houses | 51.9% | 59.6% | |
| Concentration of sales | |||
| a. Sales to dealers/distributors as % of total sales | 69.6% | 71.0% | |
| b. Number of dealers/distributors to whom sales are made | 4,394 | 4,455 | |
| c. Sales to top 10 dealers/distributors as % of total sales to dealers/distributors | 4.9% | 5.0% | |
| Share of RPTs* in | |||
| a. Purchases (Purchases with related parties/Total purchases) | 6.2% | 3.4% | |
| b. Sales (Sales to related parties/Total sales) | 1.0% | 1.0% | |
| c. Loans & advances (Loans & advances given to related parties/Total loans & advances) | 69.2% | 66.0% | |
| d. Investments (Investments in related parties/Total investments made) | 17.9% | 25.9% |
*Related party transactions are as per the standalone financial statements of HUL.
Leadership Indicators
LI-1. Awareness programmes conducted for value chain partners on any of the Principles during the financial year:
Our Responsible Partner
Policy (RPP) sets out the requirements that all our suppliers must comply to do
business with us. Our RPP and its Fundamental Principles embody our commitment to
responsible, transparent, and sustainable business.
Each fundamental principle of the RPP guides what HUL expects from its responsible and sustainable suppliers. We are
committed to working with our suppliers on this journey of continuous improvement.
We have also verified alignment to and implementation of the RPP`s mandatory requirements using supplier
self-declarations, online assessments and independent verification, including third-party audits for designated high-risk
countries and supplier types.
| No. | Total number of awareness programmes held | Topics/principles covered under the training | % of value chain partners covered (by value of business done with such partners) under the awareness programmes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One programme (total of 5,301 vendors were trained through digital medium) |
|
|
99.2% |
LI-2. Does the entity have processes in place to avoid/ manage conflict of interests involving members of the Board? (Yes/No) If Yes, provide details of the same.
Yes, we have adopted the ‘Code of Conduct’ for the Board of Directors, which sets clear guidelines for avoiding and disclosing actual or potential conflicts of interest with the Company. We receive an annual declaration and changes, if any, from time to time from our Board of Directors and Senior Management on the Code of Conduct Policy. The Policy is available on our website and can be viewed at Link.