british american tobacco p.l.c. sustainability report 2009 - GRIs: Labour practices

LA1 Total workforce by employment type, employment contract and region

This information is more relevant locally and we do not collate global data on it. The total number of people employed by Group subsidiaries at the end of 2009 was 61,053.

LA2 Total number and rate of employee turnover by age group, gender and region

We do not collate global data on all employment changes. Managerial data are as follows:

LA3 Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-time employees, by major operations

We do not collate this information globally as we do not believe this is a significant issue for us. Our Employment Principles make clear our strategy of ensuring that our reward levels are highly competitive within the local area. We are confident that through regular external benchmarking with comparator organisations, we remain a generous benefit provider.

You can download a copy of our Employment Principles at www.bat.com/principles .

LA4 Percentage of employees covered by collective bargaining agreements

This information is more relevant locally and we do not collate global data on it.

LA5 Minimum notice period(s) regarding significant operational changes, including whether it is specified in collective agreements

Our Employment Principles make clear that, where restructuring is necessary, we are committed to doing so in a responsible manner. Where such situations do occur, our companies adopt responsible local approaches and procedures to address each instance, including severance pay and any other measures as may be appropriate to the situation and location, including outplacement support to help displaced employees to find alternative employment.

You can download a copy of our Employment Principles at www.bat.com/principles .

LA6 Percentage of total workforce represented in formal joint management-worker health and safety committees that help monitor and advise on occupational health and safety programmes

This information is more relevant locally and we do not collate global data on it.

LA7 Rates of injury, occupational diseases, lost days, absenteeism and total number of work-related fatalities

There were 28 cases of serious injury or fatality in 2009, involving 22 employees and six contractors. The highest proportions of injuries were vehicle related at 25 per cent (17.3 per cent in 2008), slips and trips at 22 per cent (26.6 per cent in 2008) and manual activity at 20 per cent (21 per cent in 2008). Entrapment accidents increased to 12 per cent compared to 9.8 per cent in 2008.

Of the 28 incidents, three were fatalities (all employees), compared to three fatal incidents in 2008 (one employee and two contractors). One was the result of an attack during a robbery, and two others resulted from vehicle accidents. We greatly regret this loss of life. We review every major incident to identify any action that can be taken to improve the health and safety of our people and those we work with.

LA8 Education, training, counselling, prevention and risk-control programmes in place to assist workforce members, their families, or community members regarding serious diseases

We believe this information is more relevant locally and we do not collate global data on it. Information on our Significant Endemic Diseases programme can be found at www.bat.com/ehs .

LA9 Health and safety topics covered in formal agreements with trade unions

We do not report on this indicator as we do not believe it is relevant to our business.

LA10 Average hours of training per year per employee by employee category

We believe this information is more relevant locally and we do not collate global data on it. We do not limit learning to ‘off-the-job’ education activities and we provide comprehensive global frameworks for development planning as well as performance management. Our global learning strategy is to build capabilities through a focus on coaching and by enhancing our ability to connect, collaborate and share.

We place considerable emphasis on creating a coaching culture throughout the organisation, as we believe that training and development should take place as close as possible to the work being done and that coaching is the right way to develop leaders at all levels, to share knowledge and to build better business solutions. We therefore do not foresee training hours becoming the right measure to determine if we are developing our people.

Our Group Employment Principles specifically cover learning and development and the provision of opportunities and also emphasise the importance of personal responsibility for growth.

You can download a copy of our Employment Principles at www.bat.com/principles .

LA11 Programmes for skills management and lifelong learning that support the continued employability of employees and assist them in managing career endings

Our Group Employment Principles make clear that we expect any restructuring to be carried out responsibly. Group companies implementing closure or downsizing are encouraged to make a social assessment and to consider ways of mitigating the impact.

We expect our companies to be as considerate as possible with severance pay and redundancy support and, wherever possible, to support employees in gaining alternative employment through a mix of counselling, outplacement services and skills retraining.

You can download a copy of our Employment Principles at www.bat.com/principles .

LA12 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews

All our management employees around the world have access to our electronic performance management and career development systems. For non-management employees, processes vary in line with local practice. These systems enable objectives to be set for each employee for the forthcoming year and for achievement against those objectives to be recorded. The systems also contain development and career planning information which feeds through to our training and career management systems.

All management employees are expected to complete the performance appraisal process. The approach to performance and career development for employees in our companies is managed locally.

LA13 Composition of governance bodies and breakdown of employees per category according to gender, age group, minority group membership, and other indicators of diversity

Data for all employees are not collected globally. However, the gender breakdown for management employees and governance bodies is as follows:

At 31 December 2009, the Management Board had 13 members and the Board of British American Tobacco p.l.c. had 11 members, three Executive Directors and eight Non-Executive Directors, including the Chairman.

LA14 Ratio of basic salary of men to women by employee category

We believe this information is more relevant locally and we do not collate global data on it.