The personnel policy of Síldarvinnslan hf. should ensure company employees good working conditions and possibilities of growing and flourishing in their jobs – employees with the ambition and desire to accompany the firm into the future.
The personnel of Síldarvinnslan hf. perform varied tasks in the harvest of raw materials and the production of food; they acquire raw materials from the ocean, process them into food for consumption in Iceland or abroad, and produce meal and fish oil for feed and aquaculture. In order for this to take place in a systematic, economical manner, Síldarvinnslan Inc. must always employ capable, interested people.
The company’s personnel policy describes its stance on the expectations and demands that management and staff make of each other. This policy is still being formulated, so employees are encouraged to present remarks on points that could be improved. The personnel manager supervises employee affairs, and employees are asked to address him with their suggestions and questions.

Bjorgolfur Johannsson, General Manager of Sildarvinnslan hf

Future vision
The company will grow through more varied business. Aquaculture and the processing of cultured products will increase. The continuing basis will be traditional fishing and the processing of pelagic and benthic fish, but the introduction of fish farming will even out the fluctuations connected with fishing seasons, improving the utilisation of investments in processing.
There will be added emphasis on the managerial independence of each unit, the distribution of authority, and the clear responsibility of managers. Demands on personnel will rise along with additional responsibility. Paralleling the increased demands, emphasis will be placed on the efficient administration of educational undertakings.

Mutual responsibilities and obligations
The managers and employees of Síldarvinnslan shall show loyalty to each other and respect each other’s attitudes.
Managers bear responsibility for the work of their staff. Acquiring good managerial practices is a duty of managers, who must energise personnel in shaping and improving operations. Employees must be informed by managers of their roles and responsibilities and be supported by them in adding to their knowledge and job qualifications. Managers shall always attempt to consult with their employees on matters of the workplace and endeavour to achieve the broadest possible consensus.
Personnel shall be ready for modifications and seek to adjust to the constantly changing demands placed on them due to technological innovations and increased demands from customers. So as to be capable of full-fledged participation, employees must maintain and add to their knowledge, as well as applying themselves to their occupation with responsibility and ambition.
Personnel must nurture their own health and cultivate a healthy lifestyle.

Hiring and transfers
Síldarvinnslan always seeks to engage in its service the most capable personnel possible in consideration of qualification, education and experience of the people concerned. Every applicant has an equal right to a position, and the equal rights policy of the firm will be respected when hiring for jobs. Hiring shall be arranged in a formal manner, with a job description on hand for each position.
Those employees who are interested in transfers inside the company shall turn to the personnel manager with their application; they have priority when jobs become free within the firm. The aim is to advertise free positions inside the company before they are advertised to the public.

Equal rights policy
The policy of Síldarvinnslan is that the most complete equality possible be observed between the sexes and that each employee be evaluated on his or her own terms regarding hiring and job transfers, so as to ensure the best conceivable utilisation of the company’s human resources. Gender discrimination is prohibited, and efforts shall be made to balance the proportions of women and men in the assorted tasks inside the firm, paying equal salaries and the same benefits for equally valuable and comparable work. Women and men shall have equal access to professional education and training.
Sexual harassment, bullying and racial prejudices will not be tolerated, it being company policy to eradicate such discrimination, should it come to light.

Introduction and instruction for recruits
Síldarvinnslan receives new employees in an organised way. The goal of an organised introduction is that employees should grasp their assignments as soon as possible, obtain a positive picture of the firm, become acquainted with their principal colleagues, and find out their rights and obligations.
Newly hired staff will receive instruction on the company’s business and administrative organisation, its personnel policy, procedures and job practices, along with the future vision of Síldarvinnslan.
Síldarvinnslan intends for a manual containing work-related information to be handed over to every new employee on the first day at work. This manual is to be available at every workstation.

Wages and benefits
Síldarvinnslan complies with the provisions of wage contracts in reference to matters of salary, benefits and privileges. The company desires to increase the consideration of responsibility, achievement and success when determining pay.
The target is for Síldarvinnslan to offer its staff comparable pay to the optimum among comparable firms.

Informational and staff meetings
It is the desire of Síldarvinnslan to maintain active relations with staff in order to ensure everyone’s access to necessary information on the business. To this end, regular staff meetings will be held, and the most recent information on operations will always be available at www.svn.is.

Job development
Síldarvinnslan emphasises training and continuing education for its employees, with the instructional objective of personnel becoming better qualified to fulfil the demands of their jobs, involving themselves more actively in the development of work processes and seeking means of increasing efficiency, besides always being prepared to take on new tasks as they arise.
Responsibility for maintaining and increasing the knowledge necessary for an occupation rests equally on employees and managers. The policy is for supervisors to talk to all their workers regarding mutual demands and expectations. Employees and managers are urged to play an active role in regular planning toward job development, and to present comments and suggestions.

Quality goal
The policy of Síldarvinnslan is to make fish products which meet the expectations of the customer, answer demands placed by public bodies, and always fulfil every stipulation mentioned in sales contracts.

Facilities and matters of safety
It is the aim of Síldarvinnslan that all facilities in the working environment should fulfil modern requirements and conform with laws and regulations on safety and facilities in the workplace. At the same time, personnel must comply with the requirements made of them regarding safety and precautions on the job.

Environmental policy
Síldarvinnslan has the goal of operating in the greatest possible harmony with its environment and of contributing to the sustainable utilisation of fish stocks and the improved treatment of the resource. The policy of Síldarvinnslan is to maximise the utilisation of raw materials and energy, systematically endeavouring to increase the use of environmentally friendly energy, to operate in an environmentally acceptable manner at every stage of production, and to produce healthy goods at a high degree of quality. Work is proceeding on implementing green accounting.
In 2002, Síldarvinnslan earned the environmental award of the Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners, given to companies excelling in environmental affairs, the prevention of pollution, and treatment of the natural resource. Síldarvinnslan will ensure that its environmental policy is carried out in varied ways, and that all company personnel are conscious of the policy and have opportunities to participate in formulating and developing it.

Hours of work
Síldarvinnslan emphasises employees being punctual and at work during the hours that have been agreed on and that are expressed in the employment contract. The supervisor or foreman is to observe attendance and absence during working hours, find out reasons for the latter and take action.
The personnel of Síldarvinnslan shall have the possibility of decreasing their work temporarily on account of family responsibilities, for example child care, chronic and difficult illnesses in the family, and other personal reasons. Employees shall have the option of part-time jobs, flexible working hours and flexible vacations, in accordance with the widest allowance of wage contracts and workplace conditions.

Relations in the workplace
Creating a pleasant working atmosphere at the job location is the common responsibility of all employees. The personnel of Síldarvinnslan shall demonstrate the proper respect, a spirit of tolerance and a positive attitude toward their colleagues as well as others.
Síldarvinnslan seeks to nurture confidence in all relations among employees by putting emphasis on implementing its equal rights policy and on employees’ respecting general rules of conduct.

Drugs
At Síldarvinnslan it is impermissible to consume alcohol or drugs or be under their influence at work. Any employee fighting problems with alcohol or drugs can obtain special sick leave for his or her first stay at an institution of treatment. Should the problem not be solved and the person’s work for the company remain unacceptable, this will result in loss of the job.

Retirement
It is the aim of Síldarvinnslan that employees retire from their positions in a positive frame of mind. Efforts will be made to conduct retirement interviews with those leaving the company.
There have to be objective reasons for terminating a worker’s employment. In the event of alleged misdoings on the job, the supervisor must give the worker a reprimand and the opportunity of expressing him or herself on the matter, unless the misdeeds are so serious that they justify termination without notice.
According to the retirement policy of Síldarvinnslan, personnel are to leave their positions no later than at the end of the month in which they turn 67.
The personnel manager provides all additional information on the company’s personnel policy.