Employees & Society

We are aware of our social responsibility towards employees and society. We respect and value diversity in cultural, social, political and national terms in our workforce and in the countries and societies where we operate as a company. Within the company and in the supply chain, we are committed to compliance with internationally applicable labour rights, such as the guidelines and standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

With the DEKRA social standards, which were adopted in 2019, we commit ourselves to principles based on the ILO standards in the following areas: Discrimination and disadvantages, equal opportunities, occupational health and safety, working hours and remuneration, freedom of association and co-determination, freedom of expression and privacy, and the exclusion of child labour, forced labour, slavery and human trafficking.

The safety and health of our employees is our highest priority. The global occupational safety and health protection management team works throughout the Group to further improve occupational safety at DEKRA. It is our aim to prevent and further reduce occupational accidents and to eliminate potential hazards.

We demand that the provision and assurance of safe and healthy working conditions is ensured and that at least the respective national standards are observed with regard to occupational health and safety. Internal developments in the area of safety and health and corresponding key figures are monitored and evaluated and, based on this, possible improvement measures are derived and implemented.

Occupational safety and health at DEKRA (PDF, 877 KB)

Teamwork, mutual trust, loyalty and integrity are the basis of our cooperation and are part of our values. We aim to offer attractive, innovative and secure jobs. The dialogue with our employees is very important to us. We are in a constant and trusting exchange with our employees and employee representatives. Communication across all levels and the identification of potential for improvement has been achieved, among other things, through the introduction of a global employee survey.

All employees have been surveyed every two years since 2017 about their views and perceptions of their work experience at DEKRA. The results are analysed within the framework of designed team dialogues between managers and employees, necessary measures are defined and then implemented. Our employees are questioned about working conditions and general developments in the company. Through their active participation, employees can also contribute to sustainability issues.

For DEKRA as a modern employer, topics such as work-life balance, diversity and employee development continue to be of growing importance. Diversity and equal opportunities are strategic success factors for us. In an increasingly globalised, networked and disruptive market environment, the diverse perspectives and backgrounds of our employees, for example in terms of internationality, interculturality, gender, age groups, or training paths, increase our innovative strength, customer orientation and employer attractiveness. Furthermore, we do not allow any form of discrimination or disadvantage on the basis of gender, age, social origin, nationality, religious or political conviction, sexual orientation and disability.

We reinforce our goal of an inclusive organisation through the DEKRA Guideline for Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Treatment, which comprises the three central fields of action: organisational culture, (HR) processes and networks & initiatives. As a signatory to the German Diversity Charter (“ Charta der Vielfalt ”), we are committed to promoting diversity and an open and appreciative working environment.

In the event of complaints and suspected cases relating to divesrity and discrimination, affected employees, business partners or other stakeholders can contact the relevant Compliance Reporting Office openly or optionally anonymously.

Diversity Policy (PDF, 833 KB)

We also attach great importance to the training and further education of our employees. The expertise of our employees is decisive for the quality and reliability of our services. Continuous staff training is very important for us as a company and for our employees as experts. We aim to increase the average annual training days per employee to >5 days by 2025.

The digital transformation process in the field of training and further education at DEKRA is in full progress. Numerous innovative tools such as the global DEKRA Learning Management System (LMS) make it possible to provide digital learning content at a central point in a flexible and target group-oriented manner. Lifelong learning also increasingly means enabling our employees in the context of digitalization. The DEKRA DIGITAL Academy was created specifically for this purpose: an area for learning, exchanging and discussing topics that affect us now and in the future.

Even as a service provider with a comparatively less complex supply chain, we take our human rights due diligence seriously. Within the company and in the supply chain, we are committed to the adherence of the internationally applicable human rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations General Assembly and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The DEKRA social standards represent our declaration of principle on respect for labour and human rights and describe the corresponding processes for effective implementation. They take up the requirements of the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and the German National Action Plan (NAP) for Business and Human Rights.

In our Global Purchasing function, we have established and are continuously developing standards and processes for purchasing and supply chain management with regard to human rights and sustainability in general.

Social Standards

Our declaration of Principles for Respect for Labour- and Human Rights.

Social Standards

Compliance Reporting Office