KT&G Recognized for Equal Pay

KT&G has received Equal Salary Certification, making it the first listed Korean company to do so.

This certification verifies that the company implements an equal wage policy for employees with the same qualifications regardless of gender and provides opportunities such as recruitment, evaluation and promotion in an open and fair way. Accredited by the European Commission, it is a certification system organized by the Equal Salary Foundation, a nonprofit foundation in Switzerland.

KT&G decided to obtain the certification in order to have its personnel system, including wage policy, officially verified according to the objective standards of an independent professional institution and to use this as a starting point for advanced human rights management. To obtain the certification, the company underwent a rigorous screening process for about five months.

With this certification, KT&G has been recognized for having a fair personnel system based on an equal wage policy and systematic human rights management. Specifically, recruitment is operated blindly for the purpose of competency-based, nondiscriminatory selection, and evaluation and promotion are conducted through fair procedures such as interviews, an objection system and a promotion review committee rather than by way of notification. Also, to enable employees to balance work and family life, the company has paid leave systems such as maternity leave and parental leave of up to two years per child, childcare allowances and support for fertility treatment expenses for supporting childbirth and childcare.

Meanwhile, KT&G was selected as Korea’s best job creator and work-life balance provider by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and was certified as an excellent family-friendly company by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, having proven its efforts to communicate with employees and develop a fair and open HR system.

“This equal wage certification is the result of the company and its employees developing human rights management policies through active communication,” said Bok-in Baek, president and CEO of KT&G, in a statement. “KT&G plans to continuously develop inclusive and fair policies for all employees to strengthen the company’s fundamental competitiveness.”