Principles and Policies
Every employee at RBC is guided by our vision, "Always
earning the right to be our clients' first choice" and
our values of Service, Teamwork, Responsibility, Diversity
and Integrity.
Guiding workplace principles
What we stand for as an employer is defined in a set of workplace
principles. They guide our continuing efforts to support the
mutual success of employees, clients and shareholders.
- Passion for client success. We value people who are passionate
about putting clients first and about continuously improving
our ability to help our clients succeed.
- Diverse needs and contributions of individuals. We embrace
diversity in people, skills and ideas. We cultivate an environment
where people with diverse backgrounds and approaches come
together to create winning solutions for clients.
- High-performance work environment. Our passion for winning
fuels our desire to be the best that we can be and achieve
all that we are capable of. We have the people and the resources
to enable a high-performance work environment and we make
sure that results are appropriately recognized and rewarded.
- Professional growth. We provide career opportunities
through meaningful growth, as well as the tools, support
and training to ensure success in roles. In return, we expect
employees to grow and excel with the spirit of a professional
and to share responsibility
for career planning.
- Excellence in people management. We understand the essential
role leaders play in engaging employees to deliver top performance.
We're committed to developing effective and inspiring leaders
and people managers who enhance the employee
experience and employee engagement.
- Partner for mutual success. We believe that winning as
individuals, as teams and as an organization requires a
shared sense of purpose, built on open communication, mutual
respect and personal accountability for results.
Policies
Our policies complement our workplace principles. Employee
conduct is governed by an overarching Code of Conduct and
other more specific policies.
RBC's Code of Conduct covers the following principles:
- Upholding the law
- Confidentiality
- Fairness
- Corporate responsibility
- Honouring our trust in you
- Objectivity
- Integrity
- Individual responsibility
The Human Resources Committee and the Corporate Governance
Committee of the Board of Directors regularly review and update
the Code of Conduct. In 2007, we updated our Code of Conduct
for all employees worldwide as well as our Occupational Health
and Safety policy for employees in Canada to reflect changes
in our marketplace,
workplace and legislative environment.
Learn more.
Supplementary policies
Supplementary policies cover a number of additional workplace
issues such as employment equity,
hours of work, compensation
and harassment.
Diversity/Employment Equity
Section 4 of RBC's Code of Conduct is related to equity and
diversity, as follows: "RBC companies are committed to
promoting equal opportunity in all dealings with employees,
clients, suppliers and others. RBC companies abide by the
non-discrimination or human rights legislation in the various
jurisdictions where we operate. These laws often prohibit
discrimination on various grounds, with some examples being
race, colour, religion/creed, age, gender, marital status,
sexual orientation and disability. This is not a complete
list and managers and employees are required to be familiar
with those that apply in their jurisdiction.
Where laws do not prohibit discrimination, or where they
allow for differential treatment, RBC companies are still
committed to non-discrimination principles and will ensure
that they do not operate in a way that simply continues stereotypes
or establishes barriers.
To provide equal opportunity, our federally regulated Canadian
businesses develop annual Employment Equity (EE) plans while
our US based businesses are regulated by affirmative action
and EEO legislation. Contained within our EE plans are programs,
activities and goals to help us achieve more equitable workforces
representative of the communities in which we work and live.
In 2004, we created a formal diversity management structure
with responsibilities assigned within each of our businesses.
Working Hours
RBC has a formal policy on Working Hours, revised in December
2003, and available to all employees online.
In general, under regular scheduling practices, the normal
hours of work will not exceed 7 1/2 hours in a day and 37
1/2 hours in a week. Employees normally have 2 consecutive
days off in each week.
RBC's Work Life programs provide options for modified work
weeks and outline the process for putting flexible work arrangements
in place. With such modified schedules, daily and weekly hours
of work and overtime pay provisions may vary from regular
scheduling practices.
Harassment
Harassment is not tolerated at any RBC company and complaints
are dealt with promptly and impartially. All complaints are
thoroughly investigated in a discreet manner and as confidentially
as possible.
Section 8 of RBC's Code of Conduct, called "Individual
Responsibility' covers harassment, and reads:
Employees have every right to work in an environment that
is free from harassment. As a result, all RBC employers will
take every reasonable measure to ensure that no employee is
subjected to such abuse.
Harassment involves conduct that interferes with a climate
of understanding and a mutual respect for the dignity and
worth of each person. It undermines the integrity of the employment
relationship, erodes morale and interferes with the productivity
of its victims and their co-workers. Examples of harassment
include, but are not limited to:
- verbal abuse or threats
- unwelcome remarks or jokes
- innuendo or taunting about something an individual could
consider offensive e.g. an individual's body, race, colour,
attire, age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin,
religion, etc.
- leering or other gestures
- displaying pornographic, racist, or other offensive or
derogatory pictures or material
- practical jokes which cause awkwardness or embarrassment
- unwelcome invitations or requests
Other issues
While we do not have formal policies on every issue, we do
have points of view on issues such as freedom
of association, child labour, human
rights and the UN Global Compact.
Freedom of Association
RBC operates in 38 countries. The majority of our workforce
is employed in geographic cultures where unionization is not
the prevalent system for managing employee relations. In fact,
unionization in Canada and the United States is not as prevalent
as it is in many European countries. In Canada, unions represent
about 18 per cent of the private sector workforce, and only
about 10 per cent in the financial services/insurance/real
estate sector.
RBC has two bargaining units in the Caribbean, with about
80 employees represented by two trade unions. Given this small
number, we do not have a policy governing freedom of association.
Our goal is to continually strive to create an environment
where individuals will not feel they need to be represented
by a third party. However, a decision to be represented by
a third party is one that must be made by employees themselves
and we respect each employee's right to choose.
Child Labour
RBC does not have a formal policy statement on child or forced
labour, given the nature of our business as a financial institution
operating in developed nations. However, we do include child
labour provisions in outsourcing and procurement contracts
involving developing nations.
Human Rights
RBC companies abide by the non-discrimination or human rights
legislation in the various jurisdictions where we operate,
such as the Canadian Human Rights Act. These laws often prohibit
discrimination on various grounds, with some examples being
race, colour, religion/creed, age, gender, marital status,
sexual orientation, disability. This is not a complete list
and managers and employees are required to be familiar with
laws that apply in their jurisdiction.
Where laws do not prohibit discrimination, or where they
allow for differential treatment, RBC companies are still
committed to non-discrimination principles and will ensure
that we do not operate in a way that continues stereotypes
or establishes barriers. RBC's own Code of Conduct also states
that RBC will not operate in a way that continues stereotypes
and establishes barriers.
Our policy on human rights addresses all the relevant company
activities, is reviewed regularly and approved by our board.
Our code
of conduct, is available throughout the company and on
this web site. In 2005, all RBC units in the United States
posted a notice to employees outlining their rights, benefits
and obligations, to comply with a new federal law under the
Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA).
Global Compact
As of June 2006, RBC is not a signatory to the UN Global
Compact. We have evaluated this voluntary international code,
and believe that the UN Global Compact is currently less relevant
for service companies operating primarily in Canada and the
United States (such as RBC) than it is for higher-impact industries
operating in developing nations. However, we do have the GC
on our watch list and will re-evaluate our position on an
ongoing basis.
Compensation /Policy on Wages
RBC's compensation philosophy was updated in 2003, and is
based on a partnership model that rewards employees for performance,
providing competitive compensation and benefit programs that
attract and retain talented people, whose contribution enhances
shareholder value.
To remain competitive, we regularly review the wide range
of RBC compensation and benefit programs, ensuring our programs
are competitive within each business or functional unit and
competitive within each business unit's specific external
market. This policy covers 100 per cent of RBC's employee
base:
Our "Total Rewards" package includes:
- base salary
- performance-based incentive pay
- employee savings and share ownership plans
- benefit programs
- pension programs
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