23
Corporate Social Responsibility
Being a global leader in our field, Sarine is committed to excellence and
leadership in research and development, in quality manufacturing, in
sales ethics and in customer service and support. It is our sincerest belief
that we can and do contribute to the industry, by offering products and
services that inspire confidence, both in our client manufacturers and in
the consumer public, in the quality and value of the polished diamonds
produced and offered for sale.
As a respectable member of the modern business environment, we
have adopted a Code of Ethics to guarantee we create and maintain
appropriate relationships with our business partners, customers and
employees, based on all relevant legal statutes, mutual respect, fair play,
transparency and sustainable long-term business practices.
Following are the key tenets of our Code of Ethics on which we base our
everyday business execution:
• We treat our business partners, customers and employees with
fairness and dignity.
• To the best of our ability, we create a safe and protective work
environment for our employees, and we offer our customers safe
products, with which to similarly create a safe work environment for
their employees.
• In order to ensure operator safety, our products and services undergo
strict checks, which are constantly revisited by our own engineers
and by third-party experts. Operating instructions and / or training
are provided, as applicable, with regard to the proper and safe use of
our products and, where necessary, built-in safeguards are provided
to prevent inadvertent unsafe operation.
• Wherever applicable, we ourselves employ, and we instruct our
customers as to how to similarly take, all necessary measures for
the safe and environmentally friendly use and disposal of even
marginally hazardous materials, as per directions from appropriately
authorised expert consultants.
• We believe our business does not impact the ecological balance
of our environment and does not have any influence on the
sustainability of the industry or the human / natural fabric in which
we operate.
• Our human resources policies protect the rights and interests of the
Group’s employees, as dictated by all applicable laws. Moreover,
we go beyond statutory requirements to ensure a beneficial
employment environment for our employees. In India, for example,
the Group’s Indian subsidiary actively ensures that all its employees
and their immediate families receive an annual expanded medical
checkup, on the company’s premises and in lieu of working time,
with a view to promote their healthcare.
• We maintain strict policies with regard to equality in the workplace,
regardless of sex, age, religion, ethnicity, disability or other
personal traits or beliefs, including the strict and swift treatment
of any sexual harassment incidents, so as to provide a fair, safe and
amicable workplace.
• We actively seek to employ employees living with various disabilities
in order to promote equal opportunities in the workplace.
• We strive to offer our employees engaging career paths, advancing
them professionally with appropriate training.
• We maintain open communication lines between all our employees
and the various levels of management, encouraging our employees
to comment on, improve and critique the Company’s activities.
We have put in place a formal whistleblower policy, encouraging
employees and business partners to report on any illegal, improper
or unfair practises they may encounter in their dealings with Sarine.
• We reward our employees for their contribution to the Group’s
success, either by cash bonuses, grants of options or otherwise.
• The Group organizes multiple annual sports and leisure activities for
the employees and their families, so as to enhance the team spirit of
our employees and reward them for their performance.
The Group and its employees see great importance in giving back
to the community. In recent years we have participated in local and
national programs for the support of the weaker and less privileged
segments of our society, such as employee volunteering in a mentoring
program for weaker students sponsored by the Kfar Saba Municipality,
participation in activities sponsored by the Israel Centre for Assistive
Devices, Building and Transportation for the Disabled, and Leket Israel,
the country’s largest food bank and food rescue network working to
alleviate the problem of nutritional insecurity. Sarine annually enrolls
in the nationally-sponsored “Day of Good Deeds”, where management
and employees execute specific projects to the benefit of the needy.
To demonstrate our commitment to these important issues, the Group
underwrites these activities by permitting staff to participate in the
aforesaid activities at the expense of normal working hours.
In India, our most significant market, we have also adopted and
implemented a corporate social responsibility policy. In such context,
in 2014 we collaborated with the Surat Diamond Association to provide
free specialized medical checkups at a Surat, Gujarat hospital on two
occasions to several hundred members of the community, and also
organized a successful voluntary blood donation drive.
As a global player of significance in the diamond industry, commencing
in 2013, Sarine decided to broaden its participation in social welfare
activities beyond Israel’s borders. The Group has become a supporting
member of the Diamond Empowerment Fund, along with other
leading players in the worldwide diamond industry. The Diamond
Empowerment Fund is a non-profit organization, funding education
initiatives that develop and empower youth in the diamond producing
countries in Africa. For more information on the fund, please visit
Gardening and Painting at Pediatric Dept., Ziv Hospital
Sarine Technologies Ltd. • Annual Report
2014