Good management-employee relations help maintain industrial peace. We manage any risks of work stoppage by actively promoting harmony in the workplace through regular communication and dialogue, good faith and transparency, fairness and cooperation. 

EDC’s Policy Manual contains a specific labor-relations policy. This includes provisions for the creation of labor-management councils in all our collective bargaining agreements.

We respect freedom of association and establish strong and cooperative relationships with our labor unions. Regular dialogue helps EDC manage the needs and concerns of the workforce and allows us to assess and evaluate our performance in this regard.

We seek to promote a positive safety culture across the organization. 

Our new Corporate Health and Safety Policy provides for a safe and healthy working environment for all employees, contractors, and various stakeholders. Our Health and Safety Center of Excellence translates this policy into health and safety strategies, programs, and standards, which are communicated and applied consistently across EDC. We also comply with international guidelines and standards on labor and occupational health and safety (OHS).

Our partner contractors share in this responsibility for health and safety. We conduct fleet-wide safety training with experts for employees and contractors to ensure safety management throughout operations. We have a Contractor Health and Safety Management Program, which requires them to attend and pass the Safety Passport Training before entry and work in EDC workplaces. Our third-party agreements also require compliance with the Independent Contractor Health, Safety, and Environment Requirement.

We measure our performance and the effectiveness of our Health and Safety Management System. We practice incident reporting and record management to collect, maintain, and monitor all necessary health and safety performance data. 

EDC exerts significant effort to improve on safety performance. To do this, we conduct regular assessments, as well as internal and external audits seek to ensure that we are meeting our goals and effectively managing OHS risks in our workplaces.  Our targets are zero fatality, zero lost-time incidents, and a total recordable incident rate of 0.1.

EDC provides our people with the training and development that will help them be the best in their chosen fields. Well-trained and motivated employees will strengthen our leadership in geothermal power and boost our global reputation. Therefore, it is our policy to support employee training and education, both in the Philippines and abroad, and to finance relevant postgraduate courses and training in specialized non-degree courses. 

EDC also implements a leadership development program to support succession planning and management. We monitor the career development of each person on our team to ensure their growth in the company. EDC also invests in upgrading skills and promotes lifelong learning programs to ensure their continued employability and to facilitate their transition to retirement.

EDC is an equal opportunity employer and we uphold this principle in our workplace and across all our sites. We do not discriminate against any persons seeking employment with the company and treat everyone with the respect and dignity that they deserve. EDC’s Wage and Salary Administration Policy guides our approach to promotions in the company. We evaluate, appraise, and compensate our employees based on their performance in the company. 

We remain cognizant of the direct and indirect impacts of our business operations to our host and neighboring communities within all our project sites.

Guided by our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Policy, we strive to enhance the positive impacts we bring to our host communities and address development issues such as poverty and lack of access to basic services. We firmly believe that our presence helps catalyze our host communities towards positive and productive action.

Ultimately, our strategic CSR programs aim to empower our different stakeholders and partner communities towards becoming proactive agents of their own development to break the cycle of poverty and dependence.

We monitor and measure our impacts based on project objectives, quantitative targets, and simple cost-benefit analysis. We also monitor and evaluate each project through our bi-annual Social Acceptability Monitoring, Sustainability Assessment Tool, and Social Impact Assessment, all of which have been developed based on widely accepted local and international literature and methods. Our social development initiatives are guided by both local CSR regulations and international standards and best practices in community engagement.

Guided by a strategic framework, our approach to social responsibility supports not only the growth and profitability of our business, but also the continued protection and sustainability of the environment and its natural resources and the long-term improvement of the quality of life of all our host communities.

Our commitment to social responsibility is evident in how it is managed—it is an issue that is tackled at the highest level of our organization. Our board of directors has a CSR Committee, composed of at least three members of the board. As such, they provide leadership and oversight over the management of our strategic CSR programs, which, in turn, enable the company to deliver effective CSR initiatives that contribute greatly to our triple bottom line.

Our Corporate Social Responsibility Head Office Team (CSR-HO), on the other hand, oversees the systems and structures related to our strategic CSR portfolio and provides direction on policy implementation. As such, it provides technical assistance to our on-site CSR and Watershed Management Section (WMS), both of which form teams on the ground and at the national level which activate partnerships to help us achieve our strategic CSR goals.

Accordingly, EDC establishes a Community Partnerships Department (CPD) in each of its project sites across the country. At the community level, the CPD teams develop and operationalize our CSR agenda and serve as the company’s front-liners to implement its strategic CSR programs and activities.

EDCs shares its commitment to protect our labor force and promote employee rights with our network of suppliers. We only engage with legal contractors that operate in compliance with labor laws and with no labor or human rights cases filed against them. The terms and conditions of our contracts require that our independent contractors strictly abide with all applicable laws governing labor, employment, and contracting. 

Our contractors must fulfill all legal obligations to their personnel. This includes the provision of compensation, wages and or fees, and all mandatory benefits related to labor, social security, health and taxes. We require our business partners to submit an affidavit of compliance with minimum wage and other government mandated benefits, such as SSS and PhilHelath. This submission comprises part of our vendors’ documentary requirements for payment.

EDC operates in compliance with the labor laws and upholds human rights in all our sites and facilities.  We also engage our stakeholders –employees, customers, and shareholders—in this effort. 

EDC has a Whistleblower Policy, which encourages our stakeholders to raise serious concerns involving labor practices and human rights violations. This includes reporting illegal and questionable activities or omissions, unethical behavior, fraud, and other malpractices prior to seeking resolution outside the company. The policy also protects those who report on such matters from harassment, retaliation, reprisal, or any adverse consequences. Our Whistleblower Policy provides the procedures for whistleblowing, as well as the rights and responsibilities of the involved parties.