Business ethics

Internal audits on corruption and Human Rights Charter

2015

2016¹

2017

2018
Merck Group²

2018
thereof Merck KGaA³

1	Includes Sigma-Aldrich as of 2016
2	Consumer Health business has been out of Internal Auditing scope since September 2017.
3	Includes global audits which are conducted at the headquarters in Darmstadt and/or the management of the audited function is reporting into KGaA.

Number of audits relating to corruption

% of audits relating to corruption

Number of audits relating to the workplace requirements of our Human Rights Charter

In 2018, we audited 18% of all Merck subsidiaries (status June 2018, excluding minority holdings), covering approximately 27% of all sales generated between the third quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2018.

In 2018, during 46 of our audits conducted in 27 countries, we additionally reviewed workplace parameters as per our Human Rights Charter. No violations were identified.

XLS

Reported compliance violations

2015

2016¹

2017

2018
Merck Group

2018
thereof Merck KGaA

1	Includes Sigma-Aldrich as of 2016

Total number of reported compliance violations

Number of reported compliance incidents

Number of confirmed cases

confirmed cases by category

Violation of the Merck Human Rights Charter

Bribery and Corruption

Violation of the Merck Pharmaceutical Guidelines

Violation of Data Privacy and Confidentiality Guidelines

Manipulation of Business Documents

Violation of cartel laws and fair competition rules

Infringements in the areas of finance, accounting and banking

Theft and fraudulent Actions against Merck

Other violations of the Merck Compliance Principles for the relations with Business Partners

Other violations of Merck values, internal guidelines or legal requirements

XLS

Compliance training

2015

2016¹

2017¹

2018
Merck Group²

2018
thereof Merck KGaA²

1	From 2016 on, these figures include Sigma-Aldrich, however as of Dec. 31, 2017 the job grading system had not yet been implemented for employees of Sigma-Aldrich legal entities in Germany, or for employees of Allergopharma. In the facts and figures, these employees are included under “employees below Role 2”.
2	In 2018, our job grading system had not yet been applied to the employees of Sigma Aldrich in Steinheim (Germany), or to those of Allergopharma. In the facts and figures for 2018, these employees are included under “employees below Role 2”.
3	Includes contractors, external supervised workers (e.g. temps) and contract partners working on-site who were trained on anti-corruption guidelines (2018: 249).
4	Figure retroactively adjusted.
5	As of 2016, we are also reporting the training rate by region. No such data was tracked for the preceding year.

Total number of persons trained on anti-corruption guidelines³

20,404

29,764

17,044

11,404

1,254

Total number of employees trained on anti-corruption guidelines

17,378

25,889

13,345

11,155

1,245

% of employees trained on anti-corruption

by employee category

Number of Role 2+ employees trained on anti-corruption

12,747

14,379

7,080

9,257

1,017

% of Role 2+ employees trained on anti-corruption

% of employees below Role 2 trained on anti-corruption

23⁴

by region (%)⁵

Europe

–

North America

–

not applicable

Asia-Pacific (APAC)

–

not applicable

Latin America

–

not applicable

Middle East and Africa (MEA)

–

not applicable

In order to address the special responsibility held by management personnel, as well as by staff with HR responsibility, these employees are increasingly receiving training on anti-corruption guidelines. This applies to all employees rated Role 2+.

Our compliance and anti-corruption principles are communicated to all our business partners, who undergo a Business Partner Risk Management (BPRM) process.

Training increased in 2016, due to the initial integration of employees of Sigma-Aldrich, a company acquired at the end of 2015.

XLS

Legal actions

2015

2016

2017

2018
Merck Group¹

2018 thereof
Merck KGaA

1	Excludes Consumer Health
2	As published in the annual reports, the herein listed total number of legal actions refers to the significant legal risks as per the company’s definition. The significance of legal risks is based on potential negative effects on projected financial objectives as well as on the probability of occurrence.

Total number² of legal actions pending or completed (for anti-competitive behavior, violations of anti-trust or violations of monopoly legislation)

pending

completed

For further information please see our annual reports:

Annual Report 2015, pages 128-129 and pages 212-213, no. 27
Annual Report 2016, pages 135-136 and pages 228-229, no. 26
Annual Report 2017, pages 148-150 and pages 252-254, no. 27
Annual Report 2018, pages 146-148 and pages 247-251, no. 26

XLS

Customer privacy¹

2015

2016

2017²

2018

1	This data only reflects incidents classified as significant.
2	Includes Sigma-Aldrich as of 2017

Total number of substantiated complaints received from outside parties

Total number of complaints from regulatory bodies

Total number of identified leaks, thefts, or losses of customer data

Role

Merck uses a market-oriented system to rate positions within the company. To facilitate consistency across the organization, each position is assigned a specific role, with an overarching job architecture classifying each role as one of 11 levels, 15 functions and an array of career types (Core Operations, Services & Support Groups; Experts; Managers; Project Managers).

Merck Corporate Responsibility Report 2018

TAG overview

Results

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