Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Table of Contents
Norwegian’s Group People Policy
.................................................................................................................................................... 1
1. Purpose and scope ...................................................................................................................... 2
2. People policy principles ............................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Our values and operational priorities.................................................................................. 2
2.2 Norwegian’s People Principles ............................................................................................ 2
3. Responsibilities ............................................................................................................................ 3
3.1 Your responsibilities as a Norwegian employee ................................................................. 3
3.2 Responsibilities as a Norwegian leader of people............................................................... 5
3.3 Responsibilities of the Human Resources (HR) department ............................................... 6
3.4 Corporate Responsibility and Serving society ..................................................................... 8
4. Our culture .................................................................................................................................. 8
4.1 Our Conduct ........................................................................................................................ 8
4.2 Communication ................................................................................................................... 9
4.3 Customer relations .............................................................................................................. 9
4.4 Email culture........................................................................................................................ 9
4.5 Meeting culture ................................................................................................................. 10
4.6 Confidentiality ................................................................................................................... 10
4.7 Data Protection ................................................................................................................. 11
5. Health and Safety and other psychosocial issues ..................................................................... 11
5.1 Health ................................................................................................................................ 11
5.2 Following-up employees on sick leave .............................................................................. 11
5.3 Drugs and alcohol and other addictive behaviour at work ............................................... 12
5.4 Holidays ............................................................................................................................. 12
5.5 Safety ................................................................................................................................. 12
6. References ................................................................................................................................. 13
Doc. history ....................................................................................................................................... 13
This People Policy sets out the fundamental principles that guide us in the way we work towards
fulfilling Norwegian’s vision and goals. The People Policy outlines the various responsibilities of
Norwegian, the HR department, leaders and employees1 in making our place of work a professional
and positive workplace with a respectful, open and including working environment.
This policy applies to all people working for the Norwegian Group.
The way we conduct business at Norwegian is guided by our values and operational priorities.
Our values are Innovation, Teamwork and Simplicity. These are the values that represent our overall
culture and guide us in the way we behave when carrying out our work and when meeting our
customers - both internal and external.
Our operational priorities are Safety, Service and Simplicity. They represent our focus when it comes
to how we carry out our operations.
The HR department is committed to managing employment relationships based on our values and
our People Policy. We aim to:
1) Show respect to everyone working for Norwegian, taking into full account the cultural
diversity that exists within the Group, and respecting each-other’s differences
2) Support line managers2 in creating an environment free from discrimination, bullying and
harassment
1
For the purposes of this policy “employee” refers to all personnel working for the Norwegian Group globally including fully/partly-owned
subsidiaries and any third parties acting on behalf of Norwegian.
2
The term «Line manager» is used to mean the employee’s immediate superior – the person who has personnel responsibility for the
employee on a daily basis - irrespective of position title.
3. Responsibilities
It is your responsibility to know our vision and values and carry out your work in a manner that
supports them.
It is your responsibility to know and uphold Norwegian’s Group policies, company regulations, local
policies, procedures, processes as well as the rules and regulations related to your professional group
(e.g. cabin crew3, flight deck crew, maintenance, technical etc.).
Work is always to be carried out from the assigned place of work or office in accordance with your
contract and as instructed by your line manager or other relevant party4. If your place of work is
usually at an office, a request to work from home for a few hours or a day may be granted by your
line manager as an exception to this rule and under special circumstances.
3
Instructions for flight crew are available in OM-A,
4
E.g. Employer or base chief
Norwegian has responsibility for providing you with the annual leave that you are entitled to, but you
are responsible for ensuring that you plan your leave with the appropriate relevant party (e.g. Crew
Plan or your line manager) and take out that leave.
Some groups of personnel at Norwegian are required to wear uniform. If you belong to one such
group, the uniform regulations must be adhered to without exception and according to the relevant
policy/guidelines. Religious attire/headgear, and charity bracelets or pins, can only be worn if you do
not belong to a group of employees required to wear uniform. When interfacing with customers you
are to be aware at all times that you represent Norwegian, and shall behave politely, respectfully and
dress accordingly – either in uniform, overalls/safety clothing, or smart business clothes.
All employees have a work profile on Norwegian’s intranet (currently Red Nose) and Workplace, as
well as Outlook e-mail. In connection with the use of these applications you have a responsibility to
upload a current and suitable portrait photo for business purposes. A photo improves our ability to
recognize each-other when we are away from our pcs, phones or tablets and improves the
communication process. Unsuitable photos will be removed.
It is your responsibility to manage your personal and professional development, using the
appropriate and relevant resources available to you.
As a leader it is your responsibility to actively lead the people that report to you, inspiring them,
informing them and guiding them.
The management of people is a key business process and your responsibility involves5:
i) Leading people as a leader – being a role model – “walking the talk” – living the values
and operational priorities
ii) Inspiring people as a motivator – motivating people to create results
iii) Facilitating or guiding people as a coach and mentor – supporting each individual
employee to achieve their full potential
As a person who leads people, you have a key role in ensuring that our People Policy is clearly
understood. You must ensure that you personally have the mindset, skills and competence to fulfil
the responsibilities of a leader and that you create an environment that embraces our values and
policies.
You are responsible for ensuring that there are clear overall objectives for your area of responsibility
that can form the basis for establishing employee accountabilities and objectives and measuring
employee performance. Managers have a responsibility to support their team in understanding what
is expected of them both in terms of performance and behaviour. The goals that are agreed are to be
realistic. The line manager, ideally, needs to create a desire for success – not a fear of failure.
You are responsible for facilitating a working environment for your team which is conducive to
employee satisfaction; this can involve maintaining good relationships, providing support, avoiding
giving blame, inspiring, keeping a sense of humour and fun, communicating how the work creates
meaning and supports the company’s objectives, being including and respectful. Your team members
should feel comfortable (or even happy!) coming to work every day – not stressed or upset. If it is
necessary to initiate action to improve conditions within the team this too is your responsibility.
Keep an eye on your team’s workload and make sure that employees have enough time to meet
their responsibilities and have a good work-life balance. A rested mind and body boosts productivity,
efficiency and creativity; and a healthy and happy employee is less likely to be ill and less likely to
leave the company.
As a leader with personnel responsibility you are responsible for addressing employees’ concerns and
guiding them on a daily basis, as well as following up operative and administrative issues and
ensuring compliance with Norwegian’s policies, processes and procedures.
Most leaders have responsibility for, amongst others, the following HR processes for their team:
• Recruitment
• On-boarding of new employees
• Transfers between departments
• Salary reviews and other changes in terms and conditions
• Professional development and guidance
The HR department will support you with procedures and advice in all of the HR processes.
As a leader of people, you are expected to be a role model and the following leadership principles
apply:
• Be aware of our core values in your leadership – they are also our leadership values:
Innovation, Teamwork and Simplicity
• Listen actively and with humility, making sure that the message heard was the message sent
• Challenge accepted truths and existing practices and make quality improvement a priority
• Energize your team through focus, communication, agility, enthusiasm, humour, coaching
and active involvement
• Set stretch goals, performance standards and accountabilities and make sure that employees
know what your expectations are
• Achieve results, be decisive and deliver on commitments
• Build a team that work well together, support each-other and complement each-other, and
combat silo mentality through co-operation with other teams
• Share credit, best practice and knowledge
• Provide honest feedback on a day-to-day basis and in performance reviews, and link reward
to performance
• Make transparency your chosen approach in all professional relationships
• Comply with policies and procedures – “walk the talk”
• Be fair and practice equal treatment of all people, regardless of gender, world-life view, skin
colour, national or ethnic origin, labour organisation membership, sexual orientation,
functional disability, age etc.
The Human Resources (HR) department consists of two operational HR divisions and several global
strategic functions such as recruitment, talent and reward, people (employee and union) relations,
organisational development and HSE. The HR department also includes Payroll services, HR processes
and structure and HR Shared services. The HR department carry out a support function for
management in the organization – supporting line managers in their performance as leaders – but
not taking that responsibility from them. The roles in the HR department with global responsibilities,
and the leaders of the two operational divisions, make up the HR leadership team and are often
referred to as Group HR as their areas of responsibility stretch across the entire Norwegian Group.
An HR function is often set up locally in the countries in which Norwegian has bases. These are called
local HR departments. Local HR adapts the global HR strategies and policies to their specific local or
national situation and implements global HR strategies and policies whilst also safeguarding
compliance with local regulations and legislation. Local HR Managers monitor the appropriateness of
the policies for legal entities in their region and suggest improvements.
Local HR Managers, as well as HR Advisers and Consultants for a specific area (e.g. HR for Technical
or HR for Cabin Crew), are responsible for driving local strategic people initiatives and for providing
expert HR support to local management – e.g. advice regarding best practices, support in carrying
out the HR processes and providing HR tools and technology for leaders to manage people and their
performance.
People Relations & Change in HR is responsible for ensuring that Norwegian develops and follows a
globally aligned, compliant and mutually beneficial strategy for employee relations and change which
includes positive and constructive dialogue with employee and union representatives. The function
has responsibility for union relations, union negotiations and Collective Bargaining Agreements
(CBAs), in collaboration with the respective employers, and also supports managers and other
relevant internal stakeholders regarding labour legislation and organizational change.
HR’s Recruitment function is responsible for developing a global recruitment process with associated
standardised tools and recruitment principles to ensure that all potential candidates are exposed to a
professional recruitment process. Candidates shall be provided with a professional recruitment
experience throughout the entire process: application, selection, interview, job offer,
acceptance/rejection and candidates shall be assessed on consistent and objective criteria.
Our competitiveness in the market involves consideration of the entire reward package – not just
base salary or pay scale, but also benefits such as health benefits, pension and insurance schemes,
compensation packages for travel, re-location etc. All these considerations make up the
responsibilities of the Reward function in the HR department.
The Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) team in HR work towards ensuring a healthy, safe and
positive working environment with systematic focus on preventative work within HSE. They are
responsible for health, safety and environmental compliance at all bases, in all working situations
and at all offices including the monitoring of sick leave. The HSE team is responsible for providing:
Payroll refers to the process by which employees receive their salary. The Payroll team is responsible
for supervising the correct administration of payrolls globally throughout the Group and they take
care of wage deductions, record keeping, verifying the reliability of pay data, delivering payroll
checks, maintaining compliance with tax laws, and registering terms and conditions for new hires.
Payroll professionals are also responsible for calculating reimbursements, bonuses, overtime and
holiday pay based on employment agreements and the applicable CBA.
Norwegian has a responsible people culture and strives to be a good corporate citizen in every area of
operation. We are committed to operating in accordance with responsible, ethical, sustainable and
sound business principles with respect for people, the environment and society. We have one of the
newest and most environment-friendly aircraft fleets in Europe and have reduced emissions per
passenger by 30 % since 2008. In our efforts to make the world a better place we entered into a
partnership supporting UNICEF. Children are the future and we should do everything we can to make
the world a better place for the ones who need it the most. Through the Plant for the Planet initiative
in collaboration with the Global Climate Institute, we are also improving our environment through
planting thousands of trees - one for everybody who works at Norwegian.
4. Our culture
Our culture is defined by the values and behaviours that make up the unique social and psychological
environment of our organization. It is the sum of Norwegian's expectations, experiences, philosophy,
and defined core values and it is expressed in our self-image, inner workings, interactions with the
outside world, and future expectations. It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written
and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid. Our culture is
shown in the ways we conduct our business, treat our colleagues and employees, customers, and the
wider community. Other culturally defining processes include: the extent to which freedom is
allowed in decision making, how power and information flow through the organizational hierarchy,
and how committed employees are towards common goals.
In Norwegian everyone has a joint responsibility to create a healthy working environment and
develop a sound organizational culture marked by respect, openness and tolerance (ref. Code of
Ethics) and guided by our core values.
We are to be professional, impartial, positive and contribute to a respectful, open and including
working environment. We shall all behave with respect and integrity towards anyone we come into
Everyone working for Norwegian is expected to exercise sound judgment and discretion and observe
professional secrecy. We shall never offer or accept illegal or inappropriate monetary gifts - or any
other gifts - in order to achieve business or personal advantage. Gifts should not be accepted if they
in any way can be seen to influence business decisions. All forms of conflict of interest are to be
avoided. If you are ever in doubt as to what would be the correct ethical behaviour in a situation
discuss this with your line manager or HR (ref. Code of Ethics).
We have the right to freedom of expression and Workplace offers employees a channel for us to
make ourselves heard across the entire organization; but, this freedom comes with duties and
responsibilities. Issues or opinions are to be expressed in a respectful and fair manner ref.
Community guidelines for Red Nose and Guidelines for use of social media.
4.2 Communication
Norwegian encourages open and honest communication built on trust and respect and operates
therefore with an “open door” policy whereby employees are encouraged to discuss and resolve
their concerns, problems and ideas with their line manager. Line managers are expected to make
themselves available to their direct reports for this purpose.
When interfacing with customers we must be aware that we represent Norwegian and must behave
accordingly. We are to dress appropriately, and we are to behave appropriately. Suitable behaviour
involves being polite, respectful, helpful, service-minded and generally offering a customer-friendly
service and a quality travel experience.
The speed and efficiency of email makes email ideal for conveying a short message or an instruction,
and we also create a permanent record of the exchange which can be useful – but the fact that it
takes very little effort to send an email is also one of the greatest drawbacks. Here are some simple
rules for the email culture we aim for in Norwegian:
• Keep the number of emails you send to a minimum. Consider Workplace chat as an
alternative. If you need to send a lot of information or data, it is preferable to share
documents through Teams or Sharepoint groups or send a short email and follow up with a
phone call. Communicate important matters by phone or in person.
• Always consider GDPR when communicating sensitive personal information and comply with
guidelines and legal regulations (see also 4.7).
Meetings consume a lot of time and resources so the more efficient they are, the better. Here are
some simple rules for the meeting culture we aim for in Norwegian:
• Our meetings are to start and end on time
• An agenda should be circulated in advance of the meeting, so that people know what to
expect and how to prepare
• If you are the leader of a one-off meeting, explain the purpose or desired outcome of the
meeting both in the invitation and at the outset of the meeting
• Assign someone to take minutes or record the key decisions and action items agreed. If no
minutes are taken, make a note yourself of any actions assigned you
• Review the minutes and action items in regular meetings; this gives participants context and
gives those that were absent an opportunity to get up-to-speed. Going through the action
items on a regular basis is also an added incentive for participants to complete the tasks
assigned them.
• Put your mobile phone away during the meeting and on silent (as a minimum) and do not
engage in side conversations.
4.6 Confidentiality
We are all required to maintain secrecy regarding confidential production information, plans,
calculations, operating, financial or business circumstances and other company affairs of which we
gain knowledge while working at Norwegian. The obligation of secrecy also applies after leaving
Norwegian.
Confidential information regarding the company’s affairs can only be given by the company
management or the department or person authorized to carry out such communication.
Communication with the media, the public and the financial markets shall take place in accordance
with established guidelines and routines, and satisfy the regulations and practice applicable to
publicly listed companies. The Communications Department is responsible for all media contact. The
Investor Relations Department is responsible for contact with financial markets and stock exchanges
on behalf of Norwegian.
Norwegian respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. We are
committed to processing all personal data in a fair and lawful way and pursuant to the principles as
set out in The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Personal data shall be processed only to the extent it is required for a specified, explicit and
legitimate purpose and used accordingly or for a purpose that is required by law in places where we
operate. Information shall be accurate and where necessary, kept up to date and shall not be kept
longer than necessary.
Access to personal data is strictly limited to personnel who have appropriate authorization and a
clear business need for that information. Those with access to personal data must use it only for the
purpose for which it was collected and must adhere to the highest standard of confidentiality in
using it.
5.1 Health
A safe and healthy workplace is a fundamental right for all of us and a business imperative. One of
our top priorities is therefore to support health and well-being (psychological and physical), and
minimize absence due to ill-health or injury, through advice, awareness programmes and proactive
initiatives. But it is the individual responsibility of everyone working for Norwegian to do everything
we can to minimize the risk of accidents, injury and ill-health – and this includes eating healthily,
exercising and using our free time to enjoy life, relax and get enough sleep.
Costs related to absence from the workplace due to ill-health or injury are significant – both for the
company, and in some countries for the individual as well. Avoiding serious illness and effectively
managing chronic conditions has therefore not only a positive impact on the quality of life for
employees, but also a positive impact on our business.
Long-term sick leave (more than 16 consecutive days) as well as frequent periods of short-term
illness (more than 3 short-term absences in 6 months) will be followed up by line managers through
telephone contact and face-to-face dialogue if local law permits contact with an employee on sick
leave. The purpose of the follow-up is not to question the employee about the diagnosis or injury –
which is a personal and private matter - but to see if there is anything that Norwegian can do to help
the employee back to work - a company matter; for instance, whether changes to the working
Norwegian is a drug and alcohol-free workplace and we have zero tolerance for any transgression.
Alcohol and other substance misuse – as well as addictive gambling - is everyone's concern. It
damages health, can affect safety, causes absenteeism and reduces productivity. If you have a
problem in relation to addiction of any kind you are responsible for seeking professional help.
Anyone who is at work, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or smelling of alcohol, and anyone
who uses, stores or trades illegal drugs at work - will be sent home and/or relieved from duty
immediately. It is strictly forbidden to consume alcohol or be under the influence of drugs when
wearing uniform, and alcohol and other mind-altering drugs are not under any circumstances to be
consumed less than 12 hours prior to reporting for flight or standby duty (ref. OM A, 6.1.2). It is also
forbidden to consume drugs and alcohol following an incident which is under investigation by the
authorities until after a blood-test has been carried out.
In order to investigate possible violations of Norwegian’s Drug and Alcohol-free workplace policy,
Norwegian reserves the right to implement Drug and Alcohol Testing Programmes subject to local
agreements or law.
If alcohol is served out of office hours in connection with business dinners, company parties,
teambuilding etc., employees are expected to conduct themselves responsibly, respectfully and
politely.
Gambling and gaming during working hours is not permitted. This applies to online games/gambling
sites on the internet on work computers, mobile phones, as well as personal computers and mobile
devices.
5.4 Holidays
People who take regular holidays tend to have better physical and psychological health. Labour laws
often regulate the amount of holiday that is to be taken in an effort to protect the individual. In some
countries, there are clauses regulating the number of days holiday that can be transferred to the next
year and whether it is possible to compensate an employee for unused holiday in terms of pay -
“buy” or “sell” days off. Please refer to local staff handbooks for the regulations regarding holiday in
your country. Holiday leave for crew is governed by special agreements.
5.5 Safety
Our number one operational priority is safety - the safety of passengers and employees. Norwegian
provides relevant equipment, training, information and procedures and we pride ourselves on having
a positive safety culture and being constantly aware of safety.
Norwegian’s safety procedures, safety information, safety reviews and safety programs serve to help
us maintain a high level of safety awareness, but it is ultimately an individual responsibility to abide
by the advice given and procedures established. We are, for example, aware that fatigue can be a
safety issue and have developed routines for providing employees with sufficient rest and sleep
opportunities, but it is the employee’s responsibility to make the best use of such an opportunity.
6. References
Doc. history
Doc.ID Date Version Action Prepared by Approved by
PO07-01 21.08.2018 01 Initial release MWF HBL