About LTG: Corporate & Social Responsibility
At LTG, the Board has overall responsibility for Corporate Social Responsibility (‘CSR’) with development and initiatives being led by the Chief Executive. During the past year, we have established a CSR Committee that oversees and co-ordinates CSR initiatives and communicates best practice and our achievements across the Group. LTG attempts to combine a sense of common purpose, incorporating core practices and values, whilst encouraging and enabling individual employees, business units and offices to carry out initiatives specific to their local circumstances and priorities. LTG seeks to work to the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Contract (‘UNGC’), guiding principles for corporate sustainability that encompass human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
Business Ethics and Integrity
LTG promotes a culture of honesty, integrity, trust and respect and all members of staff are expected to operate in an ethical manner in all their dealings, whether internal or external. We do not tolerate behaviour which goes against this or which could result in reputational damage to the business. To achieve this we have in place a number of policies and corporate training that encompasses Anti-bribery and Corruption, Ethics and Anti-Slavery. You can download our current Modern Slavery Statement here.
People and engagement
LTG is dependent upon the qualities and skills of its employees, and the commitment of its people plays a major role in the Group’s business success. During 2018, we have developed a Mental Health at Work programme, a proactive Wellness Action Plan and a comprehensive Anti-Harassment training course that will be rolled out during 2019.
Communications
We communicate with our staff on a regular basis keeping them informed of business activities, changes in practices and procedures, and business performance. This includes a monthly newsletter (‘LTGazette’) and a Group-wide resources platform. During the integration programme for PeopleFluent, we circulated weekly updates informing staff of developments across the business. The Group also undertakes regular staff surveys and feeds back the findings and actions to staff.
Training and development
The Group invests in training and developing its staff through internally arranged knowledge sharing events, external courses and an internal staff portal. LTG has a dedicated team who develop bespoke learning programmes for staff leveraging off LTG’s own expertise and learning solutions. Training programs in the year included a comprehensive General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) training programme which included infographics, awareness posters, online resources and e-learning. This achieved a 100% participation rate across the Group.
Incentives
Employees’ performance is aligned to the Group’s goals through an annual performance review process and via LTG’s incentive programmes. All LTG staff are eligible for a commission or annual performance bonus scheme linked with achieving LTG’s strategic objectives. In addition, the Group operates a share option scheme for senior managers that rewards exceptional performance. Options usually vest over a period of four years. The Group runs a Sharesave scheme that allows all U.K. staff to participate in the Group’s equity journey. To date, 53% of all UK staff have participated in this scheme. In 2019 LTG will launch its 6th U.K. Sharesave scheme and launch a similar scheme for staff in the U.S. With effect from 2019, LTG will also make a number of awards to recognise, amongst other things, outstanding achievements in product and service innovation and cross- selling initiatives.
US Regulations on MRF’s
US regulations centered around transparency, The Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) have required group health plans and health insurance issuers (plans and issuers) in the individual and group markets to disclose certain pricing information. Under these new rules, a plan or issuer must disclose certain data elements to the public, including allowed amounts for out-of-network providers, through a machine-readable file posted on the companies internet website effective 7/1/2022 and must be updated monthly. For more information on our LTG plans with CIGNA please click the following link to be taken to the MRF. https://www.cigna.com/legal/compliance/machine-readable-files
Diversity and inclusion
LTG’s employment policies are non-discriminatory on the grounds of age, gender, nationality, ethnic or racial origin, sexual orientation or marital status. LTG gives due consideration to all applications and provides training and the opportunity for career development wherever possible. The Board does not support discrimination of any form, positive or negative, and all appointments are based solely on merit.
Community and charity
LTG undertakes a number of local charitable initiatives each year, with the Group often matching contributions raised by staff. In 2018, local charitable initiatives included raising funds for The Martlets Hospice in Brighton, Cancer Research UK, the Albert Kennedy Trust, the Rainbow Centre in Sri Lanka, and the Exiles Rugby Team, which supports vulnerable foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Fundraising events were also held for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, British Lung Foundation, and the Whitechapel Mission in the U.K. and Dress for Success and the Nashville Rescue Mission in the U.S. LTG continued to sponsor Learn Appeal, a charity providing learning to disadvantaged communities in the U.K. and sub- Saharan Africa as well as providing them with support with their IT systems, and contributed to Great Ormond Street Hospital, including the purchase of an ECMO machine. In 2018 the Group supported charitable activities by staff which raised a total of £8,000 (2017: £4,000) and made charitable contributions totalling £57,000 during the year (2017: £24,000).
Environmental
LTG’s policy with regard to the environment is to ensure that we understand and effectively manage the actual and potential environmental impact of our activities. The Group’s operations are conducted such that compliance is maintained with legal requirements relating to the environment in areas where the Group conducts its business. During the period covered by this report LTG has not incurred any fines or penalties or been investigated for any breach of environmental regulations. A number of initiatives were extended during the year including improvements to recycling availability in UK and US offices.
Health & Safety and accidents
LTG endeavours to ensure that the working environment is safe and conducive to healthy, safe and content employees who are able to balance work and family commitments. The Group has a Health and Safety at Work policy which is reviewed regularly by the Board and established a group- wide QHSE department in 2018, responsible for implementing Health and Safety and environmental policy, and monitoring our environmental and Health and Safety efforts. The Board Executive Director responsible for health and safety is the Chief Executive.