Rotana Corporate Sustainability Report 2017

Rotana Corporate Sustainability Report 2017 24 LOBBYING AND POLITICAL DONATIONS We prohibit the use of Rotana funds or resources to support any political candidate or party. We recognise the rights of our colleagues to participate in the political process. Their rights to do so are governed by the applicable laws in the countries in which we operate. All of Rotana‘s contributions to local communities are reviewed for compliance and are reported in accordance with our online CSR reporting system. The way in which we interact with governments depends on the legal and regulatory framework in each country. We engage across a range of issues that are relevant to our business, from regulatory compliance, to understanding our tax liabilities, to collaborating on community initiatives. As a result of the practices we follow at Rotana, during 2016 and 2017, no financial or non-financial contribution to politicians, public officials and political parties took place, nor did we receive any financial or political assistance from any political parties or governments, and there is no government stake in shareholding. It must be also noted that during 2016 and 2017, there were: • No public policy positions and participations in public policy development and lobbying • No legal actions or pending legal actions related to corruption and fines or other monetary sanctions imposed by the respective authorities • No legal actions for anti-competitive behaviour, anti-trust and monopoly behaviour against Rotana were claimed Complying with regulations With operations in more than 19 countries, Rotana is subject to diverse and complex environmental and social laws and regulations. • A detailed Environment, Health and Safety Legal Register is developed specifically for every property and country covering various applicable laws, issuing authority, relevant regulatory clauses and compliance verification. We apply International Standards on environment (ISO 14001) and health and safety (BS OSHAS 18001) and accordingly maintain a comprehensive system of control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with EHS requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. • As for social and financial compliance, we apply international standards of human resource systems and follow relevant labour law requirements in the country of operation. For financial systems of work, we comply with the “Unified System of Account for Lodging Industry”. We manage applicable legal and regulatory health, safety, security, environmental and social requirements through the following management systems and policies: - Environment, health and safety management system - Emergency management manual - Code of Conduct - Country’s relevant labour law non-discrimination policy - Workplace violence policy - EHS policy - Sustainability policy Due to the increasing number of regulations, the need for operational transparency, governance requirements and sustainability reporting, a policy and an online reporting platform were created for all hotels for the purpose of providing a consolidated mean of reporting on the hotels’ non-compliances / breaches with all applicable country laws and/or regulations, including: - Legislative - Contractual - Permits, licences and other forms of authorisation - Relevant labors, social, financial, tourism, environmental, safety, taxation laws and any other codes and compulsory requirements in the country of operation As a result of the practices we follow at Rotana, during 2016 and 2017 there were: • No fines or non-monetary sanctions for non-compliance with environmental laws, violations of rights for indigenous people, incidents of discrimination, incidents of non-compliance with regulations and voluntary marketing codes, or any other laws and regulations. Managing environmental and social impacts Various management systems are implemented in our group to help our businesses to understand and minimise environmental and social impacts. We apply internal practices and policies