Own Workforce

We are committed to fostering a fair and safe workplace where every employee feels welcome, valued, and empowered to thrive

Our approach

Respecting the human rights of our employees

At dormakaba, we are deeply committed to safeguarding and promoting human rights across our value chain, including our own organization. As part of our ongoing efforts, we continuously work to ensure the well-being and fair treatment of our employees at all levels of the company. Our human rights commitment established in the dormakaba Statement of Commitment on Human Rights extends to all individuals throughout our value chain. Our commitment is put into actions through our Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) process, as outlined here.

HRDD processes related to fair employment in our own operations are codified in our Human Rights Risk Management System. Each dormakaba location is assigned a social risk score based on compliance levels versus our Responsible Labor Directive and various indicators such as country risk, reported working hours, whistleblowing cases, types of manufacturing processes carried out, and injury incident rates. These are weighted according to likelihood, severity, and remediability of associated risks, resulting in a classification of sites from extreme to low priority for additional due diligence measures, such as targeted training and on-site audits.

We are committed to timely and transparent remediation of any adverse human rights impacts in line with the UN Guiding Principles, and our Code of Conduct outlines the grievance reporting procedure. Our employees are also made aware of the whistleblowing system through periodic communication campaigns, including posters and training materials.

Key activities

Social audits in own operations

To uphold human rights and drive continuous improvement across our own operations, we conduct regular on-site audits in high-risk facilities. These audits, which assess key areas such as labor practices, health and safety, business ethics, and management systems, help us identify actual or potential issues. When findings emerge, we take prompt and targeted corrective action to address them and prevent recurrence.

During the reporting period, we conducted eight on-site audits across our own operations.

• In India, the Chennai facility underwent an initial audit, which identified findings related to overtime pay, delayed payments, excessive overtime, and health and safety. The Greater Noida facility showed considerable progress, improving from a D to a C rating, with remaining findings related to overtime pay, excessive working hours, and health and safety.
• In China, the Wah Yuet facility demonstrated notable improvements, with remaining findings related to excessive overtime and record keeping. The Suzhou facility improved from a C to a B rating, with findings related to excessive overtime and one medium-risk health and safety issue.
• In Malaysia, the Senai facility showed considerable improvements in working hours, health and safety, and overall compliance maturity, moving from a D to a B rating.
• In Colombia, the Tocancipá facility demonstrated significant improvements, achieving an A rating with no findings.
• In Peru, the Lima facility successfully completed its initial audit with no findings.
• In Turkey, the Istanbul facility underwent its initial audit, which identified findings related to health and safety and environmental management.

Across all facilities where findings have been identified, corrective action plans have been established, and are subject to regular monitoring by the Group to ensure effective oversight and progress tracking. Furthermore, each initial audit is followed by the development of a comprehensive corrective action plan that addresses the identified findings and strengthens stakeholder capabilities to prevent the recurrence of the same human rights issues. To ensure complete objectivity and alignment with best practices, our external partner, ELEVATE, guides the identification of root causes and the development of corrective action plans.

Ethical recruitment training

Using the tools and training modules developed by the Responsible Labor Initiative (RLI), in FY 24/25 we achieved our target of providing ethical recruitment training for all of our labor agents in sending and receiving countries where we recruit foreign workers. This includes, but is not limited to, migration corridors between Nepal and Myanmar to Malaysia, and between Taiwan and the Philippines. Local managers are expected to include completion of this ethical recruitment training as part of the qualification process for onboarding new labor agents.

Fair employment

Our approach

Our employees’ dedication to delivering excellent solutions to our customers helps us maintain and further develop our competitive global position. As a company with employees in over 50 countries, we aim to ensure an engaging working environment so that we are an employer of choice for current and prospective employees. We also ensure that we treat employees fairly and in accordance with our company values, and that we provide them with fair opportunities and remuneration. To codify this, we published a global Anti-Harassment and Anti-Bullying Directive on 1 June 2025, valid across all locations we operate. The Directive provides guidance to all dormakaba employees on preventing, investigating, and managing any occurrence of workplace discrimination or harassment to promote a safe, respectful, and inclusive working environment. Employees were informed of the launch through multiple communications across our global channels. An eLearning module has already been shared with HR colleagues and senior management, and will be rolled out more widely across the organization at the beginning of FY 26/27, together with in-person workshops for blue-collar employees. Fair renumeration requirements are covered in our Total Rewards Directive.

Key activities

Engaging our employees

Engaged employees are essential to dormakaba’s transformation toward a customer-centric and performance-oriented work culture. Together, Employee Engagement and Diversity & Inclusion provide important insights into how employees experience the company’s culture, leadership, and working environment, while helping to guide actions that strengthen collaboration, belonging and professional growth. A key method for supporting employee engagement is to ensure a culture of open dialogue across the organization. We are therefore committed to giving employees the opportunity to provide feedback to management through regular pulse checks and through our biennial global employee survey "dormakaba dialogue".

We monitor any changes in the level of employee engagement against the Qualtrics Global Norm¹ and have set a target to maintain our employee engagement score at or above the Global Norm until 2027.

In FY 25/26 we conducted our global dormakaba dialogue, a comprehensive employee engagement survey comprising 32 questions across key dimensions such as strategy, behaviors, work environment, and leadership. The survey achieved a participation rate of 73%, demonstrating strong engagement and trust across the organization — particularly notable given the significant transformation underway. Overall engagement reached 70%, marking a significant increase from 61% in the 2023 Pulse Check at the early stage of the transformation and returning close to the 71% achieved in the previous full dialogue. The results reflect a resilient and committed workforce, with colleagues demonstrating a strong sense of pride and a clear understanding of how they contribute to dormakaba’s success. Key strengths include high levels of manager trust and open, two-way communication. Based on these insights, the leadership team has driven targeted follow-up actions at global, country, and functional levels, with a particular focus on strengthening collaboration as one global team and simplifying how we serve our customers.

At the same time, dormakaba has embarked on the introduction of its new values: Accountable, Bold, Connected (ABC), which will further shape how teams work together and deliver impact, marking the beginning of the next phase of the company’s cultural journey.

Fair remuneration and benefits

We aim to establish fair compensation that is determined based on job function and relevant local market benchmarks. The global grading system ensures that functions are evaluated in a consistent manner across the organization. Our global Total Rewards Directive includes requirements on the transparency and fairness of wages at dormakaba, in addition to any locally applicable labor regulations. For example, wage dumping is explicitly forbidden, as is making compensation decisions on any personal attribute such as gender, age, or nationality. Furthermore, the rewards system promotes alignment with a broad set of stakeholders, and for certain levels of management, long-term incentives are included to support alignment with shareholdersʼ interests in long-term value creation.

Living wage

We are committed to conducting annual living wage¹ gap assessments and developing actions to close any gaps that might exist. Living wage gaps identified in the previous financial year in Delhi (India), Casablanca (Morocco) and Tocancipá (Colombia), have been successfully closed.

This year’s assessment again shows that the vast majority of our workforce earns at or above the living wage benchmark. However, we identified gaps in Bangalore (India), Rocky Mount (USA) and Singapore due to increased cost of living. The percentage of employees with a living wage gap discovered in Lima (Peru) decreased from 74% to 63% versus the previous year. Based on the current data collected, the estimated total cost to close the gaps is CHF 239,310. We are confident that we will be able to address these gaps in the next financial years.

Living wage gaps

Social protection

Social protection against loss of income for certain life events is offered in accordance with local employment law or through additional company benefits as follows:

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Our approach

dormakaba fosters a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where employees can contribute different perspectives and feel a strong sense of belonging. Grounded in this commitment, we uphold the legal frameworks of every country in which we operate and apply global policies such as the Code of Conduct, Talent Acquisition Directive, and global Anti-Harassment and Anti-Bullying Directive, which promote inclusive recruitment, respectful workplace behavior, and equal opportunity. As a signatory of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles since 2022, dormakaba also reinforces its commitment to empowering employees regardless of gender.

Our activities

Building an inclusive culture

We value the unique perspectives of each of our colleagues and strive to create a culture where everyone can be their authentic selves. Our inclusive culture is strengthened through open communication, training opportunities, and active support for voluntary employee resource groups. These bring together employees with shared interests or experiences to promote inclusion, celebrate diversity, and strengthen our culture of belonging. In Nogales (Mexico), for example, employees created the In Full Bloom initiative, which supports well-being, personal growth, and open dialogue in the workplace.

Additionally, since FY 22/23, 4,755 employees have completed unconscious bias training, including 147 employees in FY 25/26.

Cultivating gender diversity

As part of our sustainability framework, we set global targets to improve gender diversity within our organization. Our aim is for one in three managers to be female (19% in FY 20/21) and to increase the ratio of women in succession planning for top management positions to 25% by 2027 (14% in FY 20/21). The ratio of females has since increased to 22% in management and to 28% in succession planning for top management.

Achieving our goals requires building a strong internal talent pipeline and ensuring equitable access to development opportunities. One way we support this is through our global Women and Allies Network, complemented by local networks in the Americas, Spain, Australia, and other markets. These networks create space for connection, development, and peer learning.

In FY 25/26, the Americas network was particularly active. Women from the organization spoke at major industry events, including ISC West, ISC East, Women in Manufacturing, and Security LeadHER. The network also partnered with the SIA TIME Mentorship Program, engaging 22 dormakaba team members, and hosted its first inclusive Annual Women’s Network Leadership Summit to align priorities and define a clear path forward.

The global Women and Allies Network webinar series covered topics such as allyship, bias, career development, mentorship, microaggressions, and personal branding. Open to all employees, the webinars provide a space to learn, exchange perspectives, and discuss employee-identified topics. To mark International Women’s Day, we also hosted a global webinar on career ownership and development in five languages, attended by 180 employees across all continents where we operate.

These networks are part of a broader community of employee resource groups across dormakaba that promote inclusion, celebrate diversity, and strengthen belonging. They are complemented by tailored DE&I roadmaps that help countries support gender diversity and implement more inclusive practices. In FY 25/26, Switzerland, Germany, and Spain took specific actions. Switzerland, for example, extended parental leave by ten days, while Spain pursued a potential partnership with the Women STEM Congress and continued Talentia, its annual development program focused on advancing women in the workplace, with sessions on AI, public speaking, and self-confidence.

Training & Education

Our approach

Employee development is key to enhancing our workforce’s skills and the quality of our offerings. In a dynamic, globalized world with constantly changing skill requirements and growing skills shortages, particularly in IT and digitalization, it is essential to invest in ongoing development. This not only prepares employees for change but also boosts motivation, performance, and long-term employability. We are committed to continuously investing in the growth of both our employees and business leaders.

Although this topic is primarily guided by local policies, our Global Talent Center of Excellence designs and implements consistent global training and development programs. Employees can access a wide range of training opportunities offered by the Talent Center of Excellence and local HR.

We regularly gather and evaluate participant feedback after training sessions in order to maintain and continually adapt the quality of our training and education programs. In addition, our training programs are regularly evaluated as part of external audits for ISO 9001 certification. If a negative trend is identified through this audit process, management meets to review the root cause and determine any potentially required remediation.

Our activities

Our goal is to increase average training hours to 20 hours per employee/year by 2027 (baseline 12.7 hours/headcount in FY 20/21). In FY 25/26, the average training hours per employee was 12.1 hours. The decrease in average training hours per employee reflects substantial improvements and changes in data collection processes, including more precise per-employee reporting and revised registration methods, which affect year-on-year comparability. It also reflects the timing of multi-year mandatory training renewal cycles and the non-recurrence of significant one-off training initiatives and compliance rollouts conducted in the prior year.

To provide our staff with the competencies they require to perform their tasks safely and efficiently, as well as to support their career advancement, dormakaba focuses on the following areas:

Leadership development

In line with our strategy and ambition, we aim to have the best leaders in key positions. We therefore offer comprehensive leadership training portfolios for all management career levels.

• Leading for Success is our foundational leadership development program for people managers and experts preparing for people leadership roles. Delivered globally in multiple languages, it combines three days of classroom training with three 120-minute virtual sessions. In FY 25/26, 143 employees participated.
• Leading Leaders is our next-level leadership development program for managers leading other managers, as well as for experts and high potentials preparing for such roles. Tailored to regional needs, it includes 4.5 days of in-person training, supported by pre- and post-program work. In FY 25/26, 66 employees participated.
• The Advanced Management Program (AMP) and Talent Development Program (TDP) are tailored learning paths within our advanced leadership development offering. TDP supports high-potential managers preparing for senior leadership roles, while AMP is designed for senior managers nominated as successors to the next leadership level. Delivered over eight months, the program includes two five-day in-person modules and two 90-minute virtual sessions, combining shared and path-specific content. Participants strengthen capabilities such as self-awareness, strategic thinking, transformational leadership, and cross-functional collaboration through coaching, business application, peer exchange, and discussions with Executive Committee members. In FY 25/26, 15 participants joined AMP and 24 joined TDP across functions and regions.

Besides AMP and TDP, Leading Leaders is also closely tied to succession planning for top management, preparing participants for future leadership roles.

Individual development

Employee development is vital to maintaining and improving the skills of our workforce and the quality of our products and solutions. Below are some of the key highlights for FY 25/26:

• 11,394 employees have access to our Learning Management System (LMS). 80% (9,152 employees) of these users completed at least one eLearning module in this financial year.
• Compliance-related training activities — including modules on the Code of Conduct, antitrust, anti-corruption, and information security — accounted for over 10,317 employees and more than 52,470 training completions, representing approximately 40% of all training completions. Many of these topics were initially introduced in previous years and continue to be assigned to new employees.
• We offer a range of vocational and technical trainings across various topics, such as safety instructions. In FY 25/26, 28,643 training completions were recorded.
• Through LinkedIn Learning, we are fostering a culture of continuous learning and development and aiming for a more engaged and committed workforce. In FY 25/26 we had 3,024 active users, yielding 6,115 training hours.

Occupational Health & Safety

Our approach

We respect the human right to safe workplaces across the company and particularly at our manufacturing sites. A safe and healthy work environment not only reduces injuries but also enhances product quality, productivity, and employee morale. We prioritize both the physical and mental well-being of our employees, addressing not only machine safety and ergonomics but also mental health issues. Our goal is to create optimal working conditions while ensuring operational efficiency and long-term success.

Our Health & Safety Directive, based on ISO 45001 and ILO guidelines, defines the minimum global standards for occupational health and safety throughout all dormakaba operations. Across all our reporting sites — including offices —32% have a health and safety management system certified according to ISO 45001, and 57% maintain a health and safety management system.

Our Service Health & Safety Directive, addressing our service business, sets minimum standards for work performed at customer sites and provides guidance to help technicians manage and reduce health and safety risks in the field. It addresses several topics that are unique to our service business and the environments in which our employees work, such as vehicle safety, pre-job safety assessments, and lone worker safety. In FY 25/26, we launched the directive globally, beginning with a gap assessment and scorecard process that provided each site with prioritized focus areas and guidance to address identified gaps.

Health and safety committees

dormakaba employs designated safety personnel and a safety committee at every site, comprising a variety of employees from different departments and shifts and representing a cross-section of the facility operations. Their key responsibility is to ensure that workers comply with the site’s Health and Safety Management Plan and government regulations. They are expected to report unsafe observations and near misses, attend safety meetings, review accidents and investigations, suggest improvements to health and safety standards, promote safe practices, assist with inspections and audits, and evaluate the effectiveness of control measures to protect against workplace hazards. The committees meet at least twice a year to fulfill these duties.

Furthermore, in FY 25/26 the Top 10 Turnaround Program — focused on the ten sites with the highest number of workplace injuries — and the Incident Review Council — for incident investigation and root cause analysis — continued to work successfully.

Our activities

During FY 25/26, our key focus was continuing with the Site Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) Strategy. Operations sites produced their strategies based on prior year HSE performance results and the existing HSE Focus Five topics, as well as the Focus Five topics for FY 25/26. This strategy continues to consolidate all HSE-related activities, track key performance indicators, and monitor progress on the HSE Roadmap topics. The HSE Focus Five in FY 25/26 covered safe product storage, ergonomics, emergency preparedness, contractor and visitor safety, and HSE rules and disciplinary action. Each includes a five-step maturity roadmap. The sites conducted initial assessments to determine their current level of maturity and subsequently developed action plans to progress.

During FY 25/26, we continued advancing our journey toward world-class safety by strengthening our global safety culture and introducing six Life-Saving Rules focused on the company’s highest-risk activities. The initiative reinforced critical safety behaviors related to personal protective equipment, working at heights, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, powered industrial vehicles, and safe equipment use. By targeting the areas responsible for the majority of serious injuries, the program supports a proactive approach to risk reduction, operational excellence, and ensuring employees, contractors, and visitors return home safely each day.

Further activities during this financial year included the development of written programs for the Focus Five topics, employee training, assignment of program champions, completion of risk assessments, and implementation of inspections and annual program reviews.

Employee engagement and training

Workplace safety training is vital for identifying and addressing health and safety issues. Each facility conducts weekly safety talks covering hazards (mechanical, electrical, chemical, fire, physical), proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), emergency procedures, machine safety, and reporting injuries. Employee engagement is key to addressing risks, with staff encouraged to report near misses, which are treated with the same importance as injury reports. Supervisors follow up on near misses to ensure corrective action is taken.

To recognize World Safety Day, dormakaba launched the global “Because People Make Every Place Matter” campaign, inviting employees worldwide to reflect on and share why they work safely. Throughout April, employees participated through a digital platform and on-site commitment posters, creating a highly visible demonstration of the company’s safety culture and shared values. The campaign generated strong global engagement, with employees sharing personal stories, family motivations, workplace commitments, team activities, and examples of safe work practices from locations around the world. The broad participation highlighted our people-first culture and reinforced the message that safety is a shared responsibility rooted in protecting one another, both at work and at home.

Investing in safety and ergonomics

Our Health & Safety Directive defines the minimum program and procedure requirements that form the foundation for the safe operation of our facilities. These include requirements for machine guarding, PPE, safe walking and working surfaces, and the use of powered industrial vehicles, to mention just a few. Furthermore, all facilities that work with hazardous materials must maintain a hazard communication and chemical management program, as well as a transportation compliance policy, if applicable. Our workers responsible for the storage, clean-up, or disposal of chemical substances receive specialized training and equipment.

During FY 25/26 several improvements were implemented to create safer and healthier working environments across our facilities, including:

• We launched the DORN ergonomic pilot project at four locations in the USA and France, with the Indianapolis facility completing a pilot study focused on high-risk material handling tasks and reducing musculoskeletal injury risks through engineering and behavioral interventions. The project included AI-based ergonomic risk detection, ergonomic assessments, employee coaching, and controls such as stacked pallets, long-handled reachers, pallet dollies, and body mechanics training. Across the four primary tasks studied, overall ergonomic risk scores were reduced by 21% to 71%, low back compression forces by approximately 50%, and severe back bending risks were nearly eliminated in several tasks. Work performed within the ergonomic “Power Zone” improved to nearly 100%, supporting safer practices, reduced physical strain, and a stronger injury prevention culture.
• At the Silca plant in Vittorio Veneto (Italy), ergonomic improvements in the Transponder Packaging department helped reduce upper limb strain and prevent musculoskeletal disorders. With support from an external ergonomics specialist, the local HSE team used the OCRA methodology to assess risks and develop employee-centered solutions, including adjustable ergonomic workstations. Employees helped test and refine prototypes to ensure the final design addressed daily operational challenges. Since implementation in July 2025, employees have reported reduced fatigue and improved comfort, supporting our commitment to safer, healthier workplaces through innovation and collaboration.
• At the Reamstown (USA) site, we strengthened proactive injury prevention through an on-site early symptom intervention partnership focused on ergonomic risk reduction, employee wellbeing, and early response to musculoskeletal discomfort. The program combined ergonomic assessments, job coaching, stretch and exercise support, work task analyses, and risk analyses to address workplace risk factors before injuries occurred. In 2025, it achieved a 92% case resolution rate, prevented 13 potential recordable injuries, and generated an estimated USD 65,000 in avoided injury-related costs. Further improvements included ergonomic recommendations for manufacturing equipment and workstations, expanded employee education, and initiatives to reduce sprain and strain injuries.

Our performance

Despite our efforts to provide a safe workplace, injuries can still occur in and around our facilities, including cuts, stumbles, burns in smelting operations, injuries due to heavy lifting, or exposure to toxic fumes in galvanization processes. We have been using root cause analysis of injury incidents at our sites around the world to identify and implement the corrective actions necessary to prevent repeated incidents. Our goal is that by the year 2027, we will decrease the recordable work-related injury rate by 33% (baseline 6.93 in FY 20/21).

This target was achieved ahead of schedule in FY 24/25. This financial year we registered 114 occupational injury cases, compared to 128 in the previous reporting year. This represents a recordable injury rate¹ of 4.19. The rate of high-consequence work-related injuries² was 0.11. The severity rate³ was 46.8. There were no work-related fatalities. Additionally, five recordable incidents affecting contract or leased workers occurred. Lacerations were the most common type of injury, and most injuries were sustained to the hands and fingers. Most accidents occurred in production plants and the most common root cause was reported as incidents due to ergonomic factors. Through our global injury incident reporting tool, we have logged the implementation of 232 corrective actions.