Introduction to the Human Rights Principles of Woori Financial Group
We at Woori Financial Group (“we,” “our,” “us,” “ours”) pursue sustainable management by forming win-win relationships with all our stakeholders, including our employees, customers, shareholders, investors, subcontractors, and members of the local community, and do our utmost to protect their rights and interests.
Furthermore, we respect and support the major international standards on human rights, such as the ‘UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, ‘the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’, and ‘the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises’, and intend to play a significant part in the international community’s efforts to promote these standards by enacting our human rights principles, as follows.
Article 1 (Basic policy)
We hereby pledge to respect the human rights of all stakeholders who are affected by our corporate activities and to practice these Human Rights Principles in good faith.
1. We shall not engage in any corporate activities or investments that may infringe or violate these Human Rights Principles.2. We shall strive to evaluate and prevent all potential risks that may harm human rights.3. In the event of an infringement of our principles regarding human rights, we shall do our best to take all necessary steps, including resolving the problems, providing remedies for the victims, and restoring the situation to normal.
Article 2 (Employees)
We shall foster a corporate culture in which employees treat each other with respect and dignity and where their human rights are protected at all times.
1. Our employees shall observe the laws, in-house rules, ethical code, and these Human Rights Principles. Our employees shall all they can to protect their human rights and shall not infringe on other individuals’ human rights.2. Our employees shall not engage in any discrimination based on academic background, regionalism, gender, race, religion, or disability throughout their career as Woori employees. Our employees shall not engage in any form of harassment and shall respect the principle of diversity.3. We shall hold the following educational sessions as provided under the Labor Standards Act, the Act on the Employment Promotion and Vocational Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons, the Act on Equal Employment Opportunities, and the Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, etc., and shall readjust our programs as and when required.A. Education aimed at improving the way our employees treat the disabled.B. Education on the prevention of sexual harassment.C. Education on the prevention of workplace bullying and intimidation.4. Our employees shall enjoy freedom of expression, assembly and association, but shall not engage in inappropriate political activities. 5. We shall respect our employees’ right to organize and join labor unions, and shall encourage cooperation between labor and management. 6. We prohibit child and/or forced labor, and strive to observe the ILO’s labor principles associated with health, safety, work hours, etc.
Article 3 (Customers)
We shall prioritize the rights and interests of its customers, and do what we can to protect financial consumers.
1. We shall engage in rational corporate activities with the aim of improving the quality of our financial products and services and earning the trust of our customers.2. We shall not engage in any acts of discrimination as stipulated in the foregoing Article 2(2) in the provision of our financial services.3. We shall not ask our customers to bear any unnecessary expenses or provide an unnecessarily excessive amount of personal information to us.4. We shall respect our customers’ privacy and take all necessary steps to guarantee the security of their personal information in the process of collecting, storing and processing it.
Article 4 (Shareholders and investors)
We shall treat all shareholders and investors fairly and equally and strive to provide the best possible values.
1. We shall provide the information required by our shareholders and investors in a timely fashion under the laws. We shall not provide any information which is not in the public domain to specific people.2. We shall strive to generate profits stably and soundly and ensure that our shareholders and investors can exercise their rights fully.3. We shall strive to keep our accounting materials accurate and trustworthy according to the accounting principles and to maintain an effective and efficient risk management system and an internal control system.
Article 5 (Subcontractors)
We shall strive to establish win-win relationships with subcontractors and contribute to the realization of a just society through mutual development with them.
1. We shall strive to ensure that the human rights of our subcontractors’ employees are as valued as those of our employees’.2. We shall not use our relationships with subcontractors to ask for unjustifiable gains through bribes or favors.3. We shall make it a rule to conduct our transactions with subcontractors including biddings in a fair and open competition, and shall not engage in unjust transactions including the provision of special information to specific parties.4. We shall encourage our subcontractors to protect their employees’ human rights.5. We shall respect our subcontractors’ property rights and intellectual property rights, and shall not infringe them.
Article 6 (Countries and societies)
We shall strive to fulfill our roles and responsibilities in order to contribute to the development of the national economy and a establishment of a just society.
1. We shall not engage in discrimination against the less privileged in the provision of our financial products and services, job opportunities, or opportunities for participation in financial educational programs, etc.2. We shall observe the norms of the international community as its members, and shall respect the laws, customs, cultures, and human rights of the people of the countries in which we operate.3. We shall play an active role in social contribution activities and strive to contribute to improving human rights in the countries and societies in which we operate.
Article 7 (Human Rights Risk Management System)
In order to implement the provisions of this Human Rights Principle, each subsidiary within Woori Financial Group may autonomously carry out the following measures led by its designated human rights management department.
1. We shall establish a human rights risk management process that incorporates the following elements to manage human rights issues, aiming to prevent human rights infringements and the procedure to follow at the time of such infringement A. Human Rights Due Diligence ① Human Rights Risk Identification and Management · We shall identify potential human rights risk factors that may arise for employees and stakeholders and assess their actual and potential human rights impacts. · We shall consider human rights risks that may be directly or indirectly caused by the company’s business operations. ② Due Diligence Methodology · We shall conduct regular human rights impact assessments using tools such as checklists and interviews to examine key components of human rights management. ③ Establishment and Implementation of Remedial Measures · We shall promote the development and implementation of remedial measures to address human rights risks identified through human rights impact assessments. · We shall implement remediation and mitigation measures to prevent human rights infringements, protect victims, and take disciplinary action against perpetrators when infringements occur. ④ Monitoring and Disclosure · We shall monitor the implementation status of remedial measures and continuously promote activities to address human rights risks. · We shall report on the implementation of human rights management and key issues to key decision-makers, including committees, management meetings, and working-level meetings. · We shall transparently provide stakeholders with information on the status of human rights management through websites and internal/external reports. 2. We shall operate a grievance handling system and conduct human rights risk mitigation activities. A. We shall operate internal and external grievance handling channels (official website, employee grievance channel, whistleblower reporting system, etc.) that allow anonymous or named reporting. B. Grievance Handling Process
| Case Submission | ➡ | Consultation | ➡ | Detailed Investigation of the Incident | ➡ | Fact-Check and Actions | ➡ | Monitoring |
C. No employment disadvantages shall be imposed on the whistleblower, victim, or cooperator due to reporting, consultation, or cooperation. 3. We shall conduct human rights management activities to embed human rights management within the group. A. We shall provide training to foster a shared understanding of human rights among employees, including education on relevant norms related to human rights management. B. We shall continuously improve our human rights management system through stakeholder engagement, institutional implementation, and the identification of areas for enhancement.
The foregoing Principles were adopted pursuant to review and approval by the ESG Management Committee of Woori Financial Holdings’ Board of Directors, and may be amended as and when required by the committee.
April 25, 2025
Woori Financial Group
