2014 Annual and CSR Report Switch to Spanish Language
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Our Workplace

Skilled, engaged and conscientious employees are the kind of people we want at Hudbay.  Our human resource policies and processes are designed to attract, retain and engage them.

Attract – We recruit qualified and exceptional people based on business needs. Our processes prioritize hiring locally, ensuring job candidates represent diverse backgrounds, and planning for succession to top roles.

Retain – In accordance with our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, all individuals are to be treated with respect and dignity. We do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation or disability or any other category protected by applicable laws. There is also zero tolerance for fraud or corruption. Violations of the Code are subject to prompt and consistent action, which may include termination. Employees are encouraged to report issues of this nature to a supervisor or department head, or to the confidential whistleblower hotline.

We respect the rights of workers to join unions and engage in collective bargaining without interference or fear of retaliation, and we work to build productive relationships with these unions in order to collaborate on key matters. Approximately 65% of our workforce (1,091 employees) is represented by a union.

Engage – Hudbay offers safe and meaningful work and competitive pay and benefits wherever we operate. Programs like the Continuous Improvement Process Optimization (CIPO) initiative in Manitoba promote employee involvement. Information sharing and knowledge transfer across our operations is encouraged through short- and long-term international assignments, a vibrant intranet and online tools, and frequent senior management visits and communications (see knowledge transfer case study).

To promote diversity and inclusion, we have held Aboriginal cultural awareness workshops for Hudbay employees in Canada for the past three years, with more than 200 participants. Approximately 13% of our Manitoba workforce self-identifies as Aboriginal. We want to make sure that our people respect and understand one another.

2014 Performance

  • Hudbay welcomed 28 new employees with the acquisition of Augusta Resource. Senior managers and Human Resources representatives met with each person individually to find out more about his or her role, career aspirations and impressions of the project. The Vice President of Business Development and Technical Services from our Toronto office was appointed Vice President of our new Arizona Business Unit and moved to Tucson. He set up transition teams and met weekly with employees throughout the integration process. He also issued ad hoc email updates to address new developments and employee questions.  A dedicated section of the Company intranet was created to support and inform the Rosemont integration. Several Hudbay project managers from Lalor and Constancia are moving to Rosemont on three-year assignments to ensure that the knowledge gained from these projects is transferred to this latest project (see knowledge transfer case study).
  • In Peru, our workforce numbers declined dramatically – from over 7,000 workers to a few hundred, with the wind-down of construction activities as Constancia moved to operation. Going forward, we expect to employ 313 people directly, and our mining contractor, Stracon GyM, will have about 400 people on-site. Our human resources and community relations teams worked closely together to help people return to their previous livelihoods or train for other work (see Local Hiring and Skills Development). Seventeen new full-time employees were hired from the local area in 2014 for operations and logistics roles. They spent the first two weeks in an onboarding program, learning about company values and general information, health and safety, and Constancia policies, procedures and benefits.
  • In addition to transferring existing Manitoba employees to the Snow Lake and Reed operations, we hired 153 new employees in Manitoba, representing a wide range of mining occupations including miners, mechanical and electrical trades, technical support staff, and management. Most were experienced people from northern Manitoba who had previously worked as contractors to Hudbay. All newly hired employees participated in the Hudbay Manitoba orientation program to review employee policies and procedures, and explain our safety practices and OneHudbay culture.
  • We continue to face a challenge in finding employees who want to live full time in Snow Lake. We have had to maintain an accommodation camp for workers commuting from Flin Flon and more distant communities in order to meet the workforce requirements of the Lalor mine and Snow Lake concentrator. We continue to evaluate options and work with the community to develop a viable model that builds a stable, skilled workforce while optimizing the proportion of employees living in the local area.
  • In 2014, we started negotiations for the renewal of collective agreements with our unions in Manitoba. In keeping with the business unit’s commitment to communicating openly and often, weekly negotiation updates were issued to all staff employees.
  • The CIPO program in Manitoba continued its goal of engaging all employees in identifying projects to improve efficiency and create value and financial benefit. Projects in 2014 ranged from increasing copper recovery in the Flin Flon concentrator to extending the life of paddle wheels at the zinc plant through management support and employee involvement. The results were a financial benefit in 2014 of $7.01 million versus a CIPO program target of $5 million.
  • We conducted seven Aboriginal cultural awareness workshops in 2014, with 85 participants in Flin Flon, Snow Lake and Toronto. The two-day workshop covers historical and contemporary issues that Aboriginal people experience in Canada. Going forward, it will be expanded to include land-based teachings, current social media issues, protocols and ceremonies.