KARSAN becomes the first company in Turkey implementing the “Zero Tolerance Policy for Violence at Work” under the scope of ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention

Building on the training provided by ILO to take significant steps towards becoming a gender-responsive company, KARSAN formulated its Gender Equality Policy and became the first company that integrated Zero Tolerance Policy for Violence into its corporate policy in line with ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention

News | 03 December 2020
KARSAN, a leading entity of the Turkish automotive industry and working with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Office for Turkey towards ensuring gender equality in the world of work, has introduced its “Gender Equality Policy” and “Zero Tolerance Policy for Violence” on the occasion of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence starting on November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and culminating on December 10 Human Rights Day.

Mr. Numan Özcan, Director of the ILO Office for Turkey, said: “We are pleased that KARSAN has formulated the first workplace policy in line with ILO’s Convention No. 190 as a part of our collaboration with KARSAN to ensure gender equality in the world of work, and that our joint work has become a part of the corporate policies and practices.”

Mr. Okan Baş, CEO of KARSAN, said: “We are resolved to state that we area against all forms of discrimination and violence against women, and sustain our activities to create public awareness on the issue.”

ILO and KARSAN signed a Protocol earlier

Having signed last year a protocol with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to promote gender equality and women’s employment, and in February 2020, the “Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs)” jointly forged by the UN Global Compact and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women), KARSAN declared two important policies showing its responsiveness on the issue. KARSAN formulated and introduced its “Gender Equality Policy” and “Zero Tolerance Policy for Violence” in the context of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence starting on November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and culminating on December 10 Human Rights Day.

“First-ever Workplace Policy Document in line with ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention

Mr. Numan Özcan, Director of the ILO Office for Turkey, expressed his happiness that such a policy was instituted as a continuation of the work undertaken jointly with KARSAN to promote women’s employment.

Mr. Özcan said: “We are pleased that within a year of the gender equality work that we started at KARSAN, our joint work has been incorporated in KARSAN’s corporate policies in such a short time, and KARSAN has set out to resolutely implement the gender equality approach in all corporate processes. Thereby, KARSAN has implemented the first-ever workplace policy formulated in line with ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190). This is a significant initiative and sample of good practice even in global sense.”

“We commit, through policy documents, that we stand against all forms of discrimination and violence against women”

Mr. Okan Baş, CEO of KARSAN, said: “We are resolved to state that we are against all forms of discrimination and violence against women, and sustain our activities to create public awareness on the issue.”

Mr. Baş noted that KARSAN’s Gender Equality Policy included the following wording: “Committing to the Women's Empowerment Principles by the slogan ‘Positive Equality at KARSAN’, we built the Gender Equality Policy to raise awareness of all our employees on gender equality in social and work lives and make it a part of our work culture. We undertake that we comply with this policy, and ensure its sustainability through making structural, systemic and behavioural changes for gender equality.”

As another policy declared by KARSAN, Zero Tolerance Policy for Violence reads: “We as KARSAN recognise that violence and harassment at work is a violation of human rights, a threat to equal opportunities, incompatible with decent work, and gender-based violence and harassment including domestic violence disproportionately affect women and girls. Cognizant that an inclusive and integrated approach that addresses root causes and risk factors including multiple and cross-cutting forms of discrimination, inequal gender-based power relations and stereotypes is essential to end all forms of violence and harassment, we adopt a “Zero Tolerance for Violence” approach and undertake to act in line with this document.”

About ILO

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations for the world of work. It sets international labour standards, promotes rights at work, encourages decent employment opportunities, the enhancement of social protection and the strengthening of dialogue on work-related issues. The primary goal of the ILO is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.

About KARSAN

Boasting a history of 54 years in the Turkish automotive industry, KARSAN has since founding been manufacturing its own brands as well as for the world’s leading brands of commercial vehicles at its own modern plant. Manufacturing commercial vehicles since 1981, KARSAN’s plant at Hasanaga, Bursa has the capacity to produce 19,870 vehicles a year at one shift. Flexibly designed to manufacture a full-range of vehicles from heavy-duty trucks, minivans to busses, the Hasanaga plant is located on a land of 200,000m2 with 90,000m2 close space, at a location 30 km from Bursa city centre.

As the sole independent manufacturer of multiple brands in the Turkish automotive industry for more than 50 years, KARSAN aspires to position itself, in line with its vision, in all segments of cargo and passenger transportation by developing new products and derivatives of existing ones in collaboration with business partners and licensors. Working to develop “from idea to market” and place on the market the “innovative products and services” in the public transport sector, KARSAN particularly aims to strengthen its business line as Major Producer/OEM. KARSAN manages its whole value chain from R&D to production, from marketing to post-sales activities.

KARSAN currently produces new H350 light commercial vehicles for Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), 10, 12, 18m busses for Menarinibus, and Jest, Atak and Star models as its brands. In addition, it manufactures full-electric Jest Electric and Atak Electric models in collaboration with the global giant BMW. KARSAN’s plant at the Organized Industry Zone provides industrial services, in addition to KARSAN’s automotive production.