Own workforce:
Working conditions

Overview

Motivated and qualified employees are the basis for the long-term success of the company. They are not just experienced experts but also the most important ambassadors of the company.

Geberit is an important employer at its production and sales sites; it has an open corporate culture and offers international development opportunities at the interface between the craft, engineering and sales sectors. Furthermore, the company is an important training company for apprentices.

Employees

From apprentice
to expert

Patrick Grünbeck is advancing recycling projects and production technologies at the plant in Pottenbrunn (AT).

to the highlight

The significance of the topic “Own workforce” in the value chain

Own workforce: Introduction

Definition and materiality

Geberit believes that its employees are of central importance to the long-term success of the company. Attractive working conditions, development opportunities as well as occupational health and safety make a major contribution to the satisfaction, performance and future of the employees.

The company’s own workforce comprises both staff employed directly and people who regularly provide services to Geberit. Staff employed directly refers to all employees with an employment contract at Geberit, including temporary employees, interns and apprentices.

As part of the double materiality assessment, material impacts, risks and opportunities were identified, which were then assigned to the sub-topics “Working conditions”, “Education and further training” and “Occupational health and safety”. A detailed examination of these can be found in the respective sub-section.

Roles and responsibilities

The highest management level is responsible for “Own employees”:

• The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall strategy, approves relevant guidelines and checks their implementation at least once a year.

• The Group Executive Board is responsible for operational implementation. They are supported in this by specialist departments.

The following topics are the responsibility of the respective departments:

• Corporate Human Resources (Corporate HR): fundamental human and employee rights, working conditions, education and further training.

• Corporate Sustainability: occupational health and safety in production and logistics.

The definition of measures and their implementation at the local level are the responsibility of the individual companies.

The relevant stakeholders are also systematically involved in strategic processes – for example through employee surveys or the Geberit Europe Forum. For further information on the involvement of employees and trade unions, see Stakeholder engagement.

Strategies and policies

The corporate and brand values are defined in the Geberit Compass. The Geberit Code of Conduct, which is binding for all employees worldwide, is the central instrument for preventing discrimination, human rights violations including child and forced labour, violations of rights at work and corruption, as well as for ensuring the protection of intellectual property and compliance with data protection. As a result, it serves as an important guide for ethical, environmentally friendly and socially responsible business practices.

An effective compliance system together with annual Code of Conduct reporting ensures ethical and legally compliant conduct, see Corporate culture and antitrust legislation.

Working conditions

Geberit strives to offer jobs of the highest quality. The corporate culture is characterised by a functional organisation as well as a high degree of personal responsibility. In this way, every employee is motivated to exploit their own potential to the full and contribute to the success of the company.

The local HR teams and the management of the respective Geberit companies are responsible for implementing the measures in the area of working conditions. Coordination is the responsibility of Corporate HR.

Impacts, risks and opportunities

The quality of working conditions can have an impact on individual employees, business success and society as a whole. The highest-rated positive impacts and opportunities in the materiality assessment were identified in job security, fair wages, work-life balance as well as working hours. In contrast, there were no negative impacts or risks that reached the materiality threshold.

This result also comprises human-rights related topics such as child and forced labour. Despite a significantly lower threshold for the materiality of these aspects, no material human-rights related impacts or risks were revealed in own operations.

The company’s risk profile in terms of social risks is low. Geberit manufactures and sells the products mainly in European countries with high occupational safety and social standards. Like all European plants, the plants in China and India are certified until 2027 in accordance with ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment) and ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety) Group certificate. For further information on human-rights related policies and processes see Corporate culture and antitrust legislation.

The identified impacts and opportunities in the sub-topic “Working conditions” are listed below together with their location in the value chain:

Management system

Strategies and policies

The Group-wide basis for all measures in the area of working conditions are the Geberit Compass and the Geberit Code of Conduct, which were both fully revised in 2025, see Corporate culture and antitrust legislation. This ethical basis for cooperation within and outside the company is supplemented by the following regulations:

• Job security: The large majority of the employees (88%) have permanent contracts. Temporary contracts are used in a very limited manner to guarantee operational flexibility. Job security is protected by local employment laws, employment conditions and collective agreement provisions. Most employees (79%) are subject to a collective labour or wage agreement.

• Working time: The working time regulations are aligned with the legal and collective agreement provisions of the respective countries. In Switzerland, the employment conditions are the same for the employees (employees in production and administration) of all companies; in the other countries, local employment contracts and conditions apply. Working time is adapted to the respective type of employment, e. g. shift work in production.

• Adequate wages: Geberit guarantees fair, market-driven and non-discriminatory remuneration. The basis for this is a systematic job assessment in accordance with the Korn Ferry Hay evaluation system or collective agreement criteria. The remuneration of the employees is based on performance and does not depend on gender or other personal characteristics. Regular and systematic reviews ensure fair remuneration for everyone in comparable positions. Furthermore, 95% of all employees can share in the economic success of the company at attractive conditions through share participation plans. Additional market-driven benefits complement the offer for employees at the various locations.

• Balancing family and career: Promoting the work-life balance is part of Geberit’s social responsibility. Appropriate measures are defined locally in line with national regulations.

Processes, measures and controls

A structured dialogue with the employees contributes significantly to the positive impacts and opportunities. These are integrated at several levels:

• Geberit expressly recognises freedom of association as a fundamental human right – regardless of the legal framework in the respective country. Employees are free to join trade unions or other associations. In many countries, the views of the workforce are incorporated into HR-related decisions via formal representation and feedback systems – for example in shaping local working time models or in adjustments to company regulations.

• Participation by employee representatives: In numerous countries, there are legally established or voluntary forms of co-determination (e. g. works councils).

• Geberit Europe Forum: Annual exchange between the Group Executive Board, Corporate HR and employee representatives from most European countries on work-related topics.

• Employee surveys: A global employee survey was once again conducted in the reporting year; in addition, regular surveys have been carried out at local level since the last global survey in 2021. The results confirm above-average satisfaction with the working conditions and a high level of employee commitment compared to the industry average, see section Measures and key figures in the reporting year.

• The Geberit Integrity Line, a whistleblower hotline, is available to employees worldwide in an anonymous form 24/7 and in the corresponding language. The company ensures that whistleblowers are protected against reprisals: all Geberit Integrity Lines, including local ones, are operated externally. Reports are treated in confidence and are examined systematically. The effectiveness of the reporting systems is checked on a regular basis as part of Compliance and Code of Conduct reporting. In addition, employees can contact their supervisors or the local HR department at any time. For further information, see Corporate culture and antitrust legislation.

• The Geberit Intranet (GIN) serves to maintain an ongoing dialogue with employees, e. g. through content on HR and other topics that can be commented on.

In order to improve the work-life balance, Geberit offers part-time options, job sharing opportunities and flexible working hours. In countries with the relevant demand, vacancies are usually advertised with a workload of 80 per cent. Further measures comprise: time accounts, arrangements for working from home, paid days off in excess of statutory requirements, local social counselling and family support services as well as individual solutions for organising working hours. The initiatives are geared towards national circumstances, cultural contexts and the needs of the employees. For example, mothers and fathers in Switzerland are entitled to parental leave that goes beyond the legal minimum.

In addition, comprehensive training measures as well as effective complaint and control mechanisms guarantee the protection of Geberit’s own employees against violations of rights at work and human rights. The training sessions on topics in the Code of Conduct are binding for all new employees. The implementation of the Code of Conduct is monitored annually in all Group companies via Code of Conduct reporting, supplemented by interviews with the managing directors of the individual companies. At the same time, these control instruments contribute to the continuous improvement of ethical standards in all business areas, see Corporate culture and antitrust legislation.

Measures and key figures in the reporting year

Composition of staff employed directly

Staff employed directly refers to all employees with an employment contract at Geberit, including temporary employees, interns and apprentices.

The tables below show the composition of the workforce by gender, age, geographic distribution and employment type. All key figures are shown as full-time equivalents (FTE) as at 31 December 2025. The composition of the workforce by persons (headcounts) can be found in the Annex to this chapter.

Composition by employment type

At the end of 2025, the Geberit Group employed a total of 11,278 people (FTE) worldwide, of which 10,933 full-time positions were filled by staff employed directly. This corresponds to an increase of 168 jobs or +1.5% compared to the previous year. The increase is due to capacity adjustments in production and logistics as a result of the higher volumes compared to the previous year, as well as a reinforcement and expansion in Sales.

Composition by gender and age

Geberit has a diverse gender and age distribution. At the end of the reporting year, women accounted for 25% (FTE) of the total workforce, the same as in the previous year. There is also a good age mix, which has remained unchanged from the previous year.

Geographical distribution of staff employed directly

The geographical distribution has also not changed significantly since the previous year. Geberit employs at least 50 FTE in the following countries, representing at least 10% of its total workforce:

Fluctuation

Geberit employees work at the company for a long time, averaging 12.8 years of service. The company pursues a declared objective of filling management positions internally wherever possible, and thus the long-term development of talents within the organisation, see Internal development programmes. To guarantee continuity and the sharing of knowledge, Geberit relies on the “arc career” model, among others: managers gradually hand over responsibility to their successors and support them in an advisory capacity during the transition phase in the team.

The fluctuation rate increased slightly from 6.0% in the previous year to 6.6% in the reporting year.

Composition of staff not employed directly

Staff not employed directly (“non-employees”) are people who work for Geberit without being in a direct employment relationship with the company. They perform their services either at a Geberit site or at a site of a Geberit customer (e. g. on building sites). This includes, in particular, temporary workers provided by third-party companies as well as external consultants or freelancers who are involved in Geberit projects on the operational side.

At the end of the reporting year, there were 345 external employees (FTE) working for Geberit, which corresponds to an increase of 12 full-time positions compared to the previous year.

Adequate wages

The remuneration of the employees in all of Geberit’s local companies is above the applicable statutory minimum wage. This ensures that remuneration complies with national legal requirements and guarantees a basic level of income security.

The ratio of the annual remuneration paid to the highest-paid employee to the average annual remuneration of all employees was 61.5 in the reporting year (calculated on the basis of full-time positions, excluding the highest-paid employee).

In the reporting year, the percentage increase in the annual remuneration of the highest-paid employee was 11.3 times higher than the average percentage salary increase for all employees (calculated on the basis of full-time equivalents, excluding the highest-paid employee).

Social protection

During the reporting year, systematic records were kept of how many employees had no access to social protection against certain types of income loss.

All Geberit companies without exception confirmed that employees are adequately protected, particularly through health insurance, pension insurance and unemployment insurance, either through statutory or supplementary insurance policies. “Adequately protected” means that Geberit employees have at least average insurance cover in comparison to staff in comparable companies.

Balancing family and career

The Geberit Group has declared the reconciliation of working, family and private life as a key topic in consolidating its position as a responsible and attractive employer. The local measures are geared towards country-specific regulations and perspectives.

In principle, 98% of direct and permanent employees are entitled to family-related leave. This comprises maternity, paternity and parental leave, as well as leave to provide assistance for relatives in need of care. As a result of the change in definition to that of the EU Directive 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers, Geberit will not report the proportion of eligible employees who have taken family-related leave until 2026.

In addition, maternity and paternity leave was extended by four and two weeks respectively in the reporting year for all companies in Switzerland.

Respect for human rights

According to the annual Group-wide survey of the Code of Conduct, there were no cases of child, forced or compulsory labour and no serious violations of human rights recorded in the reporting year. For further information on human-rights related due diligence obligations as well as on any incidents and how they were handled, see Corporate culture and antitrust legislation.

Employee survey 2025

A Group-wide survey carried out during the reporting year confirmed the high level of commitment among employees and their high satisfaction regarding the working conditions. The response rate was 82% and thus three percentage points higher than the last survey in 2021.

The results show that the company was able to follow up on the strong results from the survey in 2021 and achieve significant improvements in several areas. In general, the results reflect the positive perception of the employees while also giving valuable impetus for further development in individual fields of action.

The assessment of the development opportunities has improved particularly significantly: 63% of those surveyed saw opportunities to achieve their career goals at Geberit, and 77% said they were very satisfied about the further training opportunities – each five percentage points up on 2021. The clear and promising direction of the company (92%), innovative capabilities (92%) and awareness of corporate social responsibility (85%) saw the highest absolute levels of agreement on the one hand, while the company also set itself apart the most from other industrial companies on these topics on the other. In all three areas, the results were significantly above the reference values from the industrial sector (+13%, +19% and +9%, respectively).

The results were presented in detail to the respective local companies and departments and discussed further. Measures derived from this will be implemented by the end of 2026.

Annex

To ensure consistency with the ESRS provisions, the following tables show the composition of the workforce by gender, age group and geographic distribution in headcounts. All details are valid as at 31 December 2025.

The 10,933 direct workplaces (FTE) are distributed across 11,269 directly employed people.