We have three very specific goals of our political work. We want a better work environment for women, and we want more legislative support for achieving a commitment to sustainability. And as a company that has to be competitive internationally, we seek the confinement of additional tax burdens.
As a mid-sized company, our impact on all participants in the supply chain is limited. In many cases, we are dependent on sustainable materials and production processes being in demand by other companies as well. Therefore legal regulations such as REACH can help make sustainability even possible, and also competitive.
Apart from the fact that sustainability should be required by statutory requirements, it is also our sincere wish that sustainability be consistently promoted by politicians. Sustainability factors should be fully included into the criteria for awarding public contracts. Also, governmental guarantees for long-term financing and the like should be dependent on the sustainability of the company. To support such directions, we are actively involved, for example, as a founding member of the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles of the Federal Government or supporting the Economy for the Common Good as a pioneering company.
Reducing environmentally harmful subsidies and increasing regulation of the use of environmentally harmful substances would help to enforce sustainability on a larger scale than before.
Even though it has been proven that mixed teams are more creative and realistic in their decisions, women continue to be underrepresented in management positions. Conventional, primarily male dominated corporate cultures can be seen as one reason for this.
Women need different operational conditions in order to have the desire or ability to achieve their full potential. As an employer, VAUDE has been working for over ten years to create the conditions necessary for women – and men – to balance their career with their private lives, and to allow them to realize their own individual visions.
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»I am pleased about the introduction of gender quotas for women and am looking forward to the process of change that they trigger« Antje von Dewitz; CEO
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In addition to our internal culture of trust, the following are some of the ways we contribute to equal opportunity working conditions:
Nevertheless, building and maintaining a family-friendly and equal opportunity culture is not only time consuming and costly, it also requires a major shift in perspective within the company.
Some companies do not realize the scope of the change necessary. Others just are not ready to take this path. Without pressure, little will change here in the next few years. This is why VAUDE management supports a gender quota for women and is committed to public debates or events on this issue.
Germany’s tax and social security ranks 89th in international comparisons. The German middle class has to pay an average of 49.4 percent of their income in taxes, while the international average is 43.1 percent.
As a mid-sized outdoor company, VAUDE must survive in a competitive international market. The current, above-average tax burden is already a disadvantage today. If property taxation is increased further, it would be a particular threat to VAUDE as a family-owned company as this would lead to double taxation and threaten established equity. We want a tax system that does not jeopardize our entrepreneurial independence and that allows to continue along our sustainable path as a family-owned company, despite dynamic, international competition.
| GRI: | G4-DMA Politics |
