Henkel Launches Global Solidarity Program

Henkel launches a global solidarity programme to support communities, employees and customers affected by the pandemic

• World Health Organization / United Nations Foundation COVID-19 fund and selected organizations receive EUR 2 million in donations.
• Donation of 5 million personal and home hygiene products
• Disinfectant production at Henkel facilities.
• Flexible payment terms for hairdressers.
• Ensuring health and safety of employees working from home, office, field and factories.

Henkel has announced a comprehensive global solidarity programme to support employees, customers and communities facing the global coronavirus pandemic. The programme includes:

Donations to World Health Organization/United Nations Foundation fund and other organizations:

To help combat the pandemic, EUR 2 million will be donated to various funds and organizations. The Fritz Henkel Foundation will make a direct donation of EUR 1 million to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) Foundation. This donation will contribute to providing protective equipment to frontline healthcare workers, equipping diagnostic laboratories, improving data collection and analysis, establishing and maintaining intensive care units, as well as accelerating research and development processes for potential vaccines and treatments. The Fritz Henkel Foundation will also support the voluntary efforts of dedicated employees fighting the crisis, in addition to donations totalling EUR 1 million to various organizations and partners worldwide.

Donation of personal and home hygiene products:

Henkel will also donate 5 million personal and home hygiene products worldwide. The products to be donated include hand disinfectants, soaps and protective equipment, as well as detergents, disinfectants and other household cleaning products. Henkel's corporate citizenship team will implement these donations in close coordination with charities, local authorities and partners with whom it cooperates worldwide.

Redirecting production facilities to disinfectant production:

Additionally, Henkel plans to produce disinfectants at designated production facilities. These products are intended to assist public bodies and professional groups in their efforts to combat the coronavirus.

Improved payment terms for certain business partners:

Henkel will also consider improved payment terms in order to support small and medium-sized hairdressers during the current difficult conditions.

Crisis management and safety measures for employees:

Since the start of the crisis, Henkel has addressed the situation proactively through crisis management teams operating at country, regional and global levels. The priority objective of crisis management is to do what is necessary to ensure the safety of employees, customers and business partners and to continue operations under current difficult conditions. Henkel CEO Carsten Knobel commented on the matter: "At Henkel, we are determined to do our part in the face of this unprecedented challenge. Through our values and a comprehensive global solidarity programme, we aim to make a contribution. We are pursuing our fight against the pandemic together at the highest level of effort, with the goal of protecting our employees and their jobs, continuing our service to customers and supporting the communities in which we operate." Knobel continued: "At the same time, I would like to thank our global and local crisis teams, which have been active since the coronavirus began to spread in China. In order to continue our operations, we have taken additional measures to reduce infection risk for our employees continuing their duties in production areas. Examples of these include strict protocols to be implemented in case of suspected infection, increased hygiene practices, shift separation, and reducing the number of employees in production areas by evaluating all cases where working from home is possible."