Purpose and Background
The company's management realises that employees' enjoyment of the workplace is enhanced by maximising alignment and minimising conflict between corporate and personal ethical standards. Such alignment of purpose also assists the company to meet its objectives efficiently and effectively, with due consideration to broader environmental, social and cultural obligations.
This Policy establishes the ethical basis upon which the company will dissociate itself from projects or work activities that are deliberately or wilfully harmful to the environment or to the health, safety and wellbeing of mankind and society. It is a pragmatic and workable Policy, placing emphasis on continual improvement rather than unrealistic idealism.
The Board of Heggies reserves the right to refrain from actively engaging with persons or entities that the Board determines, in its absolute discretion, do not conduct themselves and/or their business in a sufficiently ethical manner.
The Policy also clearly establishes the right of any employee to dissociate themselves personally from any project or work-related activity on reasonable ethical, moral, cultural or religious grounds.
Human Rights
Subject to the absolute discretion of the Board, the company will not normally do business with:
- State organisations in countries with demonstrable and widespread poor human rights activity and with unacceptably deficient programs of human rights reform, including:
- Governments and government departments
- Armed services and police forces
- State-owned industries
- Organisations operating in support of regimes in countries where there exists the highest degree of concern over the maintenance of human rights or where the nature of the business is demonstrably damaging to society or the environment.
- Organisations which show ongoing failure to address human rights issues within their sphere of influence.
The Arms Trade
Subject to the absolute discretion of the Board, the company will not normally do business with:
- Companies which manufacture for (or sell to) oppressive regimes systems (or products) that kill, maim or destroy
- Companies which issue licences for the production of armaments for oppressive regimes
- Individuals or organisations involved in the brokerage of armaments to oppressive regimes
- Companies which export products to oppressive regimes that, while not designed to kill, maim or destroy, are parts for equipment which have a battlefield application or are essential to the operation of a weapon, such as radar and electronic warfare, military communications and armour.
Global Trade
Subject to the absolute discretion of the Board, the company will not normally do business with:
- Multinational companies who do not have a clear commitment to core labour standards; in particular, if their behaviour has been the subject of major reputation criticisms of conditions in their supply chain, which they have repeatedly failed to reform or remedy
- Any company, regardless of size, which is the subject of "continuing and justifiable criticism" for not complying with core labour standards that it is in a position to influence or reform
- Any company where there is no evidence of a genuine commitment to address reported failings in their marketing practices or which cannot supply acceptable answers to reported criticisms of marketing practices.
Genetic Modification
Subject to the absolute discretion of the Board, the company will not normally do business with:
- Involved in the uncontrolled release of Genetically Modified Organisms into the environment
- Producing Genetically Modified crops which threaten biodiversity
- Developing Genetic Terminator seed sterilization technologies
- Responsible for releases of pathological organisms
- Which restrict access to genetic information of staple food crops
- Which restrict access to human genetic information which has negative implications for research
- Which clone or genetically modify animals for medical proteins or food purposes, except where done under broad community-accepted or democratic government-approved ethical standards
- Involved in xeno-transplantation, patent genetic resources or indigenous knowledge unless there is a clear benefit which is accepted by the local communities.
Ecological Impact
Subject to the absolute discretion of the Board, the company will not normally do business with:
- Businesses involved in the extraction, production or use of fossil fuels, except where presently supported by the policies of governments having sustainable human rights and environmental practices; the company will encourage the development and use of alternative non-fossil fuels, including safely-managed nuclear energy
- Businesses involved in the production of long lived substances that the natural environment has little capacity to break down into harmless components (eg the plastic PVC refrigerants such as HCFCs) and where alternative environmentally acceptable substances are available
- Businesses contributing to excessive timber clearance, over-farming, water resource degradation or over-fishing and not having acceptable sustainability policies and programs of reform.
Ethical Adjudication
Subject to the absolute discretion of the Board, responsibility for liaising with employees in regard to day-to day implementation of this Policy resides with Group, Division and Office Managers.
Employees wishing to withdraw personally from participation in particular projects or activities or to recommend that the company not do business with a particular organisation or on a particular project should liaise with their Group, Division or Office Manager.
Within the guidelines described in this Policy, these Managers will attempt to re-allocate such projects to staff members willing to participate, but seek adjudication, guidance and final direction from the Board where solutions are not readily achieved. The Board shall be notified of all such situations regarding the potential refusal to do business or potential non-participation in a particular project on the basis of ethical considerations.
