Mestas Code of conduct for purchasing
Mestas etiske retningslinjer for innkjøp
1. Purpose
Mesta recognises its social responsibility and have made a commitment to working actively to ensure that both Mesta and our suppliers respect a fundamental Code of Conduct with regards to human rights, employee rights and the environment in our own business activities and those of our suppliers.As a means of clarifying what we expect from our suppliers, Mesta has written a Code of Conduct for Purchasing. The Code of Conduct applies to Mesta’s suppliers in cases where there is an agreement for the purchase of goods and services. Should the supplier employ sub-contractors in connection with such an agreement, the supplier is bound to communicate the requirements of the code and contribute to the subcontractors’ compliance with these.
2. Principles
2.1. Choice of supplier
Mesta will in its choice of suppliers make an assessment of social and environmental standards in addition to other factors. The supplier’s conformance with and demonstrated willingness to work towards improvements in relation to the Code of Conduct set forth in this document will be taken into consideration when choosing suppliers.
2.2. Improvements
The work shall be process oriented, but with a clear objective of attaining improvements over time. This entails that any violations of the code will not automatically result in the immediate termination of the agreement with Mesta or in sanctions. See also paragraph 6.
2.3. Corruption
Corruption is prohibited in Norway. Mesta’s employees shall at all times, regardless of the country in which they are operating or which they are operating in relation to, as a minimum requirement live up to the stipulated requirements and objectives of Norwegian anti-corruption legislation.
3. Code of Conduct
The Code of Conduct is based on internationally recognised UN and ILO conventions and indicates minimum standards. Work-related legislation for the production site is to be respected. In cases where national laws and regulations and this Code of Conduct address the same issue, the highest standard is always to apply.
3.1. Freely chosen employment (ILO conventions no. 29 and 105)
3.1.1. There shall be no forced, bonded or involuntary labour.
3.1.2. Workers shall not be required to lodge deposits or identity papers with their employer and shall be at liberty to leave their employer after a reasonable period of notice.
3.2. Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining (ILO conventions no. 87, 98 and 135 and 154)
3.2.1. Workers shall, without distinction, have the right to join or form trade unions of their own choosing and to negotiate collectively.
3.2.2. Workers’ representatives shall not be discriminated and shall have access to carry out their representative functions at the workplace.
3.2.3. Where these rights are limited under law, the employer shall facilitate, and not hinder, the development of parallel means for free and independent association and negotiation.
3.3. Child labour (UN Convention on Childrens’ Rights, ILO conventions no. 138, 182 and 79, ILO recommendation no. 146)
3.3.1. Children under the age of 18 shall not be engaged in work that is hazardous to their health or safety, including night work.
3.3.2. Children under the age of 15 (14 or 16 in certain countries) shall not carry out work that can be detrimental to their education.
3.3.3. Any new recruitment of child labour in infringement of the above-mentioned conventions is unacceptable. If child labour, as described above, is already in existence, sustained efforts shall be made to redress the situation as quickly as possible. However, the children concerned shall be given the possibility of earning a livelihood, as well as acquiring an education until they are no longer of compulsory school age.
3.4. No discrimination (ILO conventions no.100 and 111 and the UN Convention on
Discrimination Against Women)
3.4.1. There shall be no discrimination in working life based on ethnic background, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, union membership or political affiliation.
3.4.2. Measures shall be established to protect workers from sexually intrusive, threatening, insulting or exploitative behaviour, and from discrimination or termination of employment on unjustifiable grounds, e.g., marriage, pregnancy, parenthood or HIV status.
3.5. Harsh or inhumane treatment
3.5.1. Physical abuse or punishment, or threats of physical abuse, sexual or other harassment and verbal abuse, as well as other forms of intimidation, shall be prohibited.
3.6. Health, environment and safety (ILO convention no.155 and recommendation no.164)
3.6.1. Work is to be carried out to ensure workers a safe and hygienic working environment. Adequate steps shall be taken to prevent and minimise accidents and injury as a result of or related to conditions at the workplace.
3.6.2. Workers shall receive regular and documented health and safety training, and such training shall be repeated for new workers.
3.6.3. Workers shall have access to clean toilet facilities and to potable water, and, if appropriate, sanitary facilities for food storage.
3.6.4. Accommodation, where provided, shall be clean, safe and adequately ventilated, and shall have access to clean toilet facilities and potable water.
3.7. Wages (ILO convention no.131)
3.7.1. Workers’ wages shall meet, at a minimum, national legal standards or industry benchmark standards, and should always be enough to meet basic needs.
3.7.2. All workers shall be provided with a written and comprehensible contract outlining their wage conditions and method of payments before entering employment.
3.7.3. Deductions from wages as a disciplinary measure shall not be permitted.
3.8. Working hours (ILO convention no. 1 and 14)
3.8.1. Working hours shall comply with national laws or the industry standards, and not exceed working hours in accordance with the prevailing international conventions. It is recommended that working hours do not exceed 48 hours per week (8 hours per day).
3.8.2. Workers shall be provided with at least one day off per week.
3.8.3. Overtime shall be limited. The recommended maximum overtime is 12 hours per week.
3.8.4. Workers shall always receive overtime pay, at a minimum in accordance with current legislation.
3.9. Regular employment
3.9.1. Obligations to employees under international conventions and/or national social security laws, and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship, shall not be avoided through the use of short-term contracting (such as contract labour, casual labour or day labour), sub-contractors or other labour relationships.
3.9.2. All workers are entitled to a contract of employment that shall be written in a language they understand.
3.9.3. The duration and content of apprenticeship programmes shall be clearly defined.
Conditions outside the workplace
3.10. Requirement for payment to bank account
3.10.1 Salary and other remuneration to own employees, subcontractor’s employees and hired workers, must be paid to a bank account.
3.11. Consideration for marginalized populations
3.11.1. Production and extraction of raw materials for production shall not contribute to the destruction of the resources and income base for marginalized populations, such as in claiming large land areas or other natural resources on which these populations are dependent.
3.12. The Environment
3.12.1. Environmental measures shall be taken into consideration throughout the production and distribution chain, from the production of raw materials to the consumer sale. Efforts shall be made to attend to local, regional and global environmental aspects. The local environment at the production site shall not be exploited or degraded by pollution.
3.12.2. National and international environmental legislation and regulations shall be upheld.
3.12.3. Relevant discharge permits shall be obtained where required.
3.12.4. Hazardous chemicals and other substances shall be carefully managed.
4. The Supplier’s management system
The management system is of central importance to implementation of the Code of Conduct. Mesta therefore expects that the supplier will have systems to support the implementation of the code.
These expectations are specified as follows:
· The supplier shall assign responsibility for implementation of the code of conduct in own enterprise to a manager.
· The supplier is to ensure an awareness of the requirements of the Code of Conduct in all relevant areas of its enterprise.
· The supplier is to acquire approval from Mesta before production or parts of production are assigned to a subcontractor/contractor if no previous agreement has been formed.
· The supplier shall be able to account for where goods ordered by Mesta have been produced.
5. Monitoring of the supplier
The supplier shall seek to conform to the requirements of the Code of Conduct in own business activities and contribute to conformance on the part of its subcontractors. At the request of Mesta, the supplier shall willingly document this through one or more of the following:
· Self-declaration regarding ethical trade from the supplier and any subcontractors
· Follow-up meetings with Mesta
· Audit of working conditions at the production site, carried out by an independent party.
· Mesta, or a third party approved by Mesta, reserves the right to carry out announced or unannounced inspections at the production site in question.
In the event of an inspection, the supplier is bound to provide the name and contact information of subcontractors. Contact information will be handled as confidential.
6. Violation of the Code of Conduct
In the event of a violation of the Code of Conduct Mesta will take a process-oriented approach to improvements and require a correction of the non-compliance within a reasonable time period. In the event of significant breaches of the code or a failure to carry out corrective actions, Mesta can terminate the agreement.
The supplier is bound to inform Mesta of any violations of the Code of Conduct and present a plan for measures to be implemented to achieve conformance with the code. This plan must be accepted by Mesta before the agreement between the parties can be resumed.