Code of conduct
This code sets out how we expect everyone who works here to behave. It applies to employees, workers, agency workers and contractors: at work, at work events, when you work from home, online, and whenever you represent the company.
No code can cover every situation. If you are not sure what to do, ask yourself whether it is honest, fair, safe and lawful, and whether you would be happy to explain it to a colleague. If you are still not sure, ask your manager or HR.
Treat people with respect
- Treat everyone with dignity and courtesy: colleagues, customers, partners and visitors.
- Do not harass, bully or discriminate against anyone. This includes remarks, jokes, messages and images, in person or online.
- Our Preventing sexual harassment policy explains what sexual harassment is and how to report it.
Be honest
- Be honest in your work, in your records and in what you say about the company.
- Keep accurate records, and do not change or destroy a record to hide a mistake.
- Do not offer, give, ask for or accept a bribe of any kind, directly or through someone else. A bribe is anything of value offered to make someone act improperly.
- If someone asks you for a bribe, or for a payment that seems wrong, refuse and tell your manager or HR straight away. You will not be in trouble for refusing, even if we lose business as a result.
Deal fairly with customers, suppliers and competitors
- Describe our products and services honestly. Do not promise a customer anything the company has not agreed to.
- Choose suppliers on quality, price and service, following our buying process.
- Do not agree with a competitor on prices, discounts, bids or which customers each of you serves, and do not share our prices or plans with competitors. Agreements like these are against competition law, even when they are informal.
Company money
Spend company money only for business purposes. Follow our expenses rules, claim only what you have paid for work, and keep your receipts. Ask your manager before you commit the company to a cost you are not sure about.
Conflicts of interest
A conflict of interest is when your personal interests could affect your decisions at work, or could look as though they do. Examples include a second job, a close relative who works for a supplier, shares in a competitor, or a close personal relationship with someone you manage.
Tell your manager about a conflict as soon as you know about it, and agree with them how to handle it before you take part in any decision it affects. Declaring a conflict is not wrongdoing. Hiding one is.
Gifts and hospitality
Small gifts and modest hospitality are a normal part of business. They must not influence a decision, or look as though they could.
Gifts and hospitality, given or received
| What | What to do |
|---|
| Worth up to £50 | You may give or accept it. You do not need to record it. |
| Worth more than £50 | Ask your manager before you give or accept it, and record it in the gifts register. |
| Cash, or anything that works like cash, such as vouchers | Do not give or accept it, whatever the amount. |
| Anything from a supplier while we are choosing one | Politely decline it, and tell your manager it was offered. |
If you are not sure, ask your manager before you give or accept anything.
Confidential information
- Keep confidential information safe. This includes information about the company, our customers, our partners and the people who work here.
- Share it only with people who need it for their work. Our Data protection at work policy explains how to handle personal data.
- Keep it confidential after you leave the company too.
- Nothing in this code stops you from blowing the whistle, reporting a crime or speaking to a regulator.
Company equipment and systems
- Use company equipment, systems and accounts for work. Occasional personal use is fine if it is brief, lawful and does not get in the way of your work.
- Keep your passwords to yourself, use two-step sign-in wherever it is offered, and lock your screen when you step away.
- Report a lost or stolen device, or a suspicious email, to IT at once.
- Return all company equipment when you leave.
- We may check how our systems are used, as our privacy notice for staff explains.
Social media and speaking for the company
You may use social media in your own time. If you mention your work, make clear that your views are your own. Do not post confidential information, or anything that harasses or bullies colleagues, customers or partners, even from a personal account.
Only the people the company chooses may speak for it in public. Pass any questions from journalists to your manager.
Health and safety
- Take reasonable care of your own health and safety, and of anyone affected by what you do or fail to do at work.
- Follow safety instructions and training, and use the safety equipment provided.
- Report accidents, near misses and hazards to your manager straight away.
- Tell your manager if anything, such as illness, tiredness or medication, affects your ability to work safely.
Alcohol and drugs
Do not work under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. At work events where alcohol is served, drink responsibly: this code still applies. If a medicine you have been prescribed may affect your work, tell your manager. You do not have to say what it is.
Speaking up
Tell us if you see something wrong at work. This could be a crime, a danger to health or safety, damage to the environment, a breach of the law, sexual harassment, or someone covering any of these up.
You can tell your manager, HR or any director. The law protects workers who report certain kinds of wrongdoing in the public interest, which is called whistleblowing. You can also report to a prescribed person or body, such as a regulator.
We will not treat you badly for raising a genuine concern, even if you turn out to be mistaken. Treating someone badly for speaking up is a disciplinary matter.
If this code is broken
- If you think someone has broken this code, tell your manager or HR, or use one of the routes in Speaking up.
- We look into concerns fairly and promptly, following our disciplinary procedure where it applies.
- Breaking this code may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. For contractors, it may end the contract.
- Some breaches, such as bribery and fraud, may also be crimes. We may report them to the police.
Find out more
Confirming you have read this code
We review this code every year, and sooner if the law or our business changes. We will tell you what has changed. Ask your manager or HR if anything in it is unclear, then confirm below that you have read it.