Code of conduct.

We are a boutique business and human rights advisory services firm. We work with companies, investors and other private sector entities to help them place respect for human rights at the core of their business.

Respect for Human Rights

Respect for human rights starts with us. If you are working with us, we commit to respecting your human rights at all times.

We commit to treating you with respect and dignity, and to pro-actively understand how you are finding you working experience with us. You can always raise any concerns or grievances you have with us, at any time. We commit to listening and finding ways to address these together. We commit to ensuring that you do not suffer any retaliation for raising your concerns or grievances.

If you feel uncomfortable raising grievances with us directly, we have provided you details of an independent mediator that you can raise grievances with, and who will support us in finding a solution. We will cover the costs of this mediation.

This commitment to your rights applies, irrespective of how you are working with us (e.g., on an employment contract, as a contractor) and what you are working with us on (e.g., business and human rights support, administrative support).

This also means that we ask that you treat others with respect as well. This includes how you work with others, including employees, consultants, clients and other experts we interact with.

At the end of the day, everyone we interact with is a person that is entitled to respect and dignity.

Here are just a few examples of what this commitment looks like in practice:•

• You are paid above living wage, for the location you are working from
• You are able to advocate for your rights – with other workers collectively where this may be viewed as helpful to you•
• You have a working environment that is comfortable and you benefit from an ergonomically correct workstation
• You are over 18 years of age and you have a written contract that you have freely agreed to

Respect for Planet

We are also deeply concerned about the climate crisis that we find ourselves in, and we believe that we each have a role to play to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We ask that you are mindful about your own carbon footprint as you work with us. The following are examples of what this can entail:•

• Using recycled paper and refillable pens for your work
• Only printing out materials where you feel this has a tangible positive impact on your work• Using public transport (train, bus etc.) for travel to meetings where possible
• When traveling long-distance, prioritising train travel where possible and offsetting carbon footprint at all times. We will do this for you for work travel, as we include all the carbon of those connected to us in our carbon footprint
• Using energy that comes from renewable energy for the electricity you need for your work
• Asking climate-related questions to business partners we are connected to wherever there is an opportunity to do so

Mental Health and Wellbeing

We know that we work on challenging topics, sometime with tight timeframes. Our approach is that you always come first. You should feel that your working hours are reasonable. You should always feel empowered to prioritize your own mental health and wellbeing, and let us know how we can support you in doing so. This could include extending deadlines for client deliverables, taking time off work and re-prioritising projects.

We don’t always have visibility into what may be causing you stress, or where the workload may be viewed as too large. We commit to paying attention to your wellbeing and mental health, and we also ask that you feel empowered to share with us if you feel that you may be facing challenges. While we obviously don’t need to know about your own personal or private matters, we are here if there is anything you would like to share with us that can help us in designing a working experience that is most appropriate for your personal life.

We will make pro-active efforts to create spaces for discussion on this topic and, for our London-based team members, seek to organize regular get-togethers that will support our wellbeing as a team.

The following are examples of the kinds of measures that can help in achieving a healthy work-life balance:•

• Disconnecting completely when out of the office, which includes not checking emails, Slack or any other forms of communication for work
• Taking time for lunch and regular short breaks during work days. Having regular times to get up and stretch are helpful, as are going for small walks in between projects
• Setting parameters on your own ‘deep work’ time, which may mean disconnecting completely while you finish an assignment, or postponing a project to enable you to finish a project you are focused on

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion

We are acutely aware of the structural inequalities that exist in the societies we are operating in, and are mindful of the role we can play. We are committed to raising awareness of these structural inequalities whenever we can with clients, as well as inspiring them to find systems-wide solutions to tackle the root cause of issues we face as humanity.

We are eager to accelerate equality for all and to create an inclusive workplace where everyone feels like they belong. We will take active steps to support this, and will seek to support access to the business and human rights field for underrepresented groups, for instance by providing counsel to students and young professionals from these groups.

Other Important Matters

Here are some other important matters for us:•

• Obviously, any and all forms of bribery and corruption are prohibited. Although this may be less of a risk for us as a small professional services firm, examples could include seeking preferential treatment in exchange for something (e.g. featuring a company on our listserv or website)
• We ask that you declare any possible conflicts of interest to us, for instance where you are working with, or in discussions to work with, a company that we are also working with, or in discussions to work with• If clients provide you with gifts and hospitality, which can happen when you are traveling for work, we specifically ask that these are kept reasonable and proportionate in nature
• You will have signed a confidentiality agreement with us that covers all confidential information you will have access to as you work with us. Clients trust us with their sensitive and confidential information and we expect that you take this confidentiality provision very seriously. In particular, this means always anonymising company examples you have come across in the course of your work, unless the information is already in the public domain
• If you have shares in companies that we are working with, we ask that you pay particular attention to insider trading. While money laundering is not a particular risk for us as a professional services firm, we ask that you pay attention to its existence as you work with clients
• We obviously expect that laws that apply to you are respected at all times. If you identify laws that may run counter to the expectations of respect for people and planet contained in this Code of Conduct, please let us know and we will find a solution together

We are always open to improving our processes, and if there are areas of growth that you see for us, please let us know.

Thank you for your help and support in helping us meet our Code of Conduct.

Anna Triponel
Founder and Director
Human Level

2022 Version

Download our Code of Conduct

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