ESG CHARTER
Environment, Social and Governance
SUPPLIERS AND SUBCONTRACTORS
Introduction
For years, Samsic Group has been developing a proactive approach to Corporate Social Responsibility in all its activities.
That’s why we expect our partners1 to be in line with our values and to be as committed as we are to acting in a sustainable and responsible way.
This Charter o icially defines the essential commitments that our partners (suppliers, subcontractors and service providers) are required to uphold, particularly in terms of social, environmental and ethical standards.
As part of the Samsic Group's duty of care, one of the key requirements in our selection process is that each partner fully endorses our ESG2 Charter.
In agreeing to abide by this Charter, the Supplier or Subcontractor undertakes to ensure that its own partners also uphold and apply the principles set out therein, in compliance with international and national legislation and existing contractual provisions.
The Supplier or Subcontractor also agrees to welcome any auditor assigned to assess the e ective application of these principles and, if necessary, to take corrective action with a view to continuous improvement.
This Charter is a central element for the trust-based relationship Samsic wishes to develop with its Suppliers and Subcontractors; it will be appended to all contracts signed with the latter. Any breach of this Charter's principles may therefore be subject to the penalties provided for in the contract itself.
This Charter may be amended in the light of new practices, unforeseen events or changes in legal requirements. Samsic will therefore ensure that this Charter is regularly reviewed, updated and communicated to all its partners.
1 : Collectively referred to as « the Supplier » in this Charter
2 : Environnement, Social and Governance
Upholding Human Rights & Labor Standards
01
Upholding Human Rights & Labor Standards
Diversity and Inclusion
In compliance with Convention C111 of the International Labour Organisation, and barring any specific local rules, the Supplier undertakes to not discriminate, exclude or give preference on the grounds of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, resulting in destroying or altering equal opportunities or fair consideration in recruitment, employment, training, promotion or dismissal. The Supplier also must comply with local legislation on the employment of people with disabilities
Respect, Dignity and Anti-Harassment
The supplier must show respect for its employees and safeguard their dignity. Any verbal or physical abuse, any threat, any form of abuse or harassment, whether sexual, psychological, moral or verbal, and any form of physical or mental pressure, are totally prohibited
Prohibition of Forced Labour
The Supplier undertakes not to use forced or compulsory labour as stated in the ILO Conventions C29 and C105 (forced or compulsory labour being defined as followed: “Any work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the person has not o ered himself or herself voluntarily.”).
The Supplier undertakes to hire workers solely on the basis of voluntary recruitment, and bear all costs relating to the recruitment and employment of workers whenever this is legally required, e.g. permits and taxes.
The Supplier commits not to using illegal or concealed labour, as defined by the laws of the countries in which its activities take place.
Prohibition of Child Labour
The Supplier undertakes to comply with the regulations aimed at eradicating child labor and at ensuring the protection of children and adolescents, as defined by the ILO Conventions. More specifically, the Supplier undertakes not to employ persons under the minimum working age required by the ILO Conventions C138 and C182.
Working hours and Pay
The Supplier complies with local legislation on working hours and minimum wages, and undertakes to pay employees their wages on a regular basis as well as to pay all applicable social security charges.
The Supplier undertakes to pay overtime in accordance with the rates defined by the local legislation in force.
Freedom of association and collective bargaining
The Supplier undertakes to uphold the rights of freedom of association and protection of the right to collective bargaining, set out in the ILO Convention C87 and in compliance with local legislation. The Supplier must not interfere in any way with the application of these rights.
The Supplier's employees are free to form, join or refuse to join a trade union or employee delegation of their choice, without being threatened or intimidated. Employees must not be discriminated against for fully exercising their rights.
Ensuring Health & Safety
02
Ensuring Health & Safety
The Supplier strives to provide a safe environment and thus protect individual health Activities and equipment must not be detrimental to the health and safety of employees, subcontractors, third parties involved in the operations, neighboring populations or product users.
The Supplier is proactive in matters of health and safety. The risks associated with its activity must be identified and assessed. The Supplier must take all necessary measures to limit and whenever possible eliminate these risks. The Supplier takes preventive measures against accidents and occupational illnesses
Samsic Group entities actively work to improve the safety of all persons working on their sites, as well as on their clients' sites. Because people's physical safety might be at stake, all Samsic entities require their Suppliers and Subcontractors to meet the same high standards of occupational safety when working on the Group's sites.
To meet this requirement, the Supplier must carry out regular risk assessments in the workplace and implement appropriate risk controls and preventive measures.
In this respect, it is the Supplier's responsibility and that of its subcontractors to report any anomaly or risk situation directly to the Samsic Manager of the site on which they operate.
Preserving the Environment
03
Preserving the Environment
The Supplier's activities comply with the regulations in force relating to environmental protection. The Supplier is in possession of all the certificates and/or authorisations required to operate its sites or carry out its activities.
With a view to continuous improvement, the Supplier implements, whenever possible, eco-friendly initiatives to achieve the highest standards in terms of environmental protection. This applies both to its products and to its management system, particularly with regard to the protection of nature, the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystems, the conservation of natural resources, and the management of waste and toxic substances.
The Supplier takes initiatives to prevent or limit the impact of its activities on the environment by promoting greater environmental responsibility
E orts are made to keep nuisances to a minimum for local residents, to reduce energy consumption and discharges into the water, air and soil, and to reduce the amount of waste generated at all stages of manufacturing, shipping, on-site installation, marketing of products and services, and waste disposal.
At all times, the Supplier takes into account the environmental, health and safety criteria when purchasing products and services, when designing, producing and implementing its own products and services, in order to reduce their overall impact throughout their life cycle, whilst ensuring that quality is not a ected and/or is improved.
As a minimum, the Supplier commits to complying with the laws and standards in force locally, as well as with the laws applying in the country(ies) to which the product is delivered.
Fostering an Ethical Corporate Culture
Fostering an Ethical Corporate Culture
Loyalty and trust are the key principles on which the relationship between Samsic Group entities and their suppliers is based for developing and preserving long-term partnerships.
Free competition
Samsic entities act with honesty and fairness towards all their suppliers, regardless of the size of their activities and their situation, in compliance with the requirements specific to each country, and known to all employees.
Samsic employees and subsidiaries make all purchases in accordance with the principle of fair and open competition. Similarly, suppliers are required to operate in accordance with the principles of fair trade and free competition.
Corruption and influence peddling
The Supplier will conduct its activities in accordance with the principles of honesty, fairness and in compliance with the regulations applicable to the prohibition of corruption in commercial transactions
The negotiation and execution of contracts must not give rise to behaviour or facts that could be qualified as active or passive corruption, or as complicity in influence peddling or favouritism.
Fight against money laundering
The Supplier must take all necessary measures to comply with the regulations applicable to preventing money laundering when carrying out its activity.
Interest conflicts
When working with Samsic, the Supplier commits to identifying and resolving any potential or actual conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest is defined as any circumstance likely to raise doubts as to the Supplier's ability to act objectively in the context of its activities. This occurs, for instance, when an employee's private interests influence his or her decisions or actions at work.
The Supplier undertakes not to prejudice the integrity of any Samsic employee, and to not o er nor accept any gifts or other benefits whatsoever, either for themselves, their spouse, their relatives or anyone close to them.
Observing the integrity, independence of judgement and objectivity of employees is key. Gifts o ered as a mere expression of courtesy are only acceptable if they are non-recurring, of limited value and comply with the prevailing laws and reasonable practices of the country and the profession.
It is also strictly forbidden to accept gifts of excessive value or nature. To build a trusting relationship between Samsic and its suppliers, certain business meals may be held. However, these must be appropriate and limited to what is strictly necessary and must not be excessive. In this respect, when submitting a tender, whether private or public, no gifts and no business meals are authorised for the entire bidding period. This also applies to any ‘sensitive’ period, such as evaluation periods.
Commercial restrictions
The Supplier warrants that none of its business activities are in violation of existing international economic restrictions or of any other applicable laws or regulations relating to export controls. The Supplier also warrants that it does not provide any support to any third party to breach such restrictions, laws or regulations.
Data protection, intellectuel property and confidentiality
Samsic and the Supplier may collect, process, store and use data in the course of their partnership.
The Supplier commits to comply with any locally applicable law in terms of data protection and intellectual property, in particular to comply with Regulation (EU) No. 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and to the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation-GDPR).
The Supplier undertakes to implement all necessary and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect everyone's personal and confidential data.
Compliance & Whistleblowing System
Compliance with Samsic's ESG Charter is a dynamic process: each supplier is encouraged to constantly improve its methods and activities.
During the supplier selection process, the ability to comply with this Charter is one of the key criteria assessed by Samsic. The Supplier is required to demonstrate that it is committed to taking all necessary action to meet the compliance requirements, by means of questionnaires, documents or compliance survey. Samsic also holds the right to ask the Supplier to submit to a compliance audit, conducted by Samsic or a designated service provider.
Suppliers also have a key role to play in terms of ethics and integrity
Any potential non-compliance with this Charter or with international or local regulations may be reported by witnesses or victims.
To this end, the Samsic Group has set up a whistleblowing system. For more information on this system, please refer to Appendix 1 “Samsic Group Whistleblowing System".
Appendix 1 Samsic Group Whistleblowing System
Any person working for the Samsic Group or any third party to the group, who is aware of or suspects in good faith any unlawful behaviour or behaviour that is contrary to this ESG Charter or to any international or local regulations, may make a confidential report by contacting the Samsic Ethics Hotline at alert@samsic.com
No reprisals against whistle-blowers will be tolerated.
Whistleblowers' reports will be handled by qualified personnel bound by the strictest confidentiality.
The Samsic Group will deal with such reports by carrying out all necessary investigations in a confidential manner, in compliance with the laws, regulations and procedures applicable in each country.
ESG CHARTER
Environment, Social and Governance
SUPPLIERS AND SUBCONTRACTORS
• The company......................................................................................................
• With a capital of..............................................................................................
• Registered under number...................................................................................................................................................
With registered o ice at.......................................................................................................................................................
Represented by...................................................................................................................................................................
In the capacity of.............................................................................................................................. duly authorized
Acknowledges having read all the provisions of Samsic's ESG Charter Suppliers and Subcontractors Charter and Commits to compliance with its principles throughout its relationship with the group's entities.
Signature of authorized representative Company stamp
Signed at The...............................................................................