Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

1. Definitions

This Policy sets out how VT.Team (“we”, “our”, “us”) handle our responsibility towards the environment and social matters. VT.Team is committed to delivering sustainable value to its employees, suppliers and customers. This Corporate Social Responsibility Policy (“Policy”) is designed to underpin our ability to deliver products and services in a world that is increasingly resource constrained and experiencing social change. This Policy is an evolving document and will continue to grow as our understanding of our impacts to world are better understood; our resolve to make a difference to our local communities, to our corporate peers and our environment will remain firm. This Policy is intended to outline the steps that VT.Team is and will continue to take to achieve Corporate Social Responsibility adherence.

2. Scope

This Policy covers all employees, directors, officers, consultants, contractors, freelancers, volunteers, interns, casual workers, agency workers, and may also be relevant to visiting members of the public. This Policy is non-contractual and does not form part of the terms and conditions of any employment or other contract. We may amend this Policy at any time. The Policy will be regularly reviewed to ensure that it meets legal requirements, relevant guidance published and industry standards.

3. Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

VT.Team recognizes that this Policy requires commitment from all employees to be successful. The implementation of this Policy largely captures a broad range of existing VT.Team policies, guidance, procedures and practices. VT.Team will ensure the development and implementation of this Policy by:

An annual review to feed into objectives for the following financial year, and to monitor past performance;
An annual update to the VT.Team Executive Committee;
Internal training and awareness for all employees

4. The Environment

VT.Team takes environmental and social responsibility seriously and is committed to developing our business towards ecological, social and economic sustainability. VT.Team’s approach is on a group wide basis, embracing all our group resources together with individual responsibilities at each of the VT.Team offices.

4.1 Our Business

VT.Team want to make our offices, operations and supply chains as sustainable as possible. VT.Team is committed to working towards carbon neutrality status for our operated activities worldwide, piloting new approaches to maintaining our offices, and promoting active and more sustainable lifestyles to our customers and employees. VT.Team will ensure delivery of its sustainability objectives by:

Integrating sustainability into VT.Team everyday systems and processes;
Engaging VT.Team employees on sustainability;
Building sustainability into the refurbishment and operation of our offices;
Creating a positive culture of innovation and sustainability

4.2 Our Sourcing

VT.Team believes that our role is to reassure customers and key stakeholders that our products and services are ethically and sustainably sourced. To do this, we must look beyond our operations to the wider supply chain, where the biggest impacts occur. VT.Team is committed to engage with our suppliers fairly and lawfully and source responsibly. VT.Team works closely with our suppliers to make sure that they respect human rights, promote decent working conditions and improve sustainability across our supply base. This applies regardless of whether VT.Team is sourcing items to sell or use within our business. VT.Team is committed to respecting internationally recognized human rights in line with the principles and guidance contained in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. VT.Team is committed to ensuring that our Suppliers take a zero-tolerance approach to slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labor or human trafficking. VT.Team suppliers are responsible for achieving and maintaining the requirements of the principles contained in this paragraph 4.2 and to enforce them within their own supply chain. VT.Team are committed to developing and supporting sourcing policies, strategies and standards that facilitate the delivery of industry obligations that go beyond our minimum standards.

4.3 Prevention of Pollution and Environmental Impact

VT.Team’s aim is to operate all our facilities within all applicable laws, regulations and permits and to seek cost-effective improvements. VT.Team works to continuously reduce its environmental impact. VT.Team will work to build up experience and a good reputation with the environment regulators with regards to control of pollution. VT.Team will ensure that these objectives are delivered by:

Continuous improvement through performance monitoring;
Management reporting to the Executive Committee on an annual basis;
Active site and Group initiative to reduce waste and packaging as much as practicably possible and following a recycling scheme which records disposals by type;
Actively seeking to reduce our carbon foot print;
Engagement with an electronic equipment disposal company for all our disposals that specialize in equipment remarketing, ethical disposal and environmental management;
Use of environmentally certified data center facilities

4.4 Climate Change Mitigation and Efficient Use of Resources

VT.Team’s aim is to reduce where economically and commercially viable our environmental impact by means of energy, transport and materials efficiency, reduction of fossil fuels, waste and packaging. VT.Team is continuously improving its materials handling through waste minimization and maximizing recycling.

5. Community

5.1 VT.Team Communities and Charity Partnerships

VT.Team aims to create a positive impact in society and improve people’s lives wherever possible. VT.Team supports local communities because we know that vibrant communities are essential to our success. VT.Team encourages charitable giving but at the same time we need to protect the business from unscrupulous appeals and possible misappropriation of funds. The credentials of organizations must be checked, and all community investments and relationships must be disclosed. As a diverse global business, it is not suitable to have a single charity partner, therefore VT.Team organizes fundraising events and donations for a number of charities each year to help alleviate those in need. VT.Team does not support the following causes:

Personal appeals on behalf of individual people, including overseas trips
Advertising or goodwill messages
Political parties
Third party fundraising on behalf of a charity
Religious bodies, except where the project provides non-denominational, non- sectarian support for the benefit of a project

VT.Team encourages our employees to become involved in their local communities and conducts fundraising events from our offices to involve employees directly. VT.Team will ensure these objectives are delivered by:

VT.Team supporting recognized charities via fundraising events and activities;
Encouraging employees to volunteer to help in local communities;
Appropriate engagement with local community groups;
Local and national sponsorship of events, employees and organizations

5.2 Community Involvement

VT.Team recognizes that it has an impact on every community that we operate in. This imposes a responsibility on VT.Team to consider the impact of its business carefully. The positive impact is in terms of employment and business growth. VT.Team operations have the potential to cause disturbance to local residents, especially through traffic movements, vehicle noise, light pollution and emissions. VT.Team want all our teams to contribute to a mitigation plan against negative impacts and to be encouraged to be involved in community initiatives and projects. VT.Team will ensure that these objectives are delivered by:

Site operating plans and adherence to appropriate VT.Team Group environmental and health and safety policies

5.3 Education and Culture

VT.Team’s aim is to encourage young people to learn about the Technology sector from an academic and potential employment point of view. As a growing small business with global reach, VT.Team recognizes that it has a role in engaging new talent. VT.Team has the skill and knowledge to offer people guidance and mentoring and such opportunities should be encouraged, both internally and externally. VT.Team will ensure that these objectives are delivered by:

Local offices working with schools, universities and further and higher education centers
Attending local career fairs and university career events
Developing graduate trainee and apprenticeship schemes
Encouraging and developing work experience and Internship placements

5.4 Health and Wellbeing

VT.Team aims to demonstrate support of local events and activities which promote healthy living and wellbeing, and to encourage healthy living for our employees. VT.Team will ensure that these objectives are delivered by:

Promoting healthy eating options within our company
Authorizing specific sponsorship of events;
Actively encouraging employees to participate in local events;
Occupational health and intervention;
Hosting basic health checks in the office such as blood pressure checks

6. Fair Operating Practice

6.1 Anti-Corruption and Behavioral Standards of Employees

VT.Team requires that all employees observe the following standards of business and personal ethics in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities. VT.Team employees must practice honesty and integrity in every aspect of dealing with other employees, customers, suppliers, other business partners, communities and government authorities. Neither VT.Team nor any of its employees shall make illegal or improper payments or bribes and will refrain from participating in any corrupt business practices. The exchange of hospitality, entertainment and gifts can build goodwill in business relationships, but some gifts and entertainment can create improper influence. VT.Team does not expect its employees to engage in such activity or to offer or receive any items of personal inducement to secure business. Neither VT.Team nor any of its employees may accept payments, gifts or other kinds of reimbursement from a third party that could affect or appear to affect their objectivity in business decisions. All employees must not condone, under any conditions, the offering, giving or receiving of bribes or inducements. In addition, VT.Team employees will not permit intermediaries, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures or any other third party performing services on VT.Team’s behalf to engage in such conduct. Employees should avoid entering into situations where their personal, family or financial interests may be in conflict with that of VT.Team. Where any such potential conflict of interest arises, the employee should disclose this and seek advice from their line manager. VT.Team will ensure that these objectives are delivered by:

adherence to VT.Team’s Anti-Corruption and Bribery Policy
close supervision of employees through training, quarterly reviews and leading by example
communication and publication of this policy

7. Suppliers, Customers and Partners

The first principle of dealing with third party business is the adoption of a fair and ethical approach to all of our dealings. As individual employees, our people have the responsibility of protecting and promoting the good name and reputation of VT.Team.

7.1 All Third–Party Transactions

VT.Team’s aim is to have the reputation of an organization that third parties want to conduct business with and that they feel comfortable in dealing with VT.Team. VT.Team strive to ensure that everyone with external trading and other relationships understand the standards of business engagement expected of them, and that they feel responsible for the reputation of VT.Team and present themselves with the highest degree of integrity at all times. VT.Team will ensure that these objectives are delivered by:

Recruitment, training and development of staff with the highest level of integrity;
Communications through regular team meetings, guidance and supervision

7.2 Engaging Our Customers

VT.Team aims to ensure that we engage with our customers and respond to their needs by providing a wide range of products, services and information to maximize their own commercial aspirations sustainably. VT.Team is aware that there is an increasing customer awareness of environmental and social issues. This places an expectation on VT.Team to offer information, products and services to help them create more sustainable business with their customers and ultimate customers. VT.Team will ensure that these objectives are delivered by:

communicating with our customers in order to understand and respond to their needs for information, products and services;
offering customers honest information, responsible marketing and useful data and in doing so inspire trust in our brands

7.3 Our Suppliers and Other Partners

VT.Team’s aim is to ensure that there is a mutual benefit in dealing with VT.Team and that our suppliers and other partners have confidence in the value of doing business with VT.Team. VT.Team has a direct impact on the environment and lives of people all over the world and VT.Team is committed to doing business in a way which ensures that everyone in our supply chain benefits from trading with us. VT.Team believe that protection of the environment, high workplace standards, good health and safety and fair pay and employment conditions are all elements of a successful, professionally run business and contribute to its efficiency and productivity. VT.Team will work with our suppliers to help them reduce their impact on the environment and manage the challenges of sustainable business growth. VT.Team will ensure that these objectives are delivered by:

full knowledge and engagement with every Supplier we deal with and through third party accredited certification to ensure sustainability;
working with Suppliers who share our aims and values and can demonstrate that they meet the minimum workplace and environmental standards that VT.Team set

8. Communications

VT.Team aims to provide honest, clear and helpful information at appropriate levels of details to all employees, customers, suppliers, the public and other stakeholders. VT.Team strives to communicate clear messages across all audiences as benefits a business of its size and reputation. VT.Team will ensure that these objectives are delivered by:

regularly updating our websites;
regular notices, workplace meetings and team briefings;
periodic group meetings, seminars or conferences;
testing through feedback surveys;
regular meetings with groups of stakeholders;
utilizing local area networks