Policy 26: Ethical Policy

It is the Policy of Simplyfruit to ensure that all regulations and laws regarding equal opportunities and ethical employment are adhered to and Management must have knowledge of the ETI Base Code.

The company endeavours to ensure that we do not knowingly use raw materials, packaging and or services from suppliers that do not follow ethical trading standards.

We aim to act responsibly in our commercial and trading activities by ensuring that all of our employee’s legal rights are observed and comply with current legislation regarding minimum wage, holiday entitlement, equal opportunities, disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Simplyfruit believes that implementation of the ethics policy promotes a culture of ethical behaviour throughout the organisation, sets clear standards for employees and makes good business sense.

Employees – Simplyfruit values its employees as a key resource. All employees will be interviewed and employed under current equal opportunity employment guidelines.

Every employee has an equal opportunity for personal recognition and career development, regardless of personal background or belief.

No form of discrimination or harassment will be tolerated.

An important part of this policy is recruiting, selecting, rewarding and promoting people who demonstrate individual initiative combined with a high degree of knowledge and experience of our products, markets and culture.

Employees will be issued with a Statement of Main Terms and Conditions of employment stating:

• All terms and conditions relevant to them of employment
• Rules for disciplinary matters and rights of appeal
• Salary

All employees will receive the National Minimum Wage or above.

No persons will be employed unless they hold a valid National Insurance Number, signifying that they are at least 16 years old.

Simplyfruit believes it is important for employees to be treated fairly. Such treatment is the basis for an environment that engenders team spirit and commitment.

Our Equal Opportunities policy ensures that decisions relating to the recruitment, development, promotion and training of individual employees are based on job requirements.

Customers - Simplyfruit believes that integrity in dealings with customers is a prerequisite for a successful and sustained business relationship.

Personal contact, helpful and responsive actions are features of the service we aim to provide to develop long term relations with all our customers.

Suppliers - The Company aims to develop relationships with our suppliers based on mutual trust and all dealings will be conducted in a professional manner at all times. We also undertake to pay our suppliers on time and according to agreed terms. All supplier relationships are assessed against our standards and expectations; feedback is given to suppliers on a regular basis.

Community – Simplyfruit seek to comply with all legislation affecting its operations. We will seek to serve and support the community in which it operates by providing good employment opportunities and conditions of work. We will take into account the concerns of the wider community including both national and local interests. In particular, we support and sponsor local sporting teams across all sectors of the community.

Health & Safety - We provide a healthy and safe working environment for all our Employees and will endeavour to do all that is reasonably practicable to:

• Protect the health and safety of its employees.
• Implement working practices to prevent personal injury and damage to property.
• Make all employees aware of risk assessments and raise awareness of their own responsibilities for the health and safety of themselves and others.

Conflict of interest - This policy does not allow bribery or political contributions and requires employees to seek to avoid conflicts of interest and to disclose any that do exist. Employees must ensure that their actions are not affected by conflicts of interests. This covers the receipt of giving of gifts or hospitality which is prohibited. Please refer to our Anti-Bribery policy for more details.

Information – Simplyfruit regards information for the purpose of its business as a corporate asset which must be protected against loss of availability, infringement and improper disclosure. We seek to ensure as far as reasonably practicable, that this information is protected. This applies also to intellectual property including inventions, trade secrets, technical information, product design, production expertise, employee information as well as customer’s information.

Records - Completeness and accuracy of records are essential Records of all transactions should be maintained in an accurate, complete, transparent and timely manner in accordance with accounting principles. No unrecorded funds or assets should be established or maintained.