1. Why is Speaking Up so important?
At Southern Water, we're committed to conducting ourselves lawfully, fairly, ethically and with integrity. Any activity or behaviour that contradicts this commitment could have a major impact on our customers, communities and the environment and our company's reputation, our colleagues, success and ability to operate.
Our Code of Ethics helps us to understand how we should operate our business responsibly and our corporate value of Doing the Right Thing. If you see, hear or read something that isn’t right it is important to Speak Up.
We're encouraged to Speak Up if we witness conduct which appears to breach laws, regulations or Southern Water's business conduct policies, and we should also Speak Up if we see conduct which feels inappropriate or unethical. Employees who Speak Up give our company the opportunity to deal with an issue. Remaining silent about possible misconduct may make matters worse and could damage trust. By speaking up and raising concerns, we are living our values and Doing the Right Thing.
Employees who identify and raise issues in good faith are valued and will be protected from any form of retaliation for Speaking Up. The purpose of this policy is to explain how you can raise concerns about suspected misconduct in confidence and without fear of victimisation for having done so. It also describes what you can expect from our company if you Speak Up.
2. Who can Speak Up?
The Speak Up policy is available and applicable to everyone working for, or on behalf of, Southern Water. This means employees and contractors working directly for the business who wish to raise a concern about possible misconduct or wrongdoing in our company. We encourage you to first consider talking to your manager, HR representative or trusted representative. Southern Water recognises that this may not always be an option and we have made telephone and web-reporting channels available for these circumstances.
3. What concerns are covered by this policy?
This policy can be used to raise concerns about suspected misconduct within our company. That includes any breach of laws, regulations, our Code of Business Conduct and/or the policies under which the company operates. Employees are expected to report, in good faith, any wrongdoing or suspicion of wrongdoing or conduct which feels inappropriate or unethical.
Examples of concerns that can be raised under this policy include:
- Non-compliance with company polices or procedures
- Actions or behaviours in direct conflict with our Code of Ethics
- Inadequate or improper record-keeping
- Conflicts of interest (a situation in which someone may not be able to make an objective decision, as they may personally benefit from the result)
- Disregard for the environment, or environmental regulations and policies
- Disregard for individuals' health and safety, or H&S regulations and policies
- Actions that feel inappropriate or unethical
- Discrimination or harassment
- Fraud
- Bribery
- Neglect
- Improper use of company resources
- Disclosure of confidential information
- Violations of our policies on gifts, entertainment and hospitality.
- Anything else that does not seem right
Do not use this policy:
- for any grievances you may have in relation to your terms of employment
- to report Health and Safety hazards. These should continue to be reported using the hazard and incident reporting line
- to report information security breaches. These should be reported through the IT help desk
- to settle personal disputes
- to make accusations which you know are false