Corporate Responsibility

1. Introduction

Connect Com defines economic, environmental and social principles for its business activities. Accordingly, direct suppliers and their vendors are expected to comply with these principles. In accordance with its corporate values and its environmental and social policies, Connect Com expects that its suppliers and their vendors accept their responsibility towards society and the environment.

The focus is on ensuring compliance in the supply chain from end to end: from the manufacturer to the shipping carriers and on to consumers and those responsible for disposing of the products once their useful life has come to an end. Connect Com thus seeks to uncover any potential risks to its business and take appropriate action. These points are subject to potential on-site audits.

Specifically, Connect Com requires its suppliers to comply with the following:

2. Social responsibility

The supplier will demonstrate its commitment to social responsibility as follows:

• compliance with statutory regulations concerning social responsibility will be regularly checked.
• working conditions that comply with the SA8000 standard, Elements 1 through 8: child labor, forced or compulsory labor, health and safety, freedom of association right to collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours, and remuneration
• young people without specialist knowledge are integrated into the careers offered at the supplier or are being trained as part of app­renticeships
• employees have different options for organizing their work hours (such as part-time work, teleworking, working at home)
• the employees have a say in the working conditions
• an industry-standard plan in place for any layoffs or redundancies

3. Environmental management

The supplier operates an environmental management system, preferably certified according to ISO 14001 or EMAS.

The supplier notifies Connect Com immediately in writing of:

• any substantial changes to the UMS
• any acquisition, revocation or withdrawal of a certificate
• any repeat audits that are failed

 If the supplier does not have an ISO 14001/EMAS certificate, it guarantees that at least the following activities are undertaken:

• compliance with environmental regulations is checked regularly
• procedures and processes that may have an impact on the environ­ment are documented (with processes, checklists, work instructions, etc.)
• an environmental program is available and its implementation is documented
• documentation of adequate training for employees whose jobs have environmental impact
• continuous improvement in environmental measures checked with internal or external audits
• the supplier has named an officer to handle all environmental concerns
• the supplier requires its vendors to comply with these same requi­rements

The entire production process is checked for environmental risks and possi­ble measures are taken Connect Com must be informed of the results and any environmental risks.

4. Product ecology

General requirements that apply to all products

• The supplier shall ensure that its production and supply chain comply with all applicable environmental decrees.
• The supplier shall ensure that the products themselves meet every aspect of Swiss legislation (http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/sr.html)
• Products and packaging must be designed for proper recycling and waste disposal. Wherever sensible, recycling is preferred
• The products may not contain any hazardous materials and must be compatible with the environment
• The energy consumed by the product (if applicable) and that consu­med in its production must be optimized
• The emissions in the production process (gas, wastewater, noise) should be kept to a minimum
• Sales and transport must be handled in an environmentally-friendly way appropriate for the product(s). Additional requirements for elec­tric and electronic equipment and systems
• IT and CE products should be designed according to the principles of environmentally sound design. A guide can be found in these two norms: ECMA-341 (Environmental Design Considerations for ICT & CE Products) and DIN IEC 62430; VDE 0042-2:2007-08 (Environmentally conscious design of electrical and electronic products and systems)
• Special consideration should be paid to:
• All plastic parts heavier than 25 grams which must be marked in accordance with ISO 11469 and must not contain any haloge­nated flame retardants
• For device types or applications subject to an EU Code of Con­duct (CoC) concerning energy consumption, this must be follo­wed (such as the EU Code of Conduct on Energy Consumption of Broadband Equipment)
• Any electromagnetic radiation must be kept to a minimum (values to be set in consultation with Connect Com)

5. Right to audit

• The supplier grants Connect Com the right to conduct an audit of the supplier or its vendors according to ISO 19011 (second-party audit).
• Connect Com will provide a written request for audit to the contact person designated by the supplier with the following content:
• area to be audited
• schedule requests
• audit team

The detailed audit agenda will be created by Connect Com and then agreed between the parties. The supplier will ensure that the audit agenda may be executed. The audit team will be accompanied by representatives of the supplier.