CODE OF CONDUCT
MELSAM CONSTRUCTION SRL
1.
The purpose and the objectives of the code
of ethics and professional conduct
This
Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct establishes the rules of ethical
behaviour during the performance of service duties. It is applicable for both
the management staff and the executive staff of the company, as well as its
affiliates.
The
staff based on individual employment contracts, as well as business affiliates,
will respect and put into practice the rules and ethical principles promoted by
the code, in order to avoid dysfunctions in the exercise of their duties as
well as outside of them, in order to avoid the damage of the company's
interests and/or image.
By
appropriating and applying the rules of ethical behaviour by all employees, the
company aims to:
• increase the
quality standards of our services and the specific attributions, according to
the job description;
• create an
appropriate environment for carrying out professional activity and preventing
non-compliant practices;
• informing all
interested parties (authorities, providers, contributors, etc.), regarding the
standards of moral behaviour and professional conduct that they are entitled to
expect from all company employees;
The
rules of ethical and professional behaviour will be interpreted in all cases,
in close correlation with the current related laws, with the stipulations of
the applicable collective labour agreement, with other provisions and
regulations regarding the conflict of interests, integrity and professional
competence related regulations, with the provisions of the applicable
collective labour agreement, with other provisions and regulations regarding
the conflict of interests, integrity and professional competence
The
rules of ethical and professional behaviour will be interpreted in all cases,
in close correlation with the related current laws, with the stipulations of
the applicable collective labour agreement and also with other rules regarding
the conflict of interests, integrity and professional competence.
2.
General principles of ethics and
professional conduct
The
company’s employees must perform their duties with integrity and competence,
acting with good faith, diligence and loyalty towards the company.
Employees
have the obligation to promote appropriate conduct, which does not raise
suspicions regarding fairness and impartiality in the activities carried out at
the workplace.
The
employees will support and actively contribute to maintaining an appropriate
environment for the activity. The attitude of employees towards colleagues,
subordinates, employers and superiors, as well as towards company
collaborators, control bodies, third parties with whom they come into contact
in the exercise of their duties, must be characterized by solicitude, respect
and good faith.
All
information to which the employee has access, or which is received in the
course of the exercise of his duties, or independently of his capacity as an
employee and which is related to the company, is confidential. The rule is
applicable unless their disclosure is expressly authorized by the management of
the company, is required by law, or by the control or investigation bodies,
legally empowered, or by the courts. The obligation of confidentiality is
unlimited in time.
The
employees will aim, during their entire activity, to improve their professional
performance, contributing to the achievement of the employer's professional
goals and to increase the quality of the tasks performed in the fulfilment of
their duties.
3.
Statute of professional ethical behaviour
Employees
are prohibited from behaviour that may cause damage to the company, such as the
ones shown below, and not only:
•
making false statements or concealing factual matters, in bad faith or for
other inappropriate reasons;
•
using the resources of the company or the effective working time for purposes
other than for the fulfilment of the specific duties of the service;
•
intentionally advising, allowing or neglecting to observe the facts of third
parties acting in bad faith or illegally against the company's interests;
•
concealing essential aspects or providing erroneous information, at the request
of the superiors or the colleagues with whom they are in collaborative
relationships at the workplace or of the legally empowered control bodies.
It
is mandatory for the employees to get to the workplace according to the
approved brought to their attention schedule, to respect and use working time
efficiently.
Employees
must show up at the workplace suitable for carrying out their tasks, not to be
under the influence of alcoholic beverages or drugs and also to have a decent
and neat appearance.
Smoking is only allowed in specially
arranged places, according to the current laws. Employees must properly
maintain and use the machinery under management, computer technology,
installations, equipment, other goods used at the workplace.
It is forbidden to destroy, alter or
falsify the company's documents or databases, as well as their use for purposes
other than for the performance of the assigned duties.
Employees
are obliged to maintain professional secrets and confidentiality regarding the
information or documents they become aware of in the exercise of their duties.
The
communication of data or information regarding the company's activity is
strictly prohibited. Requesters of such data will be guided to the management
of the company or to the persons mandated by the management of the company.
Employees
are prohibited from acts of fraud in connection with the specific activity,
corruption or favouring it (for example, acts of receiving/giving bribes,
influence peddling, receiving/giving undue benefits - money, services, gifts, -
or promising favours in exchange for them).
Employees
must avoid any situation that involves or may generate conflicts between their
own interests and the interests of Melsam Construction SRL.
Employees
have the obligation not to harm the honour, reputation and dignity of the
people with whom they are in work relations, as well as with the other persons
- contributors, third parties, control bodies - with whom they come into
contact in the exercise of their duties, by using offensive expressions,
disclosure of aspects of private life or making slanderous statements.
Employees with management positions,
in the exercise of specific assignments, have the obligation:
•
to ensure equal opportunities and treatment regarding the career development of
the subordinate staff
•
to fairly review and apply the professional competence assessment criteria for
subordinate staff, when proposing or approving advancements, promotions,
transfers, appointments, dismissals or granting material or moral incentives,
excluding any kind of favouritism or discrimination
It
is forbidden for employees to favour or limit access or promotion based on
discriminatory criteria related to sex, religion, age, ethnicity, kinship,
affinity or other factors.
Anti bribery and anti corruption policy
In
addition, our company includes in the code of conduct an anti bribery and anti
corruption policy.
This
policy establishes the relevant principles and rules that need to be respected
by employees, collaborators, affiliates and anyone who has or will have
contractual relations with the Melsam Construction SRL Group, regarding the
observance of anti-corruption concepts.
If
the legal framework in a particular market or country is stricter than this
policy, the related legislation will be considered. This policy becomes
applicable on October 1st, 2022 and must be implemented by Melsam Construction,
as well as all the companies in the group. For situations where the need for
stricter departmental rules is identified, these additional restrictions may be
implemented without affecting this policy.
Corruption
represents the abusive use of public power, in order to satisfy personal or
group interests. It is very common in society and is particularly serious
because it favours the interests of individuals, especially in the economic
area, affecting collective interests by: appropriating, misappropriating and
using public resources in personal interest, occupying public positions through
preferential relations, concluding some transactions by circumventing moral and
legal stipulations.
Corruption
refers to a set of immoral, illicit, illegal activities carried out not only by
individuals with leadership positions or exercising a public role, but also by
various groups and organizations, public or private, in order to obtain
material or moral advantages or a higher social status by using forms of
coercion, blackmail, deception, bribery, purchase, intimidation.
Therefore,
the term "corruption" is directly related to that of
"integrity". Corruption is not only found in the public environment,
but also in the private one, and it does not only consider financial benefits,
but also advantages of any kind, including non-material ones, such as
approvals, climbing the hierarchical structure, etc.
Bribery
is a sum of money or any other object given or promised to a person in order to
induce him to violate his duties of service or to fulfil them according to the
illegal wishes of an individual.
The
determining elements of this anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy are
represented by the social and economic values that the law has the duty to
protect.
Our
Group prohibits employees and collaborators from offering, promising,
authorizing or accepting and soliciting, directly or indirectly, any payment,
gift or any item of value with the aim of obtaining undue advantages.
The
anti-corruption and anti-bribery policy applies:
•
Directors
•
Managers
•
Employees and collaborators
•
Spouses and family members
4.
Principles and Basic Rules
Employees/collaborators
are prohibited from bribing or using intermediaries (agents, consultants,
distributors) in order to obtain undue advantages through bribery. Melsam
company does not differentiate between public representatives and individuals
from the private sector in terms of offering/receiving bribes, as bribery is
not accepted in any of its forms, to any person, regardless of their status,
according to our policy.
Our
companies will always request an analysis of the act of offering or promising any
object of value to any person, if this action could be considered illegitimate.
For any doubts regarding this subject, information can be obtained from the
Legal Department, the department being notified of the existing situation
always before the situation occurs.
Bribery
can take various forms, from cash to valuable products/services. Moreover, even
certain common business practices or social activities, under certain
circumstances, can be considered acts of bribery and corruption.
5.
Connection with public officials
Melsam
does not differentiate between public officials and private individuals in the
application of anti-bribery rules. However, it is particularly important to
recognize the person with the title of public servant because stricter and more
specific rules are applicable to this category, which do not apply in the
private business environment.
The
term of “public servant” in the Romanian legislation is defined as that person
who:
a)
performs duties and responsibilities,
established under the law, in order to realize the prerogatives of the
legislative, executive or judicial power
b)
is in a position of dignitary or a public
position of any nature
c)
alone or not, within an autonomous
government, another economic operator or a juridical person with full or
majority state capital, performs attributions related to the achievement of its
specific activity
It
is also considered a public servant, the person who performs a service of
public interest for which he was vested by the public authorities or who under
their control or supervision regarding the performance of that public service.
All
of the Melsam employees, collaborators and affiliates must have an appropriate
behaviour and will only apply ethical and fair practices. They will not
participate or initiate any activity that could affect the integrity of the
public servant, the reputation of the Melsam company or the companies in the
group.
The
interaction between Melsam and public officials must be led by the highest
standards of ethics and professionalism, and it is necessary to avoid any
conflict of interest or behaviour that could lead to the idea of offering
advantages of any nature and/or trafficking/buying of influence.
6.
Facilitation payments
Melsam
Construction prohibits any facilitation payments as they are considered another
kind of bribery. These payments are unofficial, inappropriate - not necessarily
of high values - which facilitate obtaining results in a shorter way than the
legal one. These facilitation payments have the purpose of reducing response
and action time from government bodies.
Our
employees must not accept or request gifts, payments or other inducements and
favours for carrying out work for and on behalf of the company or group
companies. Gifts, hospitality and/or entertainment events must never be
promised or offered for the purpose of obtaining favours for Melsam, to reward
such actions already taken or to remove the disadvantages of the company or
group companies in that business. Money, gifts or cash equivalents (for example:
vouchers) should never be given.
An
employee may offer or accept hospitality within decent limits, from a potential
or current partner, as long as internal policies and business culture allow
such actions and only if do not bring harm to the company's name.
Also,
under the same conditions as those presented above, gifts of modest value may
be given or received, only if allowed by the local practices, company policies
and procedures, and also promotional products such as diaries, calendars, and
any minor office supplies. In all cases, all expenses generated must be
documented in a transparent manner, approved by superiors and registered,
according to local standards.
Before
initiating new business opportunities, a review of the business partner(s) will
be conducted in terms of integrity and the requirements of this policy. For
potential risks identified regarding anti-bribery and anti-corruption
practices, the contract(s) will be concluded/negotiated in such a way that
these risks are covered, for the safety of Melsam's business.
7.
Connection with third parties
Melsam
Group companies can carry out commercial relations with a third party, only if
the following conditions are met:
•
A real need has been identified for the goods/services provided by the third
party;
•
The prices charged by the third party are within the limits on the market;
•
The third party is suitable from the point of view of Anti-corruption analysis
•
The transaction is solved by a document with legal effect (contract, firm
order).
8.
Rules for the implementation of the
anti-corruption policy
Employees
must get to know and follow the concepts and rules described in this procedure
and respect the entire anti-corruption policy.
The
legal department can provide information and guidance on the application of the
policy at any time.
Failure
to comply with this policy will not be tolerated and may lead to disciplinary
investigation or even attract the application of sanctions up to the most
serious: salary reduction or ending of individual employment contract.
Each
team leader within Melsam is responsible for distributing this policy and
guiding the subordinate team, in order to comprehend the rules. Melsam expects
the entire management team to lead by example in all situations and requires
all its employees and collaborators to comply with anti-bribery and
anti-corruption principles and rules.
This
procedure applies to all employees, being implemented, monitored and applied
continuously.
9.
Reporting procedure for violation of the
policy
Melsam
Construction employees and business associates who know or reasonably believe
that violations of this policy have occurred must report as soon as possible
by:
E-mail: liviu.tintar@melsam.com
Phone number:
0314343374
Address: Melsam
Construction SRL, str. Nicolae G. Caramfil, nr. 49, etaj 5, sector 1,
București.
Any report will be
treated with the utmost confidentiality and there will be no action against the
complainant as a result of the report. Also, any reporting must be submitted
with good faith, based on true actions.