B3’s Code of Conduct

B3’s Code of Conduct

*“The cornerstones of the B3 Group’s work are client focus, skilled employees and committed leadership. Our long-term success is dependent on our ability to create value for the people we are there for: our clients. Our clients’ stated and implied needs, demands, wishes and expectations shall guide our company, our employees and our operations.

“Building a culture that puts the client first requires guidelines for our operations as well as personal, active and visible commitment from every individual. It is therefore also important for us to create the right conditions for job satisfaction. One way we do this is by giving employees the freedom to influence their own work situation.”*

– Sven Uthorn, CEO

Code of Conduct

Our employee Code of Conduct is described in our management system. It is addressed as part of our induction programme for new employees, and in the work carried out by the individual companies in connection with e.g. core values, with the scope to act based on personality and level of knowledge.

• We represent the client’s interests.
• We have respect for the individual: your colleague, your client and your industry colleagues.
• We strive to ensure that the client’s solutions are as cost-effective as possible.
• We act professionally in our relationships with the client’s staff and other resources that the client uses for the assignment. Flexibility, helpfulness and service-mindedness are key concepts.
• We follow the client’s guidelines, but we should always be able to suggest improvements or alternatives where necessary and desirable.
• We have a humble attitude when it comes to our own shortcomings and suggestions for improvements that will benefit the client.
• We deal with any shortcomings in the client’s environment in a balanced manner, taking a responsible approach with the appropriate degree of confidentiality. A respect for trade secrets – both our own and those of others – is part of the job and the employment agreement.
• We have a responsibility for how we use IT systems and B3’s channels and connections. This involves a responsibility for B3’s name not appearing in dubious contexts (and obviously not in illegal contexts).
• B3 does not normally log mobile phone and internet use. However, B3 reserves the right to log what is necessary in order to meet the requirements of Swedish law and business agreements with clients. Logging and version management take place in connection with business-critical documents. How we deal with logging, storage and personal data should be transparent to our stakeholders on enquiry.
• We strive to be well-liked in the client’s environment, and we attach great importance to fitting in.
• We respect copyright in written materials, images and coding.
• B3 shall be seen as a modern company and as such shall be environmentally aware – which also influences our employees’ everyday lives.

Environmental work and environmental policy

B3 shall contribute towards a sustainable society

• B3 shall offer a sound, healthy working environment and shall contribute towards a good local and global environment.
• B3 shall map its environmental impact and has a goal of reducing its carbon footprint each year.
• B3 shall strive to work on client projects that have a positive environmental impact and shall take account of how current projects and assignments affect the environment.
• B3 shall map business travel and its environmental impact, with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of its company cars on a year-by-year basis.

Environmental policy

• The premises and subcontractors used by B3 shall have an environmental focus.
• The company shall map its environmental impact and shall constantly strive to reduce this impact, prevent pollution and continuously improve its environmental work.
• B3 shall comply with those laws and other requirements that are relevant for our environmental work.
• Consumables shall be of a recyclable/recycled nature, and shall be environmentally approved where possible.
• Waste shall be sorted in accordance with guidelines established by the company’s environmental manager.

Diversity work

B3 works actively with meetings and discussions regarding diversity and gender equality. B3 also carries out sustainability and CSR work with the ambition of encouraging more women and girls to enter the industry as a whole.

B3’s diversity work covers several different areas, such as working conditions, opportunities to combine parenting with working life, discrimination, uneven gender distribution in the workplace and salary comparisons. The aim of this diversity work is to achieve greater gender equality and diversity. This work allows us to progress from simply highlighting issues to raising awareness. We believe that there should be gender equality as a matter of course, and that diversity is a source of enrichment.

Skills development

B3’s employees shall be developed in their roles and shall be given a high degree of individual freedom when it comes to skills development. B3 has implemented a talent management tool to monitor skills development in a more structured manner.

Harassment

No one should have to put up with harassment or discrimination in the workplace. Our definitions of harassment and sexual harassment correspond with the definitions contained in the Swedish Discrimination Act. B3’s policy and action plan to combat victimisation and harassment describe how B3’s operations should be entirely free from harassment, sexual harassment and victimisation. All employees should feel safe and respected in their workplace. It is the individual who has been exposed to such treatment who decides what is unwanted, unwelcome or harassing. All employees should have knowledge of this policy and the action plan, and should therefore also know how B3 acts in the event of harassment or victimisation.

Diversity

B3 sees its employees’ differences, circumstances and experiences as assets within the company’s operations. Diversity also creates a different type of dynamic within a group which can lead to fresh perspectives and impulses for new thoughts and ideas. B3’s gender equality and diversity policies describe our conviction that an equal workplace which encourages diversity is more creative, more effective and more stimulating. B3 looks at the bigger picture – what we can achieve together in order to develop and to succeed in what we do. Taking our gender equality work as a starting point, B3’s managers with staff responsibility shall work consciously with diversity, thereby raising and deepening awareness of gender equality and diversity at work among our employees. When we talk about diversity we mean the differences that make us all unique, such as age, gender, transgender identity or expression, ethnic origin, physical circumstances, religion, declaration of faith, sexual orientation and different ways of thinking and acting.

Recruitment

B3 recruits according to skill and experience, and therefore does not draw distinctions when it comes to gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. All candidates are offered the same conditions. We want to improve the gender distribution at B3, and we are therefore working actively to recruit more women. One way of doing this is to involve our consultants in finding more female candidates and encouraging female networking, as well as enhancing the visibility of our female managers and employees, both in recruitment contexts and in our communication materials such as our website, annual reports, etc.

Working environment

Working with staff welfare is a central aspect of B3’s work to build up the business, and involves the working environment as a whole and in terms of the individual, employee health, and both personal and professional employee development. This work is made up of core values, an effective working model, the implementation of relevant activities and operational development and improvement.

Values and goals that guide our work with staff welfare

• We think it is important to be happy at work and to have fun!
• We want to achieve a balance between work and leisure, and we encourage exercise, fitness and wellness
• We support a culture of openness – we believe in leadership, not hierarchy
• We show each other appreciation and give feedback
• We value freedom and participation – employees are always involved in decisions that affect them
• We believe in the individual’s ability to take responsibility, and we encourage personal entrepreneurship
• We shall be a company that solves problems for our clients
• We shall be a good company in which to invest time or money

Corruption

Prohibitions against bribery and corruption are governed by law, and apply as a matter of course. However, it should be noted that certain organisations, client agreements, framework agreements and industry standards (where we are members) may feature even stricter guidelines and declarations than those set out by law.

Sustainability/CSR

It is important for us to be an ethical and transparent company that makes the best possible contribution towards sustainable social development, and for us to enjoy good relations with society. This involves working consciously to minimise our organisation’s negative impact, and an aim that we should work even harder to promote our opportunities to make a positive contribution, both as an organisation and as employees. We see many benefits in working with our corporate social responsibility.

The impact of our CSR work on B3’s operations

• a positive impact on people and the environment
• sustainable services
• increase profitability
• improve competitiveness in relation to our clients and potential recruits

positive impact on B3 as a brand

• positive impact on staff turnover
• create new business opportunities and new markets
• fulfil requirements for framework agreements within public sector operations
• internal clarity that we have a CSR strategy and a policy

Communication and information policy

Our ambition is that B3’s communication shall be open, reliable, accessible and timely. Information shall also be easy for the recipient to understand, and shall meet the requirements of e.g. the Stockholm Stock Exchange when it comes to information that affects the share price.

The company shall submit accurate, relevant and reliable information at the same time to all its shareholders, the capital market, society and the media. The company complies with stock market and securities legislation, as well as other laws, ordinances and regulations for listed companies in Sweden.

Non-compliance and whistle-blowers

The normal course of action at B3 on discovering discrimination, breaches of the Code of Conduct, etc. is to bring this up with one’s line manager, HR, another member of the company management or the chairman of the board. Of course, it can also be brought up with any trusted manager. We prefer reports not to be made anonymously or in general terms, and that specific events or behaviours should instead be reported.

However, there may be cases where an individual wishes to make an anonymous report. This can be done by sending a report by letter to B3’s postal address, stating either ‘Attn: CEO’ or ‘Attn: Chairman of the Board’ depending on the nature of the report. Anonymous reports can also be sent to our lawyers: Wistrands Advokatbyrå, Attn: Lars Hasp, Box 7543, 103 93 Stockholm.

B3’s goal is to investigate the event itself. An individual who submits a report should feel confident that the report will be investigated and dealt with using an appropriate degree of discretion. B3 has an obligation to investigate all reports received.

*A Code of Conduct contains guidelines for how a business or an organisation shall carry out its operations in an ethically, socially and environmentally correct manner.