6. Human rights, incl. The Transparency Act

The Supplier and its subcontractors are expected to support and respect the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This means that the Supplier should identify, prevent and manage human rights risks as appropriate in relation to the size, nature and context of its operations.

S&P is regulated by the Transparency Act. The Act promotes enterprises’ respect for fundamental human rights and decent working conditions in connection with the production of goods and the provision of services and ensures the general public access to information regarding how enterprises address adverse impacts on fundamental human rights and decent working conditions.

S&P conducts due diligence assessments of its Suppliers, subcontractors, and business partners, by assessing the risk that these counterparties may be exposed to in the realm of human rights and labor conditions. Suppliers are expected to provide S&P with the information deemed necessary to conduct these assessments.

7. Labor standards

S&P expects Suppliers to ensure that their employees are offered a safe and healthy working environment and provide their employees with the protective equipment and training necessary to perform their tasks safely.

The Supplier should provide a workplace free of harassment or discrimination on the basis of age, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, ethnic origin, nationality, union affiliation, sexual orientation, family responsibilities and disability.

All employment should be voluntary and the Supplier must not use forced labor. Forced labor is defined as any type of work or service demanded from the Sup- plier under the threat of any sort of punishment. The Supplier must not engage in, or in any way benefit from, the use of child labor.

The right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining must be respected and promoted by the Supplier. Employees must receive salaries, vacation and other possible employment benefits, and have reasonable working hours in accordance with applicable labor legislation regulations and the fundamental conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

8. Environment

S&P expects its Suppliers to strive to minimize the adverse environmental impact of their activities, products and services through a proactive approach and responsible management of their environmental aspects.

The Supplier must comply with all applicable legal requirements, standards, agreements and guidelines regarding the environment.

S&P expects its Suppliers to promote the development and distribution of environmentally friendly technologies.

9. Compliance and monitoring

The Supplier is expected, on request, to provide S&P with the information S&P requires to assess the Supplier’s adherence to the Code.

Furthermore, the Supplier shall provide S&P with right of audit to verify adherence, including access to the physical premises of the Supplier and access to personnel for interviews.

Notification of such audit shall be provided in a reasonable time frame prior to the requested audit-date.

The Supplier is required to report to S&P any incident, behavior or other circumstance that is or may be regarded to constitute material non-compliance by the Supplier with the principles of this Code.

Breach of the S&P Code by a Supplier is considered grounds for S&P to terminate the agreement with the Supplier without regard to other contractual obligations.