A supplier code of conduct is developed to ensure that an organization’s suppliers treat their workers with respect and they implement safe working environments for their employees. As stated in the General Motors Code of conduct, the company is fully committed to high standards of sustainability and integrity. The organization has ‘zero tolerance' policy regarding unethical behavior such as forced labor, bribery, and corruption. The company expects the entire supplier to carry out their activities ethically and comply with similar standards. All suppliers to the company must adhere to all the necessary regulations and laws as set out in the General Motors Supplier Code of Conduct and the essential contractual obligations to the company ( Johnson, 2016) . The General Motors Supplier Code of Conduct states the core principles affecting business as members of the suppliers’ team. Moreover, it also contains information regarding conflict minerals, hazardous substances, and environmental responsibility. As the Chief Compliance Officer of a Fortune 500 Company, the paper will evaluate the essential standards that suppliers must comply with to maintain the strong relationship with the company.
Changes to the Supplier Code of Conduct
All General Motors’ suppliers must respect human rights. They must prohibit behavior such as physical contact, gestures, and language that is exploitative, sexual, abusive, coercive, or threatening. Moreover, they must respect the personal rights, dignity, and privacy of all employees. Also, no employee should be forced to work against their individual will. As part of respecting human rights, they must implement environmental, health, and safety management. The suppliers must offer a healthy and safe workplace for all employees and the business processes must be carried out in an environmentally sustainable manner ( Johnson, 2016) . All the suppliers must appoint a competent professional to manage environmental, health, and safety programs. Also, they must develop appropriate organizational procedures and structures for efficient management of environmental, health, and safety risks. Besides, all employees should be sufficiently trained and appropriately aware regarding the implementation of various control measures.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
All suppliers must implement fair labor conditions. For instance, they must avoid employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, political affiliation, age, union membership, ethnicity, disability, nationality, or religion. Also, they must respect employees’ rights of freely bargaining or associating collectively. Moreover, they must not tolerate or use any form of child labor in all their processes in accordance will all relevant regulations and laws. Suppliers should not use any form of forced labor such as human trafficking and involuntary prison labor including and not limited to victims of slavery ( Johnson, 2016) . Besides, all employees must have the choice to resign or leave employment after providing reasonable notice. All suppliers must flow labor regulations and compensate workers fairly or where the regulations do not exist, compensate employees in a way that they meet individual and family basic needs. Moreover, the working hours and overtime should never exceed applicable legal requirements. The recommended working hours must not exceed sixty hours weekly. In addition, they should ensure that all employees have at least one day off weekly that is uninterrupted.
At General Motors, the company adheres to the customer and regulatory requirements regarding the restriction and prohibition of substances such as conflict minerals and hazardous substances. Hence, suppliers must ensure that all the goods supplied to the company are in compliance with all the laws and regulations stated in the scope of relevant laws. For instance, all suppliers should respond to General Motors’ requests for evidence of supplier compliance with the regulations in a timely manner. Also, the suppliers must declare where the goods supplied to general motors contain materials listed in the "General Motors List of Restricted and Prohibited Substances." Furthermore, all the suppliers must develop and implement a policy about all the listed conflict minerals and exhibit due diligence in investigating the source of the materials used in producing the goods ( Johnson, 2016) .
All suppliers must conduct their business procedures and operations ethically. Therefore, all suppliers must refrain from any form of bribery, corruption, or extortion. Also, they must ensure all commitments to customers, payments, or gifts to government officials, General Motors’ employees, or any other party complies with anti-bribery laws. Besides, they must comply with anti-trust and all other competition laws. All suppliers must fully disclose to the company any information about potential conflicts of interest regarding the supplier’s processes including disclosing whether any of General Motors’ employees may have a financial interest with the suppliers ( Johnson, 2016) . Also, they must protect any confidential information offered by the company and its respective stakeholders or business partners. All suppliers should respect the intellectual properties of other business including General Motors. Also, they must comply with all export control regulations and international trade regulations.
Moreover, suppliers must conduct their business activities in secure ways. For instance, they must implement reasonable measures that will prevent exposure of General Motors to any security threat such as natural disasters, terrorism, pandemics, and crime. Also, when the suppliers visit any of General Motors’ locations, they must comply with the company’s security procedures and are obligated to report any form of security concerns to the appropriate employees or channels. On the other hand, all suppliers should procure services and goods in responsible ways. For instance, when working in any of General Motors’ locations, the suppliers can only subcontract after prior consent from General Motors ( Johnson, 2016) . The suppliers may select their own tier one supplier who offer services or goods indirectly or directly to General Motors after they have agreed to comply with standards that are similar to the regulations stated in the General Motors Supplier Code of Conduct.
Also, all suppliers must comply with corrective actions and inspections. For all suppliers to demonstrate and ensure compliance with General Motors Code of Conduct, they should record all necessary documentation while providing all supporting documentation in a timely manner upon request. To confirm the compliance, General Motors reserves the right to inspect and audit suppliers’ facilities and operations, at General Motors’ own cost after reasonable notice without or with the assistance of a third party. If the outcome of inspection or audit causes General Motors to believe that the supplier does not comply with General Motors Supplier Code of conduct, the company will be obligated to take any required corrective actions immediately as directed by General Motors ( Johnson, 2016) . However, if the supplier fails to comply with General Motors Supplier Code of Conduct after the corrective action, the company may take additional action against the supplier such as terminating or suspending their activities as one of General Motors’ Suppliers.
Conclusion
The paper evaluates the essential standards that suppliers must comply with to maintain the strong relationship with the company. As stated in the General Motors Code of conduct, the company is fully committed to high standards of sustainability and integrity. In the context of the company supplier relationship, if the suppliers believe the regulations and laws in the General Motors Supplier Code of Conduct are not necessary or not complied with, or that General Motors does not act in compliance with their Supplier Code of Conduct, the company encourages the suppliers to raise the issue with the company ( Johnson, 2016) . The main factors in the supplier code of conduct include documentation policy, labor standards, and practices, ethics, and environmental policy. Ultimately, the company and suppliers must comply with General Motors Supplier Code of Conduct.
References
Johnson, S. C. (2016). Supplier Code of Conduct.
