Codeof conduct Introduction 7-Elevenan American-Japanese international chain of convenience store which operates inthe different part of the country through a franchise model.7-ELEVEN is committedto provide excellent quality service to the costumer and all the personalassociated with it. Our mission is to be the number one convenience store andfulfill the needs of today’s changing environment. The company aim is toprovide a healthy working environment for all the employees regardless of anydisparity.
Reasons for code ofconductThecode of conduct is established for a common understanding of the standards ofbehavior and attitude of the employees in the company.Theobjectives of the code of conduct are to maintain the high standard of thebehavior of the entire individual associated the company and employees will befully aware of their rights and responsibilities and the guidance to act in theethical and professional manner.OUR PRINCIPLES7-Elevenhas a very clear view that all the franchisee and employee of 7-Eleven areexpected to strictly follow the principles of the company and act ethically.1. Principle of impartiality.2. Principle of protecting employee fromexploitation.3.
Principle of corruption freeenvironment.4. Principle of maintaining honesty and discouragementof fraudulent behavior.5. Principle of Whistleblower protection. 1. Principleof impartiality: Discrimination is treating, or proposing to treat someone unfavorablybecause of the personal characteristic protected by the law in terms of age, sex,race, color, national origin, gender identity or sexual orientation, disability,physical features, race, religious belief, political opinion, trade unionactivity, marital status, relationship status and family or carrierresponsibilities, pregnancy or potential pregnancy. The responsibility is setout by federal and state anti-discriminatory law and Fair Work act 2009.
Thisincludes bullying someone because of a protected characteristic according to VictorianEqual opportunity and human rights commission. The Australian Human Rightscommission Act (1986) protects people from discrimination and harassment inareas of public life such as workplaces, schools, clubs, shops or places thatprovide services.7-Eleveniscommitted to work in a fairly manner under any circumstances .According to Australiangovernment Fair Work, OMBUDSMAN. It is unlawful for employee in the higher rankto discriminate between any other employees. This includes full time, part timeand casual employees, probationary employees, apprentices and trainees, andindividuals employed for fixed periods of time or tasks.Thearea manager of the 7-Eleven gives some extra privilege to the employee takinginto consideration that they have faith in same religion. A pregnant lady isrefused to get promotion in the higher position just because she is pregnant,regardless of the fact that she is more or equal competent than other individuals .
These aretwo examples which shows that there is discrimination among the employees onthe basis of the managers own belief or preference. Potential examples ofdiscrimination are job refusal, terminated or decreasing the working hour, refusalof giving training, irrational transfer or promotion, refuse to pay equally, isolatedby the other colleagues, giving lack of proper information deliberately,intestinally giving work which are humanly impossible, directly or indirectlyabusing verbally because of various differences in them. 7-Eleven sees all of its employee in the equalposition and will not tolerate such type of behavior .If anybody is found todiscriminate another person in terms of various differences then strong actionwill be taken. If found guilty then the concerned person’s one month salarywill be kept on hold and will be on the probation period of 6 months.Allthe members associated to 7-eleven are responsible to act ethically and createa safe and non-discriminatory healthy environment in a workplace.
This meansthere will be fair decision in terms of recruitment, management, promotion andtermination. Franchisee are obligates to protect the wages and rights of theeach employee.2. Principle of protecting employee fromexploitationTheterm exploitation refers to the situation or the act in which someone weak istreated unfairly in order to get unethical benefit from their work (English oxford living dictionary, 2018)Whenthe higher authority takes advantage of the vulnerable group of employee fortheir own benefit in the cost of the employees every minute of hard work, it isknown as exploitation.
According to Redfern Legal Centre,Omar is an international student from Singapore working in a restaurant. Beforehiring him, his trail was taken for 4 hours shift which he was unpaid. Therestaurant didn’t do any agreement or sign the employment contract with Omarmaking him to work for $13 per hour. He was often paid less than$13 an hour incash after working without any break. Omar fear that if he reports thisincident then he will be terminated from the company. Afterwards, he finds thecourage and sought RLC’s assistance for his right. Through the Fair WorkOmbudsman investigation RLC Supported Omar in receiving compensation for theamount unpaid and underpaid from the restaurant (Redfern legal centre, 2016).Thereare various possible example for exploitation are forced to work for long hour,forced to do risky work, having no access to the salary for the total hoursworked, no tax contribution from the salary, having no privacy for personal life,social activities controlled by the employer, insult and abuse verbally andphysically, refuse to provide different types of training, forced to work forlong period with no breaks etc.
Fullyrespecting the human rights of the employees, 7-eleven do not encourage suchunethical behavior from any individuals who are associated with the company. Iffound guilty then action will be taken against the franchisee and theresponsible person who allows such breaching of the law. Company won’t beliable for such actions of the individuals which mean that the culprit shouldbear the compensation to the victim. 3.
Principle of corruption freeenvironmentCorruptionis a form of misleading or unethical conduct by a person who is trusted for thehigher position of authority, often to get a personal benefit which mayincludes many activities such as bribery and misappropriation. People who are representing the companyhaving lower or higher level with the dishonest or fraudulent conduct involvingin various activities like bribery is referred to a term for corruption. It iscontrary to the business norms andpractices .
For instance a person who is supposed to recruit the employee asks himcertain amount of the money in exchange of the job recruitment in that company. Other example is such thatthe employee working in the company leaks the confidential data of the companyto the competitor in exchange of the huge amount of money. Various other exampleof corruption are bribery, stealing ,fraud documentation and false commitmentson behalf of the company, deliberately changing the important data andtransaction, misuse of power and position, inappropriately using confidentialdata and information.Noindividual should use the property and information of the company for thepersonal gain. Any employee of 7-Eleven is found to conduct such a fraudulentbehavior by taking the advantages of their power and position which hampers theorganization, then they will be immediately expelled from the company.
4. Principle of maintaining honesty and discouragementof fraudulent behavior Fraud– it includes any kind of wrongful or criminal deception which results into financialloss due to falsification of the company documents or financial transaction. Dishonestbehavior- it includes the behavior which causes any types of loss or damage tothe company property, such as leaking of company’s private and confidentialinformation.7ELEVEN is committed in providing an ethical workplace for all the membersassociated with the company including all the employee and franchisee. Fraud,theft and dishonest behavior regarding the data, company property, money or anyother resources will not be accepted in any circumstances.
The entire employee inthe company has a responsibility to report any types of dishonest behavior,theft, waste or misuse of company resources. Every employee and franchisee mustbe clear that if such kind of behavior is addressed then strong actions will betaken. Severity of the action depends upon the types of misconduct committed.Furthermore the person found guilty will be kept on the probation period andtheir potential promotion will be withheld for one year.Potentialexamples of fraud and dishonest behavior are stated below:· Miss-useof company’s property for personal use.· Unlawfuluse of company’s computers ,internet access ,mobile or vehicles · Operationof a private business using the resources and links of the company · Makingfalse financial transaction and inappropriate record keeping.· Incorrectworking hours in time sheets.· Falseclaim of medical condition for leave or overtime claims· Theftof the company’s asset.
5.Principle of Whistle Blower Protection. A whistleblower is an employee who notices andexposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical,or not correct within the company or organization that is either private orpublic .Such type of misconduct may be recently taking place, that may alreadyoccur or that may be likely to happen and is on initial phase.
Whistleblowersare supposed to be protected under the law which means that the whistleblowersshould not fear or worry about losing their job, isolation in the work place,bullying or any kind of retribution just because they refuse to tolerateunlawful acts (Legal Dictionary) .For example a manager forces theinternational student to work in the night shift and furthermore refuses togive the extra charge for nightshift. Many international students do notexactly know the norms of the country and they tend to remain silent and manydo not disclose the inappropriate behavior of their senior just because theyfear to lose the job. Thepossible example of whistleblower retaliation which includes demotion, threats,harassment, demotion, termination, discrimination, isolation. The person who isvictim or the eyewitness of the act of such behavior 7-Eleven encourages themto report immediately to the concerned authority.
The individual who reportssuch misconduct are whistleblower and we ensure that the identity of thatindividual will be hidden anonymous in order to prevent them from beingthreatened or bullied. “Australian securities and investments commissionprotects the whistleblower and their information including.· Protection of information provider bywhistleblowers· Protectionfor whistleblowers against litigation· Protectionsfor whistleblowers from victimization “(Australian Securities Commission) 7-Eleven has its own code of conduct which isapplicable to all the franchisee, staff and management team which is veryprecise and clear. We are fully aware and recognize the sensitivity of theissues and believe that mature decision is required to encourage in fairdealing. If there is any case of dispute then 7-Eleven will always negotiateand resolve the matter with good intention and we expect same from all themembers who are associated with this entire team of 7-Eleven focuses onensuring that all the activity that areperformed on behalf of the company will be ethical , unbiased and legal. Each individualare expected to follow their responsibilities under the given codes of conductensuring the employee rights are protected and the reputation and dignity of companyis kept high. Franchiseesare obligated to provide all the new employees with the information about theirrights and responsibilities in the work place as soon as possible.
Franchisorwill be bound to terminate the franchise agreement if they are found to breakthese principles intentionally harming the long build reputation of thecompany. Reference:AustralianSecurities Commission Info 52 viewed on 2 Jan, 2018, http://asic.gov.au/about-asic/asic-investigations-and-enforcement/whistleblowing/guidance-for-whistleblowers/#HowdoestheCorporationsActprotectwhistleblower English oxford living dictionary,viewed 6 Jan,2018,https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/exploitation Legal Dictionary, Whistleblower, Viewed on January3,2018, https://legaldictionary.net/whistleblower/Redfern legalcenter 2016, viewed 4January, 2018 https://rlc.org.au/article/international-student-workplace-exploitation-widespread
