Confidentiality and Data Protection

We want to ensure that private information about clients, employees, partners and our company is well-protected. Examples of confidential information are:

  • Employee records
  • Unpublished financial information
  • Data of customers/partners/vendors
  • Customer lists (existing and prospective)
  • Unpublished goals, forecasts and initiatives marked as confidential

As part of our hiring process, we may ask you to sign non-compete and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs.) We are also committed to:

  • Restrict and monitor access to sensitive data.
  • Develop transparent data collection procedures.
  • Train employees in online privacy and security measures.
  • Build secure networks to protect online data from cyberattacks.
  • Establish data protection practices (e.g. secure locks, data encryption, frequent backups, and access authorization.)

We also expect you to act responsibly when handling confidential information.

You must:

  • Lock or secure confidential information at all times.
  • Shred confidential documents when they’re no longer needed.
  • Make sure you view confidential information on secure devices only.
  • Only disclose information to other employees when it’s necessary and authorized.
  • Keep confidential documents inside our company’s premises unless it’s absolutely necessary to move them.

You must not:

  • Use confidential information for your personal benefit or profit.
  • Disclose confidential information to anyone outside of our company.
  • Replicate confidential documents and files and store them on insecure devices.

This policy is important for our company’s legality and reputation. We will terminate any employee who breaches our confidentiality guidelines for personal profit.

We may also discipline any unintentional breach of this policy depending on its frequency and seriousness. We will terminate employees who repeatedly disregard this policy, even when they do so unintentionally.

Harassment and violence

To build a happy and productive workplace, we need everyone to treat others well and help them feel safe. Each of us should do our part to prevent harassment and workplace violence.

Workplace harassment

Harassment is a broad term and may include seemingly harmless actions, like gossip. We can’t create an exhaustive list, but here are some instances that we consider harassment:

  • [Sabotaging someone’s work on purpose.]
  • [Engaging in frequent or unwanted advances of any nature.]
  • [Commenting derogatorily on a person’s ethnic heritage or religious beliefs.]
  • [Starting or spreading rumors about a person’s personal life.]
  • [Ridiculing someone in front of others or singling them out to perform tasks unrelated to their job (e.g. bringing coffee) against their will.]

Sexual harassment is illegal and we will seriously investigate relevant reports. If an employee is found guilty of sexual harassment, they will be terminated.

If you’re being harassed, whether by a colleague, customer or vendor, you can choose to talk to any of these people:

  • Offenders. If you suspect that an offender doesn’t realize they are guilty of harassment, you could talk to them directly in an effort to resolve the harassment. This tactic is appropriate for cases of minor harassment (e.g. inappropriate jokes between colleagues.) Avoid using this approach with customers or stakeholders.
  • Your manager. If customers, stakeholders or team members are involved in your claim, you may reach out to your manager. Your manager will assess your situation and may contact HR if appropriate.
  • HR. Feel free to reach out to HR in any case of harassment no matter how minor it may seem. For your safety, contact HR as soon as possible in cases of serious harassment (e.g. sexual advances) or if your manager is involved in your claim. Anything you disclose will remain confidential.

Workplace violence

Violence in our workplace is a serious form of harassment. It includes physical and sexual assault, destruction of property, threats to harm a person or property and verbal and psychological abuse. We want to avoid those incidents altogether, but we also want to be ready to respond if needed.

For this reason, we ask you to:

  • [Report to HR if you suspect or know that someone is being violent. Your report will be confidential and we will investigate the situation with discretion.]
  • [Call our building’s security if you witness incidents of severe physical violence (e.g. ones that involve a lethal weapon.) For your safety, avoid getting involved.]

We will treat employees who verbally threaten others as high risk and they will receive an appropriate penalty. If HR finds that an employee commits an act of violence, we will terminate that employee and possibly press criminal charges. Employees who damage property deliberately will be solely responsible for paying for it.

Our workplace is founded on mutual respect and we won’t allow anyone to compromise this foundation.

Emergency management

Emergency management refers to our plan to deal with sudden catastrophes like fire, floods, earthquakes or explosions. Our emergency management provisions include:

  • [Technicians (external or internal) available to repair leakages, damages and blackouts quickly.]
  • [Fire extinguishers and other fire protection equipment that are easily accessible.]
  • [An evacuation plan posted online]

Smoking

1 Sol (One Solution) is a smoke-free workplace. You can smoke in [designated smoking areas, balconies, open-air verandas and outer premises, like gardens and sidewalks.] Any other area in our workplace (like restrooms, lobby, offices, staircases, warehouses) is strictly smoke-free to protect non-smokers.

We also advise you to:

  • Extinguish your cigarettes and discard them in [outdoor ashtrays]
  • Avoid smoking when you have scheduled meetings with clients or vendors.
  • Avoid smoking near flammable objects and areas.