Guiding Principles of 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd
7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd is a private company owned by Russell Withers and Barlow Family. The company has a license to franchise and operate 7-Eleven stores in Australia from the 7- Eleven Inc based in the United States.
- corporate values are incorporated in their internal dealing;
- the values are extended to the supplier partners as well;
- it conducts its operations with integrity and fairness striving to achieve excellence;
The following Code of Conduct provides a set of guiding principles that must be followed by all the personnel of 7-Eleven and against which we shall hold ourselves responsible. The Code of Conduct is supported by several policies.
In order to achieve this objective, we should not compromise with the values and ethics of Accountability, Respect, Community and Excellence.
All the employees and the directors of 7-Eleven Stores Pty ltd, Australia, (7-Eleven Personnel) are expected to act with the follwing principles every time.
Discrimination takes place when a person or group of person, receives less favorable treatment compared to other person or group owing to their certain personal characteristics or background (Barak 2016). Unlawful discrimination amounts to less favorable treatment of a person or any group of persons including the international students, based on special attributes such as:
- race, descent, color, national origin, religion or ethnicity;
- disability or impairment, and/or age;
This includes not involving in any behavioral conduct that amounts to:
- bullying;
- unlawful discrimination or harassment in the workplace;
- psychological harassment;
- intimidation;
- deliberately change of work rosters causing inconvenience to particular employees or group of particular employees;
The federal statutes such as Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) and the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) safeguards people from any form of employment discrimination that takes place based on personal characteristics (Shacklock and Galtung 2016). Fair Work Act 2009 covers areas where discrimination includes depriving employees of their legal entitlements like leave or pay or changing job to their disadvantage. There are other state and territory level laws prohibiting discrimination in employment such as Discrimination Act 1991, Anti-Discrimination Act 1977, and Equal Opportunity Act 1984.
- raise the matter with the Line manager in case such unlawful discrimination takes place
- act honestly while making the complaint before the Fair Work Ombudsman and must maintain confidentiality of information;
The employees should be ensured that they are not subjected to any disadvantage and neither be victimized for making such compliant.
It refers to the act of treating someone in an unfair manner to benefit from the conduct of the person. The exploitation of international students in the workplace is usually a significant concern, which is strictly prohibited. The code of conduct prohibits:
- any unlawful discrimination against the employees including the international students;
- bullying or harassment;
- intimidating employees, the international students, in particular against complaining about exploitation;
In respect of the international students, the company shall ensure that the company shall:
- the Employees are provided their legal entitlements including their pay or leaves;
- the International students are not exploited and deprived of their legal entitlements for benefits of the employer;
- the International students must not be forced to work in contrary to their visa permit;
- the International students are intimidated for making any complaints before the Fair Work Ombudsman against any exploitation or discrimination at workplace;
The Fair Work Act 2009 (cth) shall address any issues relating to underpayment and other forms of exploitation that takes place in the workplace.
Corruption amounts to a dishonest activity where a person acts against the interest of the entity they represent and exploits his or her position of trust to obtain personal advantage or profit directly or indirectly. Bribery is a form of corruption that is strictly prohibited by this Code.
Discrimination and Exploitation
7-Eleven personnel are prohibited from engaging into activities that includes facilitation payments, bribery or money laundering. These activities are contrary to the principles of fairness and integrity and may affect the reputation of the organization amongst the shareholders, consumers, investors and suppliers of the corporation.
- accepting or offering bribes or any irregular payments to influence its business related decisions;
- manipulating business dealings as it does not reflect the true nature of the transactions of the organizations;
- neglecting taking of any reasonable steps to ensure that the business partners, contractors, intermediaries are abiding by the Anti-bribery policy, this code or any related laws;
7-eleven must ensure that its activities comply with the Competition and Consumer Act in Australian and that it is consistent with the other equivalent legislations operating in other jurisdictions on which the company carries out its activities.
Dishonest and fraudulent Behavior refers to the activities that are conducted dishonestly and deceptively that results in potential or actual financial loss to any person or entity. Fraudulent and dishonest behavior includes:
- falsifying cost claims;
- deliberate or dishonest misleading of financial performance reports;
- manipulation in wage records;
- 7-Eleven must ensure that it complies with transparency and honesty in financial reporting, disclosure and other obligations stipulated in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the ASX Listing Rules.
- 7-eleven personnel must not deal with or communicate any inside information to other who may deal with the securities of 7-eleven or other listed entities while such person possess such ‘inside information’ about such securities;
The employees must report about any such behavior and the company shall strive to maintain the confidentiality of employees to safeguard the employees from being victimized from making such complaint.
The following essential principles shall act as guidance for safeguarding whistleblowers:
7-eleven shall consider the following conduct as improper conduct:
- Bullying, discrimination or harassment;
- Illegal, corrupt, fraudulent or unethical conduct;
- Unsafe work practices;
- Any conduct that violates any legal regulation or a legal obligation under a contract
Any employee including the international students facing any improper conduct shall raise their concern to the Risk management team of the company or to the Whistleblower Protection officers contacting either directly or by mailing anonymously.
The allegations of improper conduct raised and investigated shall be maintained as confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person associated with the investigation without the permission of the person who raised such concern.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Whistleblowers) Bill 2017 (the Bill) has been introduced to strengthen the whistleblower protections in the financial, corporate and credit sectors into a single regime under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). It ensures that investigation takes place objectively and in a fair manner. The bill broadens the eligibility of the whistleblower or protection under the Act such as it will include former employees or relatives, etc;
- It enlarges the variety of disclosures safeguarded under the statute such as disclosure about conduct that amounts to misconduct or improper state of affairs;
- It imposes stricter obligations to maintain confidentiality of identity of whistleblower;
In the event of failing to comply with the code of conduct, 7-Eleven shall be subjected to substantial penalties and fines and the company and /or its employees may be subjected to criminal or civil liability or any other financial loss affecting the reputation of the company.
The company and/or its employees shall be subjected to the following penalties or remedies for non-complying with any or all of the above provisions in the code of conduct.
Discrimination and Exploitation- The person contravening unlawful discrimination provision shall be imposed with penalties or civil/criminal liabilities under the Fair work Act 2009 (Cth) at Federal level and other equivalent legislations at state and territory level in which the company operates.
Corruption- The company and/or its employees shall be subjected to penalties or fines stipulated in the state and territory legislations applicable to respective jurisdictions in which the company operates. However, indirect commonwealth legislations are provided to some extent in Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and in Part IV of the Competition and Consumers Act 2010 (Cth).
Fraudulent and dishonest behavior- any person who engages in activities involving fraudulent and dishonest behavior shall be subjected to penalties and fines or civil /criminal liability under the Corporation Act 2001 (Cth) and the ASX Listing Rules.
Whistleblower protection- the whistleblowers shall be safeguarded by the Corporations Act, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) from being victimized for disclosing information about violation of Corporations Act 2001(Cth) by any employee or director or manager of the company.
The Board of 7-Eleven supports this Code of Conduct and its compliance is considered as a serious matter. In order to ensure accountability, compliance with this Code shall be under strict surveillance and monitor. An infringement of this Code or any other relevant legislations shall result in disciplinary action including termination of employment. Any contraventions of this Code shall be immediately reported to manager or supervisor and any such complaints or reports shall be kept as confidential ensuring the person reporting or complaining is not prejudiced.
Reference List
Anti-Discrimination Act 1977
Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth)
Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC)
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage Publications.
Corporations Act 2001(Cth)
Discrimination Act 1991
Equal Opportunity Act 1984
Fair work Act 2009 (Cth)
https://www.7eleven.com.au/about-us
Part IV of the Competition and Consumers Act 2010 (Cth).
Shacklock, A. and Galtung, F., 2016. Measuring Corruption. Routledge.
Treasury Laws Amendment (Whistleblowers) Bill 2017 (the Bill)
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