Our code sets standards and expectations for how we do the right thing and empowers us to speak up without fear of retaliation. It is the foundation of ‘Who we are’, our culture frame, and puts safety first. Together with our Safety Leadership Principles and OMS, it helps us make safe and ethical decisions, act responsibly, comply with applicable laws, and implement our sustainability frame.
Our code applies to all bp employees, officers and board members. Our regular mandatory training and communications help employees understand how to apply it and how to raise questions or concerns. All bp employees are required to confirm annually that they have read and understand our code and act in accordance with its principles. We expect and encourage all our contractors and their employees to act in ways that are consistent with our code.
Our code reinforces the importance of speaking up about anything that is unsafe, unlawful or inconsistent with its content. It makes it clear that everyone who works for bp has a responsibility to speak up and it emphasizes line managers’ responsibility to listen and act when concerns are raised and the importance of non-retaliation. We encourage people to speak up and we do not tolerate retaliation of any kind and consider it to be misconduct.
Any concerns or enquiries, including those related to human rights, can be raised through multiple speak up channels. These include line managers; senior leaders; contacts in people, culture & communications; ethics & compliance and legal teams; works councils; and our confidential global helpline, OpenTalk. This helpline is always open and accessible in more than 75 languages to bp employees, the wider workforce, communities, business partners and other stakeholders.
We take all concerns seriously and thoroughly review and respond to them, conducting investigations where appropriate. We follow a defined disciplinary process and issue-sanctions as necessary.
Managing bp’s key enduring risks, including our exposure to bribery and corruption, is essential. We operate in parts of the world where bribery and corruption present high risks, so it is important that we engage with our employees, contractors, suppliers and others to emphasize that our commitment to ethical and compliant operations is unwavering.
Our code of conduct explicitly prohibits engaging in any form of bribery or corruption and we also have in place group-wide anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering and anti-tax evasion policies.
Our group-wide anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering and anti-tax evasion policies and procedures all include measures and guidance to assess and mitigate risks, understand relevant laws and report concerns. We provide appropriate training for employees in locations or roles assessed to be at a higher risk of bribery and corruption.
We prohibit the use of bp funds or resources to support any political candidate or party. We recognize the rights of our employees to participate in political processes and these rights are governed by the applicable laws in the countries where we operate. Our position on political activity is set out in our code.
In the US we provide administrative support for the bp employee political action committee (PAC) – a non-partisan, employee-led committee that encourages voluntary employee participation in the political process. The bp employee PAC is governed by a board of directors and administrative by-laws. All of the contributions it makes are weighed against its criteria for candidate support and reviewed for legal compliance before funds are sent to the recipients, and publicly reported in accordance with US election laws. Contributions made by the PAC are from employee contributions and not from bp funds.