Promise Respect at Work Policy

Document Reference: PM-RAW-001 Version: v2.3 Owner: Compliance Team — Promise Money Next Review Date: [To be confirmed]

PROMISE BEHAVIOUR AT WORK POLICY

Promise Solutions is firmly committed to ensuring a positive, professional and effective working environment in which all people are treated with respect and dignity and supported to meet their business goals. We seek to create an environment where those with ability, ambition and a strong work ethic can succeed and grow without being impacted by those who don’t share similar values and aspirations.

A positive environment

Everyone within the company is employed to help the company meet its goals and doing so requires focus, hard work and consistency. Maintaining a positive working environment is very important to Promise and the actions of a few can quickly undermine the positivity of others. For those who are committed to hard work and progressing themselves it is easy to become demotivated when a nearby colleague doesn’t share the same values. The company aims to support and recognise those who wish to achieve at a high level and protect them from negative influences by raising the standards of others around them.

Negativity in the workplace is not as simple as doing or saying one thing wrong to demotivate colleagues. It is often a build up of behaviours which together undermine and demotivate others.

Some office chat and banter helps create a friendly and happy environment but taking advantage or pushing the boundaries upsets colleagues. There is a limit to what is acceptable and this policy seeks to make it clear what behaviours are not acceptable.

Mobile phones and social media – Should be put away and not in use unless required for business purposes. If there is a genuine and important reason why your phone should be switched on please clear this with your line manager

Going walkabout – We are a telephone and desk based business. There will be business reasons why you need to confer with a colleague but do not engage them in irrelevant conversation as this distracts them from achieving their tasks.

Personal issues – Leave your personal issues from outside work at the door. Don’t assume that colleagues want to get involved or hear about them. If you have a serious issue to discuss, especially if it is caused by or affects your work, you should discuss it with your line manager.

Fair play – We work in a highly competitive industry and the business and individuals have targets to meet. However avoiding team tasks, manipulating situations, cherry picking the best opportunities or generally not pulling your weight is not acceptable. Such actions will undermine and demotivate colleagues.

Negative interactions – It’s difficult to be positive all the time but conversely a predominantly negative, aggressive, manipulative or subversive behaviour is not acceptable. If you want to moan, speak to your line manager.

Be on time and ready to start work – the first 15 minutes of the day are not for chatting, making drinks or eating breakfast – if you came in early to work extra time that’s different.

Food at desks - Don’t take an hour for lunch then think it's OK to eat sandwiches at your desk. Crisps, fruit and snacks may be Ok. If you are working through your lunch then that’s different provided your food isn’t smelly or inappropriate and your manager is Ok with it. A Sunday roast at your desk isn’t appropriate.

Chat and Banter – Some people can chat whilst working. Others need to concentrate and distractions are unwelcome as well as diminishing that person's ability to perform at a high level. The tasks we generally perform need concentration to avoid errors and in a competitive market there is little time to waste on non work related chat or banter. Keep it to a minimum and don’t distract others by interrupting their tasks and concentration.

Background Noise – we are a telephone based business and clients, brokers or other partners don’t want to hear you whilst they are talking to your colleagues. It’s unprofessional and off putting. If you need to talk to someone who is not in your immediate vicinity, don’t shout across the office. Get up and go talk to them then return to your desk. We can all get a little excited at times but be conscious of your own volume and respectful to others by keeping it down.

Respecting Colleagues

We believe in a proactive approach to workplace respect and are committed to providing employees with a healthy and safe workplace, free from physical or psychological bullying, harassment and violence.

A respectful work environment is a place where employees are actively living by our core values.

Personal beliefs or opinions on race, religion, sexuality or similar have no relevance at work and individuals should not seek to promote their opinions to colleagues or force others to disclose their own opinions against their will. Where such beliefs are expressed and are inconsistent with the values of the business the matter should be raised with a line manager.

This policy prohibits all forms of bullying, harassment, exclusion and violence (hereinafter, referred to as a violation of “respect”) by management, supervisors and workers. Violations of respect will be investigated and if substantiated will be dealt with expeditiously.

To support the objective of providing all employees with a healthy, safe and friendly workplace, it is required that managers, supervisors and workers take preventative action to ensure that risks to individual’s health and safety due to violations of respect are eliminated or reported.

Bullying − definition of bullying is interpersonal hostility that is deliberate, repeated and sufficiently severe as to harm the targeted person’s health, safety or economic status. It is driven by the perpetrator’s (bully’s) need to control or influence another individual, not by a legitimate business need.

Harassment − definition Harassment occurs when a worker is subjected to unwelcome verbal or physical conduct because of: • race • age • religious beliefs • colour • place of origin • gender • mental or physical disability • ancestry • marital status • sexual orientation • source of income • family status of that person or of any other person

Exclusion – definition Exclusion occurs when a worker or group of workers are deliberately excluded from work related conversations or activities by others in a manner which is inconsistent with the needs and day to day activities of the business. An example would include speaking in a language which colleagues and managers did not understand whilst at work. Outside work or during breaks it is accepted that staff who share a common language may wish to converse amongst themselves.

Violence − definition Violence whether at a worksite or work related means the threatened, attempted or actual conduct of a person that causes or is likely to cause physical injury. These acts include threats, menacing or threatening behaviour and all types of physical or verbal assaults.

Employees are encouraged to seek resolution of a disrespectful incident initially through their line manager. Investigations will be conducted with as much confidentially as can practicably be afforded. Investigators will advise workers involved or consulted through the course of the investigation that discretion is an important part of the process.