Code of Conduct
AMPECO GmbH, Dins­laken

Pre­amble

AMPECO con­siders itself part of an inter­na­tio­nally inter­con­nected economy and, as a company at its location in Germany, also part of the states and their societies in which AMPECO operates.

AMPECO follows the fun­da­mental prin­ciples of the “hono­urable mer­chant” and ack­now­ledges its respon­si­bility as a company.

AMPECO monitors the direct and indirect impacts of its business acti­vities on the envi­ronment and society and strives to strike an appro­priate balance between eco­nomic, envi­ron­mental and social interests.

AMPECO acts in accordance with gene­rally reco­g­nised values and prin­ciples, com­plies with the law and, in par­ti­cular, observes inter­na­tio­nally reco­g­nised human rights and labour stan­dards as set out below.

AMPECO stands for the objec­tives and content of the Code of Conduct and, within the scope of its respective legal and prac­tical pos­si­bi­lities, will make all appro­priate and reasonable efforts to con­ti­nuously fulfil this vol­untary com­mitment at all of its company loca­tions in Germany and abroad.

If existing national regu­la­tions con­flict with the content of the Code of Conduct or the domestic context makes it impos­sible to comply with it without rest­riction, AMPECO will seek ways to nevert­heless uphold the requi­re­ments of the Code of Conduct as far as possible.

Ethical/​​moral obli­ga­tions and integrity

AMPECO pursues exclu­sively legal business objec­tives and prac­tices and main­tains business rela­ti­onships only with repu­table partners.

AMPECO treats business partners and cus­tomers fairly and with appreciation.

AMPECO respects dif­ferent legal, eco­nomic, social and cul­tural back­grounds and the spe­cific cir­cum­s­tances of the countries and regions in which AMPECO ope­rates. In doing so, AMPECO observes the laws and regu­la­tions of the countries and regions in which business acti­vities take place. 

AMPECO always aligns its business conduct with uni­versal ethical values and prin­ciples, including inte­grity and respect for human dignity.

Cor­ruption, trade con­trols, money laundering

AMPECO rejects any form of bribery and cor­ruption. To this end, we avoid even the appearance of such conduct—whether by granting or accepting improper advantages. 

AMPECO acts in accordance with the appli­cable import and export control regu­la­tions and com­plies with the legal requi­re­ments for the pre­vention of money laundering.

Fair com­pe­tition

AMPECO advo­cates free and fair com­pe­tition. AMPECO does not tolerate anti-com­­pe­­titive agree­ments and ensures that the company acts in accordance with appli­cable anti­trust laws. AMPECO rejects com­pe­titive advan­tages gained through unfair business practices. 

Handling of per­sonal data, pro­tection of con­fi­dential infor­mation and intellectual property

AMPECO respects the per­sonal rights of its employees, business partners and cus­tomers and, when handling per­sonal infor­mation, com­plies with the appli­cable legal and regu­latory requi­re­ments for the pro­cessing of per­sonal data and for infor­mation security.

AMPECO pro­tects ent­rusted trade secrets and other con­fi­dential infor­mation of its business partners and cus­tomers against unaut­ho­rised acqui­sition, use and dis­closure, at least in accordance with the relevant sta­tutory pro­vi­sions for the pro­tection of trade secrets.

AMPECO respects the intellectual pro­perty of its business partners, cus­tomers and other third parties and, when exchanging know-how and tech­no­logies, ensures that ade­quate pre­cau­tions are taken to protect intellectual pro­perty rights.

Safe­guarding con­sumer interests

Where AMPECO’s pro­ducts and ser­vices affect con­sumer inte­rests, appro­priate mea­sures are taken to ensure the safety and quality of the pro­ducts or ser­vices. In doing so, AMPECO ensures that the pro­ducts or ser­vices comply with the relevant sta­tutory con­sumer pro­tection provisions. 

As part of infor­mation and sales mea­sures, AMPECO takes con­sumer inte­rests into account by app­lying the legal requi­re­ments for fair business, mar­keting and adver­tising prac­tices and con­sumer information.

Envi­ron­mental respon­si­bility and commitment

Pro­tecting and pre­serving the natural foun­da­tions of life con­cerns and obliges us all. With this awa­reness, AMPECO con­ducts its business acti­vities in an envi­ron­men­tally respon­sible manner and is com­mitted to the goal of a climate-neutral future. 

Pro­tection of the envi­ronment and climate

AMPECO fulfils its envi­ron­mental respon­si­bility by app­lying the appli­cable legal requi­re­ments and reco­g­nised stan­dards for the pro­tection of the envi­ronment and climate. AMPECO works to con­ti­nuously reduce the negative impacts of its business acti­vities on the envi­ronment and climate. 

AMPECO com­plies with appli­cable law and takes appro­priate mea­sures based on legal and inter­na­tio­nally reco­g­nised stan­dards, covering, among other things, the fol­lowing topics:

• Proper/​​professional and respon­sible handling of hazardous sub­s­tances, che­micals and waste, including their disposal
• Mea­sures to reduce or avoid waste
• Mini­mising emis­sions from ope­ra­tional pro­cesses (e.g. was­te­water, exhaust air, noise, green­house gases)
• Con­serving natural resources, for example through mea­sures to save water, che­micals and other raw mate­rials, and pro­moting the cir­cular economy
• Use of climate- and envi­ron­men­tally fri­endly tech­no­logies, pro­cesses, raw mate­rials and products
• Mea­sures to increase energy effi­ciency and the share of rene­wable energy in energy con­sumption at company sites

Animal welfare and species protection

AMPECO observes the prin­ciples of animal welfare and the pro­tection of bio­di­versity and aligns its business conduct accor­dingly. The keeping and use of animals must comply with appli­cable sta­tutory animal welfare requi­re­ments and be species-appro­priate. The Washington Con­vention on Inter­na­tional Trade in End­an­gered Species (CITES) serves as a gui­deline in this regard. 

Human rights and labour standards

Human dignity is inviolable. The­r­efore, AMPECO respects inter­na­tio­nally reco­g­nised human rights as set out in the Uni­versal Decla­ration of Human Rights of the United Nations. 

AMPECO is guided by the inter­na­tio­nally reco­g­nised labour stan­dards of the Inter­na­tional Labour Orga­nization (ILO) as listed below in the Code of Conduct.

In all business acti­vities, AMPECO endea­vours neither to cause nor to con­tribute to human rights vio­la­tions. AMPECO expects the same from its business partners. Where necessary and pos­sible, AMPECO sup­ports its sup­pliers in this regard. 

Employment rela­ti­onships

AMPECO treats its employees with app­re­ciation. AMPECO rejects any form of unlawful punishment, abuse, harassment, inti­mi­dation or other degrading tre­atment of workers. 

AMPECO applies the appli­cable labour law to all employment rela­ti­onships and expects the same from its con­tractual partners. At the start of the employment rela­ti­onship, employees must be pro­vided with under­stan­dable infor­mation about the essential working con­di­tions, including their rights and obli­ga­tions, working hours, remu­ne­ration, and payment and payroll modalities. 

AMPECO respects and pro­tects the right of workers to ter­minate their employment rela­ti­onship in com­pliance with the appli­cable notice period.

Rejection of child labour and pro­tection of young workers

AMPECO does not tolerate child labour and observes the appli­cable sta­tutory minimum age for employment. In any case, AMPECO does not employ persons below the age at which com­pulsory schooling ends under the law of the place of employment, nor under 15 years of age. Intern­ships are orga­nised in accordance with sta­tutory provisions. 

AMPECO expects its con­tractual partners to have appro­priate means of veri­fying age in order to prevent child labour. If child labour is iden­tified, all necessary mea­sures must be initiated imme­diately, placing the child’s welfare, pro­tection and deve­lo­pment at the centre. 

For persons under 18 years of age, the rights of young workers must be observed; they may only be employed if it is ensured that the working and employment con­di­tions neither pose a risk to their health, safety or morals nor are harmful to their development.

Rejection of forced labour

AMPECO rejects forced or com­pulsory labour in any form. This also applies to any form of debt bondage, serfdom, slavery or slavery-like prac­tices, human traf­fi­cking, and extends to all forms of invol­untary work and ser­vices that are incom­pa­tible with inter­na­tio­nally reco­g­nised labour and social standards. 

Prin­ciples of remuneration

AMPECO applies the sta­tutory pro­vi­sions or—where applicable—collective bar­gaining agreement pro­vi­sions for the remu­ne­ration of work performed.

AMPECO ensures that employees’ pay at the company does not fall below the appli­cable sta­tutory minimum wage, where appli­cable the coll­ec­tively agreed minimum wage, or the cus­tomary industry minimum wage.

In countries or regions without a sta­tutory or coll­ec­tively agreed wage framework, AMPECO ensures that the wages paid for regular full-time work are suf­fi­cient to meet employees’ basic needs.

AMPECO does not tolerate wage deduc­tions that are not legally per­mitted, including wage deduc­tions as a disci­plinary measure.

Working hours

AMPECO applies the sta­tutory or appli­cable coll­ec­tively agreed pro­vi­sions on working hours, including overtime, rest breaks and paid leave. AMPECO ensures that 

• the regular weekly working hours plus the maximum pos­sible overtime are not exceeded,
• working time regu­la­tions are com­plied with

Freedom of association

AMPECO respects workers’ right to freedom of asso­ciation and freedom of assembly, as well as the right to coll­ective bar­gaining and coll­ective agree­ments, insofar as this is legally per­mis­sible and pos­sible in the respective country of employment. Where this is not per­mis­sible, AMPECO seeks appro­priate com­pro­mises for its employees. 

Diversity and inclusion, pro­hi­bition of discrimination

AMPECO values the diversity of its employees and pro­motes a working envi­ronment that enables inclusion. The­r­efore, AMPECO is com­mitted to equal oppor­tu­nities and rejects any form of dis­cri­mi­nation and unequal tre­atment on the grounds of national and ethnic origin, social back­ground, health status, disa­bility, sexual ori­en­tation, age, gender, poli­tical opinion, religion or belief. 

AMPECO upholds the prin­ciple of equal pay for male and female workers for work of equal value.

Health and safety in the workplace

AMPECO observes national and inter­na­tional occu­pa­tional health and safety stan­dards. AMPECO ensures a safe and health-pro­­moting working envi­ronment (avo­iding acci­dents, injuries and work-related ill­nesses) in order to protect the safety and health of its employees and third parties. 

Dins­laken, 2024-07-25

AMPECO GmbH
Management