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responsibility charter
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Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
1
OUR VALUES
p 02
2
OUR COMMITMENTS
AND RESPONSIBILITIES
p 04
3
APPLICATION
PROCEDURES
p 27
4
GLOSSARY
p 28
Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter I 1
Chairman’s
MESSAGE
More than just a global leader in the hotel industry, Accor is a proudly diverse team of 180,000
inquisitive, motivated men and women working in a wide range of professions. Every year,
we welcome millions of guests to our 3,800 hotels in more than 90 countries worldwide.
This leadership gives us a number of rights, but it also comes with certain responsibilities,
towards our employees, guests, partners and, naturally, our host communities around the world.
For more than 45 years, our Group has built a reputation as both a hospitality pioneer and an
outstanding corporate citizen that expects employees and partners alike to meet the highest
standards, in line with our proud tradition of corporate social responsibility.
Designed to encourage compliance with the most demanding ethical principles and to reaffirm
our commitments, the Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter guides our responsibility
process, covering the areas of management ethics, integrity and compliance, as well as
corporate social responsibility.
At a time when our industry and our Group are undergoing extensive transformation, more
than ever, we will continue to evolve and grow while remaining true to our common heritage.
We’ll do so by sharing the culture that sets us apart from the competition and makes us attrac-
tive, and also by expressing our vision of hospitality through the simplicity, warmth and univer-
sality of our “Feel Welcome” tagline.
Guest Passion, Sustainable Performance, Spirit of Conquest, Innovation, Trust and Respect
are the values that form the foundation of our ethical commitment and express our unique
personality.
We take considerable care to motivate and unite all of our teams around this shared philosophy,
with a strong commitment to making them “Feel Valued”.
I’m counting on each of you to promote this code of conduct in your decisions and daily practices
so that in addition to delivering high performance, Accor can continue to demonstrate the val-
ues that set us apart, make us strong and help forge our reputation. In this way, we will be able
to drive our Group’s sustainable growth and harmonious development forward for the benefit
of all our stakeholders.
Sébastien Bazin
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
2 I Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
1
6 Core values
in our code
of conduct
Our values are embodied every day in
our behavior, and in our relationships
with all of our stakeholders, both inside
and outside the organization. They
guide our leadership methods and our
actions and give meaning to our efforts,
providing us with a universal f rame of
reference in a fast-changing world.
SUSTAINABLE TRUST
PERFORMANCE We believe in natural kindness.
We stand for creating value, We support and value each individual
for as many as possible, and acknowledge their value.
over the long term. We deliver on our commitments.
We say what we do,
we do what we say.
SPIRIT RESPECT
OF CONQUEST We are connected with the world, and to others.
Our guests are globetrotters, and so are we. We enjoy the mix of cultures.
We want to be where they want to be. We are proud of our differences.
We explore, we initiate, and we develop. We put you first and we value you, whoever you are.
We are ambitious for our guests. We care for the planet.
We make the impossible possible,
we have fun doing it.
Our commitments
2
and responsibilities
2.1 FRAME OF REFERENCE
Accor’s integrity is built on the diligent application of three closely related, interconnected principles.
Legislation governing corporate behavior and cess to superior services or products, that of-
activities varies from one country to another. fer the best value for money and are as safe as
However, they are all intended to protect the possible for the consumer.
stakeholders who put their trust in the com-
pany, such as shareholders, partners, sup-
pliers and subcontractors, employees or civil
society as a whole. They also help to ensure ac-
Compliance is more than a matter of obeying In applying its ethical commitments, Accor en-
the law or facing legal punishment, it is also sures compliance with the following funda-
part of a company’s ethical practices. Em- mental documents:
ployees, guests, rating agencies, journalists, — The principles of the 1948 Universal Decla-
non-governmental organizations and other ration of Human Rights;
stakeholders expect us to express our ethical —
The International Labour Organization’s
commitments and explain how we intend to fundamental conventions;
honor them alongside all of our partners.
—
The OECD Guidelines for Multinational
Accor has pledged to uphold the ten funda- Enterprises issued by the Organization for
mental principles of the United Nations Glob- Economic Cooperation and Development;
al Compact, which are universally accepted
—
The ten principles of the United Nations
and, in certain countries, stricter than prevail-
Global Compact.
ing legislation. By embracing the United Na-
tions Global Compact, we have reaffirmed our
dedication to focusing our concerns clearly
on people, employees, the environment and
integrity.
6 I Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
There are many laws designed to protect ly neutral criteria or practice results in a par-
a company’s direct partners, such as cus- ticular disadvantage for one category of per-
tomers, employees and suppliers, and some- sons compared with another.
times people in indirect contact. All forms of discrimination are banned by:
Accor carefully tracks compliance with — The Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
these laws, in particular by ensuring that the — The 1966 International Convention on the
practices of our suppliers and service provi- Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimi-
ders fulfill our commitments to respecting nation;
people. In the event of infringement, Accor —
The 1990 Convention on the Protection
would immediately sever all relations with of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
the supplier or service provider in question. Members of Their Families.
Accor rejects all forms of discrimination.
DISCRIMINATION On the contrary, it is committed to encou-
Discrimination, for the countries that have raging cultural diversity by creating an
defined it, is when a person is treated un- environment where everyone enjoys the
fairly on the basis of such criteria as ethic or opportunity for personal and professional
national origin, gender, disability, skin color or fulfillment.
religion in employment, career development,
access to training and other areas governed
by legislation. FORCED LABOR
Forced labor is defined as any involuntary
Direct discrimination is when a person is treated
work or service exacted under the threat of a
less favorably than another with the same capa-
penalty.
bilities on the basis of discriminatory criteria.
Indirect discrimination is when an apparent-
Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter I 7
BUSINESS ETHICS
Some laws governing business practices are Example: By chance, the chief executive
specifically designed to protect consumers, pri- officer of one of our competitors is an old
vate citizens and other economic stakeholders. friend. Rather than start a price war, which
neither of us thinks would be very efficient,
we decide to agree on prices while keeping
RESPECTING COMPETITION RULES them close to the market average to avoid
Competition rules restrict anti-competitive any accusations of collusion. Is this illegal?
behavior in two ways, by prohibiting: > Anything that is intended to distort com-
— Collusion between one or several competi- petition is illegal, even a simple discussion
tors, suppliers or retailers, in particular to fix about prices with competitors.
prices or divide up the market;
— The abuse of a dominant position to create
obstacles to fair competition. COMBATTING BRIBERY OF PUBLIC
OFFICIALS
Most countries have passed legislation
Bribing a civil servant, elected official or other
prohibiting anti-competitive practices.
government employee consists of promising
In the European Union, companies are expect- or giving him or her an inducement to act, or
ed to comply with the competition provisions not to act as the case may be, in violation of
in the Treaty of Rome, which are designed his or her official duties.
to ensure that competition in the common
Bribing a public official is illegal in every
market is not distorted.
country.
More generally, measures to combat an-
In the United States, the Foreign Corrupt Prac-
ti-competitive practices and promote inter-
tices Act (FCPA) makes it unlawful for a US
national cooperation are being steadily ex-
company or foreign company with operations
panded and strengthened.
in the United States to bribe a foreign official.
Today, in almost any country, a company may
In the United Kingdom, the Bribery Act 2010
be investigated, its executives interrogated or
criminalizes any form of bribery of a public
its premises searched at the request of for-
official or private individual by a company
eign or transnational authorities.
with business in the country.
Accor has prepared a Competition Law Com-
In France, it is a criminal offense for a
pliance Guide that employees may down-
French company, one of its subsidiaries or
loadfrom the corporate intranet.
one of its consultants to bribe a foreign of-
Accor pledges to comply strictly with com- ficial. Every year, Accor responds to the
petition rules in every host country, in full questionnaire issued by France’s Central Ser-
awareness that the fewer the competitors, vice for the Prevention of Corruption (SCPC,
the greater the risk. attached to the Ministry of Justice) concerning
the practices and programs deployed during
the year.
10 I Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
Accor pledges that no commission will be dating three hundred people over two days,
paid directly or indirectly to any elected or in the middle of the low season. Our ho-
appointed public official with regard to its tel, which is ideally situated, would be the
contracts or its relations with French or for- perfect venue for this type of event. I con-
eign government agencies. tacted the convention organizer, who said
Example: Following a tax audit, we receive a that he’d like to come for a week with his
reassessment notice, which both we and our assistant, accompanied by their respective
certified public accountant feel is unjusti- spouses. I would like to make their stay as
fied. Moreover, the reassessment plus the pleasant as possible. What can I do?
fine amount to a full two years of revenue. In > Naturally, they are welcome to stay in the
this very poor country, tax inspectors some- hotel, but you should avoid offering the
times do this in hopes of being offered cash organizer any extras that may be construed
compensation in exchange for forgetting as a bribe to win the contract with his com-
about the fine. And in fact, the requested pany. For example, you could offer each of
payment is not very much. What should I them a double room free of charge but only
do? for the two or three days needed to show
> By paying the compensation, both them the hotel facilities and introduce them
you and Accor could be prosecuted, to possible event service providers. On the
notably under French law, for the criminal other hand, they should pay for their spous-
offense of bribing a foreign official. Clearly, es’ expenses (spa, golf course, safari, etc.).
this is a case of attempted extortion. The legal Obviously, you cannot agree to pay for their
department will assist you in exploring every airline tickets. As a precautionary measure,
possible way of settling your tax dispute to you could send them a form, to be signed
Accor’s advantage. and returned, that clearly states the ameni-
ties and services included (or not) in your invi-
tation and a tentative schedule of meetings,
BRIBERY OF PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS visits, introductions to service providers, etc.
There are two types of bribery involving
private individuals:
MONEY LAUNDERING AND COMPLICITY
—A
ctive bribery consists of promising or
IN MONEY LAUNDERING
giving a person other than a public official
Money laundering is a crime that consists of
an inducement to act in violation of his or
holding or using funds that come from illegal
her professional obligations;
activities, such as drug trafficking or bribery.
—P
assive bribery is when a person other
Accor is preventing and combating money
than a public official has solicited or ac-
laundering by complying with legislation and
cepted an inducement to act, or not act as
international conventions:
the case may be, in violation of his or her
professional obligations. —
The United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime, which
Any attempt at bribery by a French company
defines the international framework for
or one of its subsidiaries is liable to prosecu-
combating money laundering;
tion, regardless of where it was committed.
— The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-
Accor pledges to take every measure to governmental body that promotes interna-
avoid any form of bribery with regard to tional cooperation, whose member states
both its procurement and sales procedures. (including France) are required to set up a
Example: I found out that a large European financial reporting system to support the
company is planning to hold its annual con- fight against money laundering.
vention in one of our host regions, the Horn of
Africa. The contract would involve accommo-
Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter I 11
GIFTS
Accor prevents accusations of bribery and LOBBYING
conflicts of interest by refusing any gifts or Lobbying constructively and transparent-
personal benefits. ly assists public policy makers in discussing,
The only exceptions are the inexpensive gifts shaping and promulgating public policy on
or invitations that may be exchanged as issues that have an impact on our business
part of a high-quality business relationship activities.
when no negotiations or tender offers are in
progress. For example, as part of their profes- Accor pledges to:
sional responsibilities, employees may offer — Express its position on issues of public in-
or accept non-cash or reasonably priced terest having an impact on its business
gifts or personal advantages, in particular for activities to public authorities, either in its
promotional purposes. own name or as part of trade associations;
In the same way, Accor employees may oc- — Defend its legitimate interests, taking care
casionally offer or accept invitations to trade to ascertain the validity of its arguments;
events in strict relation to their activities in — Avoid seeking an undue political or regu-
the Group. latory advantage;
In case of doubt, employees should discuss
—
Demonstrate integrity and intellectual
the matter with their manager.
honesty in all of its relations with pub-
Accor has issued a gifts policy for all employ-
lic officials and organizations, regardless
ees to ensure that guidelines are clearly un-
of the circumstances or interests being
derstood.
defended.
More generally, our lobbying activities are
conducted in line with our strategic action
principles and corporate social responsibility
policies
12 I Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
A number of laws governing company proce- Accor pledges to apply the strictest defini-
dures are specifically intended to protect the tion of misuse in every subsidiary and take
interests of stakeholders, particularly share- all means necessary to prevent and detect
holders and employees. any infringements.
Accounting, tax and customs laws and stand- Example: In our host country, an excep-
ards may vary from one country to another. tionally powerful monsoon caused serious
In addition, foreign subsidiaries of listed com- flooding and left hundreds of thousands of
panies must comply with the accounting and people homeless. My wife is the head of the
tax legislation and standards in the country of local office of an accredited French human-
listing. itarian NGO. I know that the hotel’s usual
customers, who are very upset by the ca-
Following a number of large fraud-related cor-
tastrophe, would be willing to help the com-
porate failures, legislation has been tightened
munity. Can we use the customer database
and controls have become more thorough.
to contact them for donations?
Accor pledges to: > That’s very generous of you, but the laws
— Fully comply with prevailing legislation governing the use of computer data are
and standards in each host country, es- very strict. In particular, customer informa-
pecially in the areas of accounting, taxa- tion may never be used for any purpose oth-
tion and customs; er than business. However, you can contact
— Meet all of the obligations of a company headquarters to explore the most effective
headquartered and listed in France; way to assist the victims.
— Take all necessary measures to ensure
that business and financial transactions
are properly recorded in its financial INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY
statements and kept in such a way that Keeping information systems secure requires
they may be audited in accordance with managing informational risks at every level of
legislation. the enterprise, in such aspects as secure data
access and dedicated facilities, administrator
access permissions, training in informational
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTIONS risk awareness and security audits and tests
The protection of personal data i) involves at our partners.
restricting access to any information (such as
a name, telephone number, email-address or Accor pledges to:
credit card number) that would enable a per- — Introduce a dedicated information
son to be directly or indirectly identified and systems security organization;
ii) defining the conditions in which such data — Define guidelines for using information
may be collected and processed. systems across the enterprise and maxi-
mize uptime for the most critical systems;
This information is protected by a variety of
— Provide regular training for key persons;
legal measures governing the right to privacy,
— Integrate security into the life cycle man-
such as France’s Freedom of Information Act
agement of IT applications;
of 1978, the European Union’s Data Protec-
— Implement technological solutions de-
tion Directive (95/46/EC) and the Council of
signed to protect the personal data of
Europe’s Convention 108 on the protection of
guests and employees.
personal data, as well as by legislation passed
in many countries around the world, such as
Australia and Brazil.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Accor has introduced a personal data pro- Intellectual property comprises the rights
tection charter that may be downloaded to such intangible assets as brands, domain
from its websites. names, designs and models, patents, exper-
tise and copyrights.
Infringing these rights is an offense liable to
prosecution, in particular for counterfeiting or
unfair competition.
14 I Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
OUR EMPLOYEES
—
Ensure that employees can express Accor pledges to:
themselves freely within the company on — Comply with a selection process that ap-
issues related to the conditions in which plies the same criteria to every applicant
they carry out their duties. for a given position;
—
Base all hiring decisions exclusively on
professional skills and personal qualities,
VALUING AND RESPECTING DIVERSITY in line with our needs and the applicant’s
For a company, diversity designates the vari- own attributes.
ety of individual backgrounds found among
Sensitivity training is essential if we want to
its employees, based on such factors as coun-
reduce the stereotyping that fuels discrim-
try, region or neighborhood of origin, family
ination. The working environment, past ex-
name, culture, age, gender, physical appear-
perience and subconscious expectations
ance, disability, sexual orientation, education
can influence the way we feel about a can-
and more. When applied to management,
didate and the questions we ask him or her.
this translates into the recognition and cele-
bration of individual differences as a valuable However, many questions should not be
source of higher performance for the compa- asked because they carry a direct risk of be-
ny. ing accused of discrimination in countries
that consider these questions to be discrim-
In terms of organization, diversity influenc-
inatory.
es all of the procedures and processes im-
plemented by the company to ensure equal Example: We know that age and experience
opportunity and prevent discrimination. are not systematically correlated. A candi-
Resources have been deployed to support our date can be over 45 and still be a beginner
Diversity Commitment (downloadable from in a position, with corresponding compen-
the corporate human resources intranet). sation. In the same way, there is not nec-
essarily a link between age and a person’s
More than commitments and resources,
dedication or motivation.
however, respect for diversity is primarily a
personal issue. It is therefore up to each of > Questions that should not be asked during
us to improve our practices to drive superior a hiring interview:
performance for the entire organization. - How old are you?
- When were you born?
- We have a very young team. Do you think
NON-DISCRIMINATORY, you can fit in?
TRANSPARENT HIRING POLICIES Questions that may be asked:
Because of the structure of our business- - How long have you been in this job?
es, the Accor hiring process is completely - How many years of experience do you have
decentralized, which means that the man- in a similar job?
agers in charge of hiring must consistently - Which skills and capabilities did you ac-
embrace our professional standards and quire during your previous job experience
methodological guidelines. These are applied that could be useful in this new position?
prior to recruitment and hiring, thereby en-
hancing efficiency while guaranteeing fair- * Except in some countries like Saudi Arabia, where local legisla-
tion requires us to apply certain criteria in hiring.
ness in compliance with prevailing legislation.
It is prohibited to hire or reject anyone on
the basis of non-professional criteria, such as
religion, age, gender, political opinions, ethnic
origin or union membership*.
18 I Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
REWARDING PERFORMANCE
Performance is driven by a sense of engage- A variety of inter-brand and inter-country
ment, for employees, and by alignment mobility gateways are helping to anchor our
around a shared objective, for teams. management innovation and globalization
In both cases, it is monetized according to the policy, while supporting employees in their
criteria for determining variable pay. career development with our resources, with
a focus on promoting from within and en-
Accor pledges to: couraging cross-border or local job transfers.
— Offer compensation that is competitive
in each market and country; Accor pledges to:
— Onboard new employees and train them
— Compensate employees fairly and incen-
to be ambassadors of the Group and its
tively to reward their personal and team
values;
performance.
— Offer training programs aligned with the
needs of the company, with an empha-
TRAINING AND CAREER SUPPORT sis on the hospitality skills and jobs of to-
Employee training is a key factor in ensuring morrow;
the delivery of superior service. — Give everyone a chance to take on new
More than just addressing these core busi- responsibilities and move up the social
ness challenges, Accor is committed to ladder thanks to his or her new capabil-
offering employees opportunities for career ities;
development and continuous skills enhance- — Nurture and develop everyone’s employ-
ment in order to improve everyone’s employ- ability.
ability.
OUR GUESTS
teria: limit the risk of a fire starting, limit Suitable management programs may be
the risk of fire and smoke spreading, ena- deployed in regions exposed to high security
ble the evacuation of all persons at risk and risks or specific criminal threats.
enable emergency services to respond These purpose-designed responses are built
quickly and efficiently; around targeted sensitivity training, security
—
Standards to prevent the development resources aligned with detected threats, and
and spread of legionella bacteria in our dedicated assistance during guest or employ-
hotels, with samples analyzed by certi- ee stays or when country managers request
fied laboratories; operational support in the event of the most
—
Policies to internally track food safety serious breaches.
and hygiene in all of our restaurants, with
inspections by certified companies.
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
Food and nutrition are major challenges for
SECURITY Accor. Today, nutrition is the focus of public
Security consists in preventing and respond- health campaigns to reduce the risks of can-
ing to malicious attacks on people and prop- cer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity
erty and fighting against hotel crime, which and other health problems.
could potentially threaten our guests, employ- Accor pledges to promote a balanced
ees and infrastructure. It is the shared respon- diet by:
sibility of the Group, the country organization
—
Developing resources and solutions to
and the hotels. Hotel security is a defining
create responsible menus, based on
component in our product and service solu-
balanced nutrition, organic products, etc;
tions, as well as one of the most important
expectations of our guests. — Providing customers with clear informa-
tion and enabling them to eat balanced
Accor pledges to make the security of dishes in our hotel restaurants.
guests and employees in its hotels, offices
and other facilities a top priority by:
— Constantly tracking and analyzing the RESPONSIBLE MARKETING
security situation in existing or potential AND ADVERTISING
host countries and cities; Responsible communication practices have
— Defining security recommendations to be built into advertising initiatives to en-
based on the installations, equipment, sure that the services, relationship and solu-
technologies and security procedures to be tions are transparently presented and that
implemented; guests are protected from misleading infor-
mation.
— Providing security resources and rec-
These practices cover all forms of communi-
ommendations aligned with the specific
cation to avoid any accusation of greenwash-
features of each hotel segment (economy,
ing*.
midscale, luxury);
* Communication that gives the perception that an organiza-
— Ensuring that hotel security incidents are tion is more environmentally responsible than it really is.
reported to the country headquarters and,
when the Group may be exposed to liability,
to corporate headquarters;
— Auditing hotel security measures and
providing advice and training to employ-
ees to continuously improve our protection
systems.
Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter I 21
Accor pays careful attention to instilling Any supplier that is unable to meet certain
its sustainable development commitments of these requirements must inform Accor so
across the entire supply chain, in particular that an agreement can be reached on the
through the Procurement Charter 21 that corrective and preventive measures to be
shares our employee relations, social respon- taken and the timetable for implementing
sibility and environmental commitments them. Failure to comply with any of the crite-
with suppliers. ria may result in the termination of business
Employees are expected to verify that dealings with the supplier in question.
suppliers have signed the Charter and that Accor buyers are expected to perform their
their subcontractors comply with the same duties in accordance with Accor commit-
standards. Suppliers also have to agree to ments to its stakeholders and in compliance
participate in the sustainable development with prevailing legislation and standards in
performance review and authorize Accor each host country, particularly as concerns
to conduct audits. competition rules.
22 I Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
THE ENVIRONMENT
3
Application
procedures
This Charter has been distributed to General Managers of owned or managed hotels and to
senior Group executives, who promote its values and commitments to their teams and carefully
track its application.
The Charter is also available on the various Group intranets, so that every employee may consult
it as needed.
Moreover it is sent to our franchisee and owner partners, so that they can embrace the values
that we demonstrate every day.
Lastly, it is released to the public on the accor.com website.
Employees may contract their manager for additional information or guidance about the
values and principles presented in this Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter.
If they have a question about a specific situation, they may speak to their direct manager
or contact the human resources or legal affairs department in their country.
28 I Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
4
Glossary
Behavior 2, 4, 5, 9
Biodiversity 25, 26
Bribery 4, 9, 10, 11
Gifts 11
Guest(s) 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 13, 15, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26
Harassment 4, 18
Health 18, 20
Hiring 17, 23
Human rights 5, 6, 7, 18, 22
Hygiene 19, 20
Information systems 13
Innovation 1, 3, 19
Insider trading 4, 12
Intellectual property 13, 14
Investor(s) 4, 15, 21
Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Charter
Lobbying 11
Natural resources 24
Nutrition 18, 20
Waste 25
Water 24, 25
Working conditions 18, 22
NOVEM B ER 2015