1. Purpose and Scope
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PURPOSE – Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person’s liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.

At Optec, we have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to implement and enforce effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or our supply chain.

SCOPE – This statement covers the entire operations of the entire organisation.

2. Our Commitment
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Optec are committed to ensuring that we, our suppliers, customers and contractors comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and have put strict measures in place to ensure that no slavery is part of any of our business operations that includes our supply chains, goods and services. This applies to all persons working for us or on our behalf in any capacity, including employees at all levels, directors, officers, agency workers, volunteers, agents, contractors, external consultants, third-party representatives and business partners.

We are committed to creating and ensuring a non-discriminatory and respectful working environment for our staff and want all staff to feel confident that they can expose wrongdoing without any risk to themselves.

Due Diligence
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As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk:

Where possible we build long-standing relationships with manufacturers, suppliers and customers and make clear our expectations of business behaviour.
We expect each entity in our supply chains to have suitable anti-slavery and human trafficking policies and processes, and we conduct third party due diligence in accordance with our procedures.
We have in place robust systems to encourage the reporting of concerns and the protection of “whistle-blowers”.
Engaging in practices contributing to slavery, human trafficking or forced or compulsory labour are not tolerated. Any Optec employee who engages in conduct that results in a violation of applicable laws is subject to discipline, up to and including termination of employment. Similarly, consultants, agents or third-party service providers that provide services to or on behalf of Optec should expect to have their contracts terminated if they violate anti-slavery laws.
If a supplier is found to have committed the above, Optec will cease trading with them immediately and will report them to the relevant authorities, which could include, HMRC, Health and Safety Executive, Modern Slavery Helpline, the Police and the Home Office.

Optec use the following key performance indicators to measure how effective we have been in working to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of our business or supply chain:

Use of payroll and HR management systems to ensure that all employees are registered and paid fairly for the work they do.
The building of relationships/partnerships with vendors, distributors and customers and their understanding of, and compliance with, applicable laws and Optec’s expectations.
Monitoring trainings, and the corresponding increase in employees’ awareness of risk.

Responsibility
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The Managing Director has overall responsibility for ensuring this policy complies with our legal and ethical obligations, and that all those under our control comply with it.

The Senior Management Team have primary and day-to-day responsibility for implementing this policy, monitoring its use and effectiveness, dealing with any queries about it, and auditing internal control systems and procedures to ensure they are effective in countering modern slavery.

Management at all levels are responsible for ensuring those reporting to them understand and comply with this policy and are given any required training.

3. Enforcement and Violations
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ENFORCEMENT – All divisions & employees of the organisation must comply with the requirements of this statement. Management are responsible for ensuring that the statement is implemented within its area of responsibility.

Optec Services Ltd expects all users to comply with the terms of this statement and all other policies, procedures, guidelines and standards published in its support.

VIOLATIONS – Violations of this statement shall result in disciplinary action / legal ramifications by the organisation. Disciplinary action will be consistent with the severity of the incident as determined by an investigation and as deemed appropriate by Management and HR.

Compliance with this statement will be reviewed by the organisation’s Internal Audit Team.

Our Sustainability Policy covers our office operations, consulting and management activities, travel, and relationships with staff, suppliers and service providers. Our goal is to align with the wider IT industry drive towards halving carbon emissions by 2030 and meeting net zero by 2050, in order to meet the international goal of limiting climate change to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. We are also committed to reducing any negative impacts we have on nature. 

This policy is embedded in our values of personal responsibility and honesty. We aim to grow responsibly, ensuring we use resources efficiently and manage risks, by factoring environmental considerations into our decision-making at every level.

Responsibility

Optec’s Directors, Stuart Harper and David Golding, are responsible for overseeing our sustainability strategy and ensuring it is implemented. 

Reducing Direct Carbon Emissions 

We will reduce the environmental impact of our day-to-day office operations by:

• Requesting that our building management switches to and maintains a renewable energy tariff for electricity supply and considers how to transition from gas heating systems.
• Minimising energy use by turning off equipment when not in use.
• Working with building management to ensure any future office space upgrades prioritise  energy efficiency measures such as LED lighting and insulation.
• Continuing to choose electric options for the company vehicles where practical.

Reducing Indirect Carbon Emissions 

Our monitoring and management activities are where most of our emissions occur, and we are actively implementing the following measures to reduce them:

Power

• Requesting energy-efficient equipment, reusable batteries and LED lighting from our suppliers 
• Prioritising using the grid to power our equipment

Travel and Transport

• Considering the carbon emissions impact when reviewing locations (travel/transport requirements and availability of sustainable travel/transport options like electric vehicles).
• Prioritising, where possible, trains over air travel, especially within the UK and Europe.

Reducing Your Waste

We actively aim to reduce our waste by:

• Applying the principle of reduce first, repair and reuse second, recycle third – for example reusing and renting materials where possible – to avoid creating waste 
• When we do buy, avoiding single-use plastics and disposable items wherever possible
• Using digital mediums where possible to reduce paper use
• Implementing clear waste separation and recycling protocols on set and in the office for unavoidable waste 

Engagement 

To ensure our staff understand our commitments and the role they play in helping to deliver them we will:

• Publish our sustainability commitments on our website and circulate our policy 
• Ensure our internal processes flag and facilitate low carbon choices
• Require end of production sustainability debriefs to share learnings across our company

Measuring and Monitoring

• We will review carbon emissions of previous years to ensure our current year delivers lower carbon emissions where possible 
• We commit to upskilling as a company using resources to work towards a company level footprint and targets 
• We will review this policy every 12 months