Supply Chain Compliance
Responsibility for human rights and the environment
Merz takes its corporate responsibility for human rights and the environment very seriously. Our goal is to shape supply chains responsibly. We are convinced that responsibility for the protection of human rights and holistic environmental protection is an important factor for the long-term success of our company. Merz is therefore committed to respecting human rights and protecting the environment.
We attach great importance to mutual respect and trust, both in our dealings with each other and with our business partners. This is reflected in our Code of Conduct, which applies to all employees, and in the Third-Party Code of Conduct.
In order to fulfill our responsibility in the supply chain, we require our suppliers to accept the Third-Party Code of Conduct and to implement our principles in their own supply chain. Suppliers are not only expected to reject all forms of slavery, forced labor and child labor. Merz also expects them to respect the freedom of association and the right to form interest groups, to offer fair and appropriate remuneration and working hours in accordance with applicable law and to promote the qualification of their employees.
In our Declaration of Principles on Human Rights Strategy, we set out our key values and principles on human rights, the environment and sustainability. We also explain our approach to protecting human rights and the environment.
Our approach to protecting human rights and the environment
The identification of risks and potential impacts and the derivation of appropriate and effective measures are core elements of the implementation of human rights and environmental due diligence obligations.
As part of risk management, we make use of cross-functional cooperation. To this end, we have created appropriate responsibilities and structures in order to
- identify, weight and prioritize our human rights and environmental risks through regular and ad hoc analyses,
- address these risks with appropriate and effective preventive measures and, in the event of violations, with suitable remedial measures,
- integrate the measures into all relevant functions and operational processes, and
- regularly review the effectiveness of our preventive measures, our remedial measures and our complaints procedure.
In this way, we ensure that we respond appropriately and continuously to human rights and environmental risks.
You can access our complaints procedure at ethics.merz.com.
Merz offers all employees and all external third parties protected reporting channels to report violations of external and internal rules, including human rights or environmental risks as well as violations of human rights or environmental obligations resulting from the business activities of Merz, a direct or indirect supplier.
Merz offers a company-wide, transparent, public and accessible complaints procedure. Reports can be submitted at any time via this secure reporting channel in over 50 languages, both by telephone and online, and anonymously if desired. The system is technically managed by an independent operator. The content of the reports is processed exclusively by us. All reports are examined and treated impartially and fairly. The compliance professionals processing the respective reports are independent and are not bound by instructions when processing these reports.
All incoming reports of possible violations are dealt with in a binding company-wide procedure. The whistleblower receives confirmation of receipt of the report. The report may be discussed with the whistleblower. The confidentiality of the whistleblower’s identity is protected. The procedure is described in detail in the corresponding rules of procedure for the compliant mechanism.