Code of Conduct

M+R is committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. This includes, but is not limited to, sexual harassment, intimidation, bullying, and disrespectful comments. All employees have a legal right to a workplace free from discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability, and all other legal status or characteristics protected by federal, state, or local law. 

M+R does not tolerate any action that violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for employees, clients, and/or vendors. M+R prohibits discrimination and harassment regardless of whether or not it is severe or pervasive. This policy applies to all persons working for us or on our behalf in any capacity, including employees at all levels, clients, contractors, external consultants, suppliers, business partners, and third-party representatives. It applies whenever you or your staff are in the M+R workplace, interacting with M+R employees, or acting on behalf of M+R, during or outside of working hours, regardless of location, every day of the year.

All M+R employees are required to work in a manner that prevents discrimination and harassment, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment, intimidation, bullying, and disrespectful comments. M+R expects the same high standards from all of our clients, contractors, external consultants, suppliers, business partners, and all third parties working with or for M+R, including taking measures to provide a safe and healthy working environment that protects your employees from discrimination and harassment at work.

The Commitment We Expect From You

When you work with us, our expectation is that you abide by this Code of Conduct. A violation of this Code of Conduct may result in termination of any agreement with M+R. Further instructions for reporting and definitions of terms can be found below.

Reporting Harassment and Discrimination

1. All incidents of alleged discrimination or discriminatory harassment must be reported. You must ensure that your staff members and those working with M+R under your supervision are fully aware of this policy and encourage them to report incidents of harassment, intimidation, or bullying involving M+R staff or representatives, or your organization’s employees or representatives that arise during performance of the terms of this Agreement.
2. The only way that we can put an end to harassment, intimidation, or bullying is to first become aware of it. Thus, we encourage you to immediately report to your primary contact at M+R any knowledge of harassment, intimidation or bullying occurring in M+R, or in your organization or sub-contractor in relation to your business partnership with M+R. It is at the discretion of the alleged grieved party to decide whether or not to participate in a pursuant investigation. 
3. When a complaint of discrimination or harassment is made as specified above, M+R Human Resources—or another designated, objective, investigator—will undertake a prompt and thorough investigation. If a violation of this policy is found to have occurred, M+R will take prompt and effective corrective action as may be appropriate under all circumstances. The steps to be taken during the investigation cannot be fixed in advance but will vary depending upon the nature of the allegations. 
4. Confidentiality will be maintained throughout the investigatory process to the extent practical and consistent with M+R’s need to undertake a full investigation. M+R prohibits any form of retaliation against employees, clients, contractors, external consultants, suppliers, business partners, or third-party representatives for filing a bona fide complaint under this policy or for assisting in a complaint investigation. 
5. In the event that your primary contact with M+R is in some way involved in the harassment, or if you are otherwise uncomfortable making that report to your business partnership, you should report to Jess McGregor, Director of Human Resources (jmcgregor@mrss.com) or email hr@mrss.com. Failure to report will be treated as serious and may result in termination of any agreement with M+R. 
6. When you or any staff working for M+R under your control become aware of a harassment, intimidation or bullying concern in relation to work for M+R, you are obliged to:

• Act quickly and immediately report knowledge of any harassment, intimidation, or bullying concern or incident to a relevant contact at M+R.
• Keep any information confidential between you and the person you report this to.

7.  You will cooperate with M+R in any investigations of concerns reported under this Agreement, and keep M+R promptly updated on any concerns reported under this Agreement, including but not limited to actions taken by you in response. Please be aware that M+R will maintain confidentiality to the fullest extent consistent with a thorough and fair investigation.

Definitions of Terms

Term	Definition
Harassment	Unwanted conduct, whether verbal, physical or visual, which is related to a person’s gender, race, age, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex, disability, marital status, domestic violence victim status, gender identity, criminal history, genetic information, alienage or citizenship status, partnership status, pregnancy, arrest or conviction record, caregiver status, credit history, unemployment status, salary history, and any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state or local law with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Such conduct may take place on a single occasion or on several occasions.
Sexual Harassment	Unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, which has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Such conduct may take place on a single occasion or on several occasions. Sexual Harassment may take the form of unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct directed at a person or group of persons, which may include – but is not limited to – the following: – unwanted physical contact, ranging from touching to sexual assault and rape; – conduct of a sexual nature that is linked to hiring, firing, promotion, training or compensation in any form in exchange for sexual favors. – verbal forms of sexual harassment including unwelcome sexual innuendoes, suggestions and hints, sexual advances, comments with sexual overtones, sex-related jokes or insults, comments about a person’s body or enquiries about a person’s sex life or sexual orientation; – non-verbal forms of sexual harassment including unwelcome gestures, whistling, indecent exposure or the unwelcome display of sexually explicit pictures or objects; – unwanted messages of a sexual nature that are sent via email, SMS, skype, voice messages and other electronic means, whether using company IT/devices or personal mobiles/equipment;  – comments on appearance, body, or personal life; or – sending, viewing, downloading, printing, or displaying inappropriate jokes, photos, or videos, or other materials.
Intimidation	Unreasonable use of status or authority to require or coerce an individual to perform an action or task, which the individual knows to be inappropriate and/or disrespectful, illegal, or in direct conflict with M+R policy or procedure.
Bullying	Any repeated offensive, abusive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behavior which: (i) makes the recipient feel upset, threatened, humiliated or vulnerable or undermines their self-confidence or causes them to suffer stress or feel upset; and (ii) a reasonable observer would identify as amounting to bullying behavior.
Discriminatory and Disrespectful Behavior	Other forms of harassment that may relate to a person’s gender, race, age, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex, disability, marital status, domestic violence victim status, gender identity, criminal history, genetic information, alienage or citizenship status, partnership status, pregnancy, arrest or conviction record, caregiver status, credit history, unemployment status, and salary history and may involve bullying or intimidation or both.
Corrective Action	– At M+R, we have a strong commitment to having a safe work environment and will take corrective action to address all forms of harassment and discrimination, abuse and mistreatment, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment, intimidation, bullying, and disrespectful comments.  – This means that every single concern is fully responded to and where necessary prompt action (including conducting an investigation and taking disciplinary action, if applicable) is taken.  – It means that we will hold our people to account against the same standards and subject them to the same processes, as everyone else regardless of their position or reputation within the organization.