At Pitney Bowes, integrity matters.

Values and Ethics

Our values define us. We have high ethical standards, and we educate our employees in a variety of subjects to provide them with the awareness and tools they need to succeed in an ethical and legally compliant way and to support their ability to put values into action. Helping employees to know what is expected of them is part of the equation, but it is also critical that employees have the courage to do the right thing. Senior management is responsible for modelling expected behaviours and is committed to supporting a culture of integrity. Our approach to corporate responsibility is grounded in these shared expectations and values which have been a strength of our company for generations. The words have evolved over time, but the practices, sentiment and meaning have remained consistent.

Risk and Business Continuity

We have a responsibility to our people and our clients to ensure that disruption of services will be minimised during times of crisis. To this end we have two multi-disciplinary teams in place. The Crisis Management Team (CMT) immediately gathers facts, assesses the impact of an event on the employees and the business, and provides immediate triage leadership and assistance for the protection of our people, operations and property. The Business Continuity Team works closely with the CMT to mitigate risks for employees and the business, and to ensure that the business will continue to function with minimal if any interruption.

Code of Conduct

The Pitney Bowes Business Practices Guidelines (BPGs) is our code of conduct. It provides an overview of policies, laws and expectations of conduct for all employees globally. While legally compliant behaviours are the minimum expectation, employees are expected to ensure that all their conduct is based on the highest ethical standards. Our reputation and success depend in large part on how we treat each other, our clients, our business partners and our communities where we’re based. Laws and policies change, but one thing that doesn’t change is our commitment to “do the right thing, the right way”. The code is presented in culturally appropriate versions as well as 11 languages and dialects.

Training

Employees have a right to know and understand what is expected of them. We inform them through annual education and training initiatives, as well as customised training, both on-site and online. Our goal is to provide training on a three-year cycle. Employees receive foundational or comprehensive training in the first cycle year in those significant compliance topics applicable to all employees. In the second year, employees review highlights of the in-depth courses given the previous year. In the third year, we offer refresher awareness communications to remind employees of the essential elements of the foundational courses. New employees receive introductory compliance training related to their jobs, and are then enrolled the following year in the foundational courses given to the general employee population. This cyclical approach helps employees to keep thinking about key requirements on a regular basis. Our annual training material is available in English, French/Canadian French, German, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese.

In addition to our standard courses, we offer a variety of awareness initiatives and video vignettes. Our “Setting the Right Tone (Tone at the Middle)” programme assists our middle managers to create their own compliance messages for their employees. And for employees who do not have access to computers, managers provide monthly huddle training on topics covered in our Business Practices Guidelines.

Advice and Reporting Channels

We encourage employees to seek advice in dealing with ethical dilemmas and to report any suspected or actual wrongdoing. Our Ethics Help Line is operated by a third-party administrator 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Employees may call in to the line to report their concerns (anonymously, if permitted by local law) in any of 140 languages. Employees may also contact the Global Ethics and Compliance Department in person or through web page reporting, hard copy post, telephone or confidential email delivered directly to the Global Ethics and Compliance office. All claims of potential violations of law or policy are reviewed promptly, and where appropriate, an investigation commences immediately or on the next business day. If the investigation supports the allegations, we take appropriate and consistent disciplinary action.

Metrics

We constantly monitor the performance of our ethics and compliance programme to improve its effectiveness. In 2015 we launched an initiative to develop a more comprehensive tool for case reporting. This tool not only reports on specific case trends, but also the impact of education on those trends.