Valid from July 2026
About this Code
The Unite Code of Conduct outlines the minimum requirements for responsible business conduct towards people, society and the environment and forms the basis for collaboration with our business partners. We are committed to these principles and can only develop long-standing partnerships with companies that equally uphold them.
This Code of Conduct applies to all business partners of Unite globally, regardless of the jurisdiction in which they operate. Where local law imposes stricter requirements than those set out herein, the stricter standard shall prevail.
Our shared principles
A People
Our employees are front and centre in our company. We observe the legal requirements and safeguard the core labour standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the principles laid out in the International Bill of Human Rights. In addition, we have our own requirements to ensure that we uphold the principles set out below to high standards. We expect the same commitment from you, as our business partner.
1 Labour rights
We actively stand up for the personal dignity of our employees, their right to live as they choose and their privacy.
As our business partner, you must not employ anyone against their will or force them to work under physical or mental duress. We also demand that you compensate them fairly.
You must:
Comply with the labour and social standards of the ILO and the principles laid out in the International Bill of Human Rights;
Pay at least the applicable statutory minimum wage in every jurisdiction in which you operate and do not exceed statutory maximum working hours;
Respect employees’ rights to freedom of association, collective bargaining, and the establishment of representative bodies, without disadvantaging those who exercise these rights.
2 Employment opportunity and equal treatment
We offer our employees a fair working environment. Furthermore, we extensively support and promote our employees by considering their long-term goals and finding ways to help them achieve them.
Similarly, you must guarantee your employees equal opportunities and protect them against discrimination including but not limited to: skin color, nationality, ethnic or social origin, physical or mental disability, sexual identity and orientation, political or religious conviction, age, gender, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
3 Protection from harassment and abuse
We respect the dignity of our employees and do not tolerate any inappropriate behavior, including coercion, whether sexual, threatening or exploitative, or any other conduct that would make a staff member feel uncomfortable. You must maintain a workplace free from any form of harassment and abuse and apply a zero-tolerance policy towards such conduct.
4 Health and safety
We offer our employees a safe and healthy working environment and champion their wellbeing.
You are obliged to safeguard the physical and mental integrity of your employees and ensure their health and safety. Therefore, you must:
Identify and contain risks and establish the best possible occupational health and safety precautions to prevent accidents and occupational diseases;
Carry out regular health and safety training;
Comply with all applicable health and safety legislation in every jurisdiction in which you operate.
5 Children and adolescents
We reject any form of child labour and forced labour. As our business partner, you must:
Prevent any direct or indirect form of exploitation of children and adolescents;
Not employ people below the minimum working age established by applicable law or the relevant ILO conventions, whichever provides greater protection, and in no case under the age of 18 for hazardous work;
Not use forced, compulsory, bonded, trafficked or otherwise involuntary labour in any part of your operations or supply chain;
Take reasonable steps to ensure that your supply chain is free from slavery and human trafficking and cooperate with any due diligence processes we may conduct in this regard;
Produce and publish, where required by applicable law, an annual transparency statement on actions taken to address modern slavery risks.
The above minimum age requirements do not apply to supervised school traineeships, internships or similar educational programs, provided these comply with applicable national laws and regulations and do not harm the physical or psychological development of the young person.
The education of children and adolescents must always take precedence over employment.
B Environmental protection
At Unite, we are aware of our impact on the environment and take responsibility for it. We strive to make a valuable contribution to environmental protection by establishing an environmental management system. Our platform provides the infrastructure for smart, local networking, enabling us to make procurement and purchasing more efficient and reduce carbon emissions.
We must all collaborate throughout the value chain and mutually demand compliance with specific minimum standards to protect the environment. As our business partner, you must:
Take appropriate measures to identify, monitor and reduce your environmental impact, including with respect to water, air, land, flora and fauna;
Comply with all applicable environmental legislation in every jurisdiction in which you operate;
Take utmost care when handling chemical and other toxic materials and substances, dealing with sewage and waste, emitting waste gases and other air pollutants, and consuming water and energy;
Be prepared, upon request, to share information about your environmental performance and carbon reduction activities.
As part of our shared commitment to sustainability, we invite you to measure, monitor and, where possible, reduce your carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions across your operations.
C Professional integrity
We expect business partners to treat each other fairly as equal partners. And we don’t believe that this merits additional reward. Therefore, we do not tolerate any direct or indirect forms of bribery, extortion, corruption or fraud.
1 Anti-Bribery and Corruption
We operate a zero-tolerance policy towards bribery, corruption, extortion and fraud in all its forms. You must:
Never offer, promise, give, request, solicit or accept any financial or other advantage – directly or indirectly – intended to induce or reward improper performance of any function or activity;
Comply with all applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws in every jurisdiction in which you operate, including laws that prohibit the bribery of foreign public officials;
Have in place adequate procedures designed to prevent people associated with your organization from engaging in bribery or corrupt conduct on your behalf. Upon request, you must be able to demonstrate the existence and effectiveness of such procedures;
Ensure that your employees, agents, intermediaries and subcontractors are aware of and comply with these obligations;
Refrain from making facilitation payments of any kind.
2 Fraud and Financial Crime
You must not engage in any form of fraud, money laundering or financial misrepresentation. You must maintain accurate books and records, comply with all applicable anti-money laundering legislation, and cooperate fully with any investigation into suspected financial crime.
3 Conflicts of Interest
You must ensure that personal dependencies, obligations or influences are precluded from your commercial dealings with Unite and our customers. You must disclose to Unite without delay any actual or potential conflict of interest that could affect your business relationship with us and ensure that your employees do the same.
4 Tax Compliance
You must comply with all applicable tax laws and regulations in every jurisdiction in which you operate. You must not engage in aggressive tax avoidance arrangements that are contrary to the spirit of the law or that could bring Unite into reputational disrepute.
D Additional rules of conduct for suppliers
Our business model is based on collaboration with suppliers who have joined the Unite Network and/or the Unite trading platform to sell goods and/or services. As a supplier you must:
Make reasonable efforts to ensure the effectiveness of all the principles outlined in this Code of Conduct throughout your own operations;
Ensure that these principles are communicated and upheld by all your business partners along the supply chain;
Introduce suitable control mechanisms to monitor compliance with these behavioral requirements within your own operations and, where required by applicable law, along your supply chain;
Cooperate with Unite’s vendor onboarding and due diligence processes, including any checks required to verify your legal and regulatory standing;
Promptly notify Unite if you become aware of any circumstance that would affect your eligibility to do business with Unite or with any of our customers.
Compliance with this Code of Conduct
A General
The principles outlined in this Code of Conduct may not be circumvented or waived by contractual or comparable measures.
B Selection of business partners
We carefully select our business partners to ensure that we abide by the rules, principles and ideas outlined above. You, therefore, must also make sure that your contractual partners uphold them.
C Legal compliance
You must always comply with all relevant legal provisions, not just those mentioned in this Code of Conduct. In addition, the laws and guidelines that impose the strictest standards on conduct must always be observed.
D Our right to audit
You agree to work with us to ensure that this Code of Conduct is upheld. We may conduct periodic audits, in the form of questionnaires or one-on-one interviews to verify your compliance, and request that you provide further evidence where required. You must agree to support us during this auditing process.
E Violations of this Code of Conduct
The culpable violation of this Code of Conduct by you constitutes good cause for us to terminate our contractual relationship without notice. We reserve the right to allow you to remedy the violation. To end the violation and eliminate its consequences, we may set a deadline for you to remedy the situation. In which case, you bear the corresponding burden of proof.
F Whistleblowing
You must undertake to report any breaches of this Code of Conduct without delay. This applies in particular to the risk of loss or damage to our company due to this violation. Your responsibility to report any such breaches extends to all your business relationships along the supply chain.
You can report violations anonymously at https://report.hintcatcher.com/unite
To ensure compliance with the Code of Conduct, you must provide your employees with a Code of Conduct with comparable content and, where applicable whistleblower protection laws or regulations so require, introduce a suitable complaints system to report violations.
Last updated 07/2026