Introduction
RapidRatings is committed to being a socially and ethically responsible employer and member of the corporate community in all jurisdictions in which we have offices. We give serious consideration to the impact our activities may have on our clients, our employees, our suppliers, and the local community in general.
This policy is not meant to cover all possible situations that may occur. It is designed to provide a set of guidelines against which to measure any activities. Employees should seek guidance when they are in doubt about the proper course of action in a given situation, as it is the ultimate responsibility of each employee to “do the right thing”, a responsibility that cannot be delegated.
Employees should always be guided by the following basic principles: 1) avoid any conduct that could damage or risk Rapid Ratings or its reputation; 2) act legally and honestly; 3) put RapidRatings’ interests ahead of personal or other interests.
Fair Employment Practices
When setting our corporate standards, we attach great importance to the significance of social and ethical issues. This is an area in which we differentiate and take pride in our approach. RapidRatings recognizes and respects regional and local legal differences in employment, privacy, and other applicable laws. RapidRatings follows all applicable laws in all jurisdictions in which we operate.
RapidRatings and all employees follow a Code of Conduct that has been set at internationally approved standards. The following core values are essential to RapidRatings and RapidRatings’ business:
- Integrity
- Resourcefulness
- Optimism
- Community
- Innovation
RapidRatings (i) observes all applicable laws and regulations governing wages and hours, recruitment and employment contracts; (ii) allows workers to choose freely whether to organize or join associations of their own choosing for the purpose of collective bargaining as provided by local law or regulation; (iii) prohibits discrimination, harassment and retaliation; (iv) does not utilize fraudulent or misleading recruitment practices; (v) does not hold or destroy a worker’s identity or immigration documents; and (vi) provides workers with terms and conditions of employment in a language the worker understands.
RapidRatings follows all applicable federal regulations regarding fair employment practices and equal opportunity requirements. This includes ensuring that no child labor is present in the RapidRatings supply chain and that no facilities or worksites are segregated.
RapidRatings complies with, and expects all suppliers and contractors to comply with, all applicable wage laws, including those regarding minimum wages, overtime hours, paid leave, and mandatory benefits. In the United States, RapidRatings follows all applicable provisions of 41 U.S.C Chapter 67, and the regulations of the Secretary of Labor (29 CFR Part 4).
Employees are treated fairly and equitably, and RapidRatings takes affirmative action to ensure that hiring and treatment of employees is done without regard to gender or gender identity, age, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, social class, political opinion, or national or ethnic origin.
Clients
We strive to provide high quality services and products, and to adapt quickly to our clients’ needs. We aim to act openly, fairly, independently and with integrity in our dealings with clients and their advisers. RapidRatings invests heavily within our product and service development team in order to satisfy our diverse client portfolio.
We ensure that our communications with clients are transparent, whilst we endeavor to provide products and services that meet the varied needs of our clients. Our commitment to accuracy and financial health transparency has earned us a reputation as a trusted partner among the world’s leading Fortune 500 companies and financial institutions – transparency is a core value, beginning with client communications and extending through all of our products and services.
Products & Services
We pride ourselves on our ability to innovate and design new services in response to market needs. RapidRatings sets the standard for financial health transparency between business partners, transforming the way the world’s leading companies manage enterprise and financial risk.
Health & Safety
At RapidRatings we pride ourselves in looking after our employees and use best efforts to ensure our employees have fair working arrangements. We believe that happy and healthy employees are the most productive. RapidRatings complies with all applicable environmental, health and safety (EHS) laws and regulations and provides workers a safe and healthy workplace. As part of our employee wellbeing programming, we provide the following benefits:
- Work from home arrangements
- Flexible working hours
- Health Insurance, including wellbeing programs
- Safe and secure work environment
- Training and development opportunities
Human Rights
RapidRatings respects the human rights of our employees and others in our business operations. RapidRatings does not employ workers younger than sixteen (16) years of age or below the applicable minimum age, whichever is higher. RapidRatings does not use forced, prison or indentured labor, or workers subject to any form of physical, sexual or psychological compulsion, exploitation or coercion, and does not engage in or abet trafficking in persons. We support the principles contained within the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labor Organization’s Core Conventions on Labor Standards.
Combating Trafficking in Persons
RapidRatings is committed to the zero-tolerance policies adopted by the U.S. and other governments to combat slavery or the trafficking of persons for any purpose. RapidRatings prohibits trafficking-related activities and we expect our suppliers and contractors to uphold these important principles as well. Any violations of these principles by a supplier or contractor will result in termination of contracts or employment, as applicable.
Suppliers
We prefer dealing with local suppliers and advertising in local publications to support the economies in which we operate. In some jurisdictions we are a major contributor, both in terms of taxes and purchasing power. As well as providing employment, we strive to increase the general prosperity of the areas in which we operate – which benefits the whole community.
Our reputation is very important to us and to help protect this, we won’t knowingly do business with any organization that doesn’t share our commitment to dealing with stakeholders fairly and ethically. Our approach to procurement is based on the principles of competitive tendering and dealing with suppliers in a fair and open manner.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are business imperatives at RapidRatings. On a continuous basis we are committed to spending, directly and indirectly, in goods and services with diverse suppliers – minority, women, veteran, service-disabled veteran, LGBT, and disability owned businesses.
We are committed to promoting and including diverse businesses in our supply chain and believe that diverse businesses provide us with the greatest opportunity to offer innovative, high quality, and cost-effective business solutions for our clients.
RapidRatings complies with all applicable United States Export Administration Regulations and requires all suppliers or contractors to comply with all applicable laws and regulations as well. Nothing in a RapidRatings contract adds, changes, supersedes, or waives any of the requirements of applicable laws, executive orders, and regulations.
The Environment
At RapidRatings we endeavor to maintain paperless offices. This helps reduce unnecessary printing of documents and aligns with our data protection and confidentiality priorities.
Additionally, we are committed to reducing waste, and we support local and office recycling initiatives.
Anti-Bribery & Corruption
RapidRatings is committed to maintaining the highest levels of legal and ethical standards, and to operating in an honest and transparent way, without bribery or corruption being used to obtain any unfair advantage. RapidRatings trains all its employees on its anti-bribery and corruption policy to ensure the expectations of high legal and ethical standards are known throughout the organization.
RapidRatings maintains and enforces policies requiring adherence to lawful business practices, including (i) prohibitions against bribery of government officials, (ii) offers to provide, directly or indirectly, anything of value, including cash, bribes, gifts, entertainment or kickbacks, including offers of employment, or participation in a contest, game or promotion, to any government official in connection with transaction or business dealing. RapidRatings does not engage in any collusive conduct with any third party.
Commitment to Diversity
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical aspects of RapidRatings' commitment to our culture. Our mission is to foster an environment where employees feel recognized for their contributions, appreciated for their individuality, and challenged to do their best. We know that bringing together employees with different perspectives and experiences sparks innovation, promotes better decision making, and yields the creative problem solving that’s critical to our long-term success. In short, the diversity of our workforce makes us a stronger company.
Combating Insider Trading
RapidRatings has adopted securities law compliance policies applicable to all employees and Board members. Pursuant to these policies, employees and Board members are prohibited from buying and selling securities while in possession of material, nonpublic information about the issuer of that security, whether the issuer is RapidRatings or another company.
Passing such information on to someone who may buy or sell securities, commonly known as “tipping”, is also prohibited. Our securities law compliance policies also provide that employees and senior management must pre-clear certain transactions by reaching out to authorized representatives of the Legal Department of RapidRatings. In addition, all employees of RapidRatings are subject to regular quarterly blackout periods during which they may not purchase or sell securities.
RapidRatings takes the issue of insider trading seriously and has followed U.S. and EU legal expertise to structure our insider trading policy to an industry-leading standard.
Data Protection & Confidentiality
As part of RapidRatings commitment to its internal and external stakeholders we take data protection and confidentiality seriously. RapidRatings has certified to the ISO 27001 and SOC2 Type 2 standards to show our commitment to data protection and confidentiality. All RapidRatings employees are required to complete our carefully drafted data protection and confidentiality training. As with all our trainings, we require 100% compliance to this course.
Additionally, RapidRatings values objective and reputable views from subject matter experts in the area of data protection and confidentiality. On a semi-annual basis we obtain outside expert views on our data protection and confidentiality policies and procedures to ensure we are aligned to industry best practices
RapidRatings encourages everyone to review our Privacy Policy, which is located at rapidratings.com/privacy-policy.
RapidRatings respects the intellectual and other property rights of third parties, including all patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
Protecting Whistleblowers
RapidRatings is committed to maintaining the highest standards of honesty, transparency, and accountability and this is why we operate “An Open-Door Policy” for all our employees. While not all countries have laws in place to legally protect employees who disclosure corporate wrongdoing, RapidRatings has taken a stance to protect any and all individuals when it comes to disclosing corporate wrongdoings.
We appreciate that employees may be the first to know when someone inside or connected with an organization is doing something illegal, dishonest or improper, but may feel apprehensive about voicing their concerns. RapidRatings does not believe that it is in anyone’s interests for employees with knowledge of wrongdoing to remain silent. We have a detailed whistleblowing policy and procedure by which employees can report their concerns, and be sure they are protected from an adverse reaction to their disclosure. The whistleblowing policy is also intended to act as a deterrent to fraud or other corruption or serious malpractice.
Working with our Community and Stakeholders
Our employees drive our social agenda, which is focused on creating positive impacts in the local communities in which we work. We support employees’ efforts by providing time and support for internal and external fundraising activities, as well as funding for charitable, cultural, and social events. RapidRatings also contributes directly to a number of community-based organizations and charities, providing both sponsorships and volunteers. Our offices have undertaken several group volunteer outings, and are always on the lookout for worthwhile causes that could use our group efforts!
RapidRatings has implemented a Volunteer Time Off (VTO) Policy – encouraging employees to take three paid working days per year to volunteer in their communities. We believe paid volunteer time acknowledges not only the value RapidRatings places on volunteer efforts, but also that charitable and community efforts do not need to be limited to evenings and weekends. In addition to providing three days of VTO, RapidRatings further encourages employees to be involved in the community by supporting monetary contributions as well. Through our Donation Match Program employees can receive up to a $200/€200 match in donation contributions per year.
At RapidRatings, we strive to leverage our company’s unique assets for social good. From philanthropy to employee volunteerism, to the use of our technology, we are always working to embody our mission of creating a world where transparency and fairness is at the forefront. RapidRatings empowers employees to volunteer in their local communities.
Policy Review
This Policy will be reviewed and updated annually as appropriate.
Last Updated: September 5, 2023
