Communication on Progress

Participant
Published
  • 04-Oct-2018
Time period
  • October 2017  –  October 2018
Format
  • Stand alone document – Basic COP Template
Differentiation Level
  • This COP qualifies for the Global Compact Active level
Self-assessment
  • Includes a CEO statement of continued support for the UN Global Compact and its ten principles
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Human Rights
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Labour
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Environment
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Anti-Corruption
  • Includes a measurement of outcomes
 
  • Statement of continued support by the Chief Executive Officer
  • Statement of the company's chief executive (CEO or equivalent) expressing continued support for the Global Compact and renewing the company's ongoing commitment to the initiative and its principles.

  • 4/10/2018

    To our stakeholders:

    I am pleased to confirm that Brand ID Technologies East Africa Ltd reaffirms its support of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption.

    In our 2nd annual Communication on Progress, we describe our actions to continually improve the integration of the Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations. We also commit to share this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication.

    Sincerely yours,

    Allan Thomson
    Group Chief Executive Officer

Human Rights
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of human rights for the company (i.e. human rights risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on Human Rights.

  • No answer provided.
  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement Human Rights policies, address Human Rights risks and respond to Human Rights violations.

  • A brief description of our Processes or System
    The company has an able HR team which ensures that the rights of its employees and stakeholders are adhered to and none is violated. These policies are made clear to the employees through the company’s handbook.
    • We have 30 annual leave days per year to all employees to enable them to have ample rest as required and are approved by respective manager, up to 10 days compassionate leave for employees who are bereaved in their immediate family or other immediate family members’ matters. Also, our employees are entitled to sick leave with full pay on production of a certificate of incapacity to work signed by a duly qualified Medical Practitioner or a person acting on the Practitioner’s behalf from an acceptable Medical Centre.
    • Maternity/paternity leave: We also offer female employees (3) three months maternity leave with full pay in addition to their annual leave entitlement while male employees are entitled to two (2) weeks paternity leave
    • The employees have access to tea and safe drinking water. Those based in the field are paid a separate pantry allowance to enable them to buy good quality drinking water whilst undertaking field activities.
    • Similarly but unrelated, we host all our clients data with a reputable service provider – Amazon Web Services. We also use secure encryption mechanisms to ensure that client data is not breached so that individual and personal data is not revealed. We believe this is an important issue given that millions have suffered harm and risk due to poor data security measures.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • Measurement of outcomes
    We measure this indicator through the number of leave days with paid leave. In the past year, 1 male staff member has proceeded to paternity leave. Additionally, one staff member has also proceeded to 3 months of paid maternity leave.

    We have also had an internal ethical hacker interrogate our IT systems to ensure maximum protection of clients’ data and consumer related information through multiple layers of security;

    Sources of this information
    We presently keep manual records and are guided by our own HR manual. No data breaches and harmful hacking have been recorded for the past performance year.

Labour
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of labour rights for the company (i.e. labour rights-related risks and opportunities). Description of written policies, public commitments and company goals on labour rights.

  • No answer provided.
  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions taken by the company to implement labour policies, address labour risks and respond to labour violations.

  • A brief description of our Processes or System
    The company has an able HR team which ensures that the rights of its employees and stakeholders are adhered to and none

    • The Company does not treat an employee or job applicant less favorably for any reason relating to their disability, gender, race or tribe. We are an equal opportunity employer and aspire to grow based on these principles.
    • Brand ID Technologies East Africa Limited does not utilize or promote forced or child Labour of any kind. The company adheres strictly to country laws governing Labour standards; all our employees are over 18years.
    • Brand ID Technologies East Africa Limited aims to attract and retain skilled employees and enhance the life/work balance of each individual. The group offers its staff a range of benefits including a pension Scheme, health insurance as well as maternity and paternity leave amongst others.
    • Employees are frequently offered personal development and training programs designed to enhance their skills.
    • Brand ID Technologies East Africa Limited regards direct or in direct discrimination, victimization and harassment. All Breaches of this principle are regarded as a serious disciplinary matter and are subject To Company’s Disciplinary procedure outlined in the HR Manual.
    • We ensure that people living with HIV or AIDS are given the same rights, benefits and Opportunities as people living with other life – threatening conditions. We have thus put in place a HIV/AID Policy to ensure it is clear and observed.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • Measurement of outcomes
    Presently, 1 out of 4 Board of Directors is a lady and we also have 1 of 3 in management (the ICT Manager) is a lady. The other metrics are outlined in the bullet points above. We have offered numerous opportunities for paid-for training – both as organized by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers Academy and other external training - for our staff member (each staff member has attended at least 2 sessions of training)

    Sources of this information
    Internally, these records are also manually maintained and rules/procedures occur in our HR Manual. We have also grown by 1 more staff member in the last year – she is in charge of the admin and accounts function.

Environment
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of environmental protection for the company (i.e. environmental risks and opportunities). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on environmental protection.

  • No answer provided.
  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement environmental policies, address environmental risks and respond to environmental incidents.

  • Measurement of outcomes
    • Plastic bag ban:
    o We started of a pilot program through the use of technology to implement a take back mechanism for plastic bags for a client in the Agriculture sector packing seeds. This program lasted for 2 month before they moved on to finish their plastic bags stocks and begin packing in brown bags.
    • Tree planting:
    o Brand ID technologies has supported the national drive towards planting of trees in May 2018. Our staff planted about 100 seedlings.
    • Hosting:
    o A typical large-scale cloud provider achieves approximately 65% server utilization rates versus 15% on-premises, which means when companies move to the cloud, they typically provision fewer than ¼ of the servers than they would on-premises
    o In addition, a typical on-premises data center is 29% less efficient in their use of power compared to a typical large-scale cloud provider that uses world-class facility designs, cooling systems, and workload-optimized equipment.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates environmental performance.

  • Sources of this information
    Our IT systems database contains the unique identifiers which were allocated to about 100k bags which were marked and released to the market. The information on green energy hosting our IT systems is available on the Amazon webservices site. We also have admin records on the tree planting drive.

Anti-Corruption
  • Assessment, policy and goals
  • Description of the relevance of anti-corruption for the company (i.e. anti-corruption risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on anti-corruption.

  • A brief description of our Processes or Systems
    • We have clearly demarcated governance structures that all employees are aware of and that have the full backing of the management.
    • We have guidelines and policies on anti-corruption. Corruption remains an offence in Brand ID Technologies East Africa Limited and the offence is punishable by termination and prosecution. For example:
    o To maintain business and personal ethics, cumulative annual value of all gifts or entertainment an employee may receive from any one gift giver cannot exceed 5000/=. If it does, or for some reason they HAVE to accept it, they have to disclose this to the management.
    o Altogether, as a rule we encourage employees (and in some cases enforce) to decline gifts, entertainment, etc. from companies who are competitors or whom we are doing business with.
    • We also have a policy in place to curb any conflict of interest and to ensure that all tenders are analyzed and opened before a panel to ensure transparency and accountability.
    • Our products and services promote transparency and accountability to stamp out counterfeits and monies accruing out of illicit trade.
    • A proper remuneration plan is in place and will provide employees with the necessary and sufficient resources to match their needs. This way, there will be elimination of conflict of interests in the company’s operations.
    • Brand ID Technologies East Africa Limited has published its a code of ethics internally which, together with education and awareness, will enhance transparency among all staff hence averting any possible cases of corruption

  • Implementation
  • Description of concrete actions to implement anti-corruption policies, address anti-corruption risks and respond to incidents.

  • Activities we implemented in the last year:
    • We have continued to also engaged with more of our clients who are in manufacturing industry as well as the public sector providing our solution in Anti-counterfeit, brand protection as well as logistics.

  • Measurement of outcomes
  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates anti-corruption performance.

  • Measurement of outcomes
    • We have declined to pay facilitation payments in the last year – at great cost to our firm. In fact, where it has been demanded or implied, we have chosen not to do business.
    • We have been able to realize actionable data for our clients – that shows data evidence in trends in counterfeiting – by quantifying the problem, they can practically survey the market and tackle the problem using the help of enforcement agencies and measure success.
    • We have assisted once client to prosecute offenders who have been pirating their products in a court of law. We systematically assisted in collection of evidence through a Private Investigator upon which successful prosecution of the case could be done.

    Sources of this information
    This information can be verified independently from our existing clients.