Procurement Policy

At My Doctor Shop Ltd, we prioritize social and environmental factors alongside financial considerations when making purchasing decisions and commissioning services. Our procurement process aims to consider the whole life cost, as well as the associated risks and implications for society and the environment. We believe that sustainable economic development and resource minimization can be achieved by ensuring that the goods and services we procure have optimal environmental performance. Furthermore, we recognize the role of procurement in minimizing the risk of social exploitation within the supply chain, contributing to improved living and working standards globally. This policy outlines our commitment to sustainable and ethical procurement practices, emphasizing fair and honest dealings with our suppliers and fostering respect for ethical standards.

Sustainable Procurement:

• - Aim for continuous improvement in procurement decisions by prioritizing sustainable and ethical trading.
• - Avoid adverse social and environmental impacts in the supply chain.
• - Reduce environmental impact from service operations and purchase products that meet recognized environmental standards.

- Ensure that individuals in the supply chain are treated with respect and enjoy employment rights, including the freedom to choose employment, freedom of association, fair wages, compliance with working hour regulations, equal opportunities, recognized employment relationships, freedom from intimidation, and a safe and healthy working environment.

Sustainable Procurement Standard:

• - Seek out organizations that share our commitment to sound environmental performance and improvement, offering assistance to suppliers to enhance their environmental awareness.
• - Incorporate sustainability requirements in tender documentation to ensure early awareness among suppliers and contractors
• - Recognize the importance of small firms, voluntary and community organizations, social enterprises, and ethnic minority businesses as members of our supply chain, contributing to the local economy and social cohesion.
• - Purchase goods with minimal environmental impact, considering factors such as sustainability of resource production, transportation, energy/raw material consumption throughout the product lifecycle, and waste production/recycling capabilities.
• - Minimize consumption and waste by identifying and eliminating wasteful practices within our operations and influencing those within our sphere of influence.
• Promote the recycling and environmentally sound disposal of goods at the end of their lifecycle.
• - Purchase products and services that meet minimum environmental standards.
• - Develop and support awareness programs to embed sustainable methodologies in identifying needs, appraising options, design and specification, supplier selection, tender evaluation, contract management, and supplier development.

• - Utilize our purchasing power to influence and encourage suppliers toward environmentally and ethically produced products and services.
• - Incorporate environmental and social factors in the purchasing process, considering factors such as the product's composition, durability, production location, efficiency during use, production and distribution processes, disposal requirements, and potential for reuse or recycling.
• - Integrate sustainability into the procurement cycle, covering needs identification, options appraisal, design and specification, supplier selection, tender evaluation, contract management, and supplier development.
• - Provide training programs to embed sustainable development concepts into purchasing functions.

• - Establish key performance indicators for sustainable procurement and monitor the supply chain's performance against them.
• - Consider environmental laws and international obligations related to climate change, sustainable development, and other relevant aspects of environmental protection.
• - Support national policies and legislation that aim to reduce CO2 emissions, ban ozone-depleting substances, and protect biodiversity.

• - Require suppliers to comply with legal requirements and adopt the following moral principles

• - Comply with national and applicable laws and regulations, applying the highest standards consistent with national law when in conflict.
• - Apply the provision that affords the greatest protection to people and the environment when national law and this Standard address the same subject.

• - Prohibit forced, bonded, or involuntary prison labor
• - Respect the right of employees to join or form trade unions and engage in collective bargaining, without discrimination.
• - Take measures to eliminate child labor and provide support for the transition of any child found performing child labor to access quality education.
• - Comply with wage regulations, ensuring wages meet or exceed legal standards, provide basic needs, and are not paid in kind.
• - Comply with working hour regulations, providing employees with appropriate rest periods, limiting regular work hours to 48 per week, and ensuring voluntary overtime.

• - Maintain a policy of equality, ensuring no discrimination based on race, caste, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, union membership, or political affiliation.

• - Establish recognized employment relationships through national law and practice, avoiding the abuse of labor-only contracting, sub-contracting, or home-working arrangements.
• - Comply with obligations under labor and social security laws, including those related to labor relationships, to avoid circumvention.

• - Prohibit physical abuse, discipline, threats, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, and other forms of intimidation.

• - Provide a safe and healthy working environment based on international standards, industry knowledge, and hazard prevention.
• - Take adequate measures to prevent accidents, minimize hazards, and provide health and safety training.
• - Provide welfare facilities, including toilets, drinking water, food storage (where required), and clean, safe accommodation if provided.

• - Implement an effective environmental policy, commit to continual improvement, and comply with environmental legislation and regulations.
• - Conform to local regulations on waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and safe disposal of hazardous materials.
• Identify and mitigate risks of adverse environmental impact associated with operations.
• - Assign responsibility for environmental compliance and provide adequate training.

Principle 1: Working Together:

• - Collaborate with suppliers, encourage improvement, and welcome their identification of areas for enhancement.
• - Consider an alternative ethical trading standard if suppliers are already working towards sustainability.

Principle 2: Making a Difference:

• - Apply an environmental and social risk-based approach, focusing resources on high-risk areas within the supply chain.
• - Encourage suppliers to demonstrate their approach in alignment with this principle.

Principle 3: Awareness Raising and Training:

• - Ensure relevant personnel receive appropriate training and guidelines to implement the policy requirements.

Principle 4: Awareness Raising and Training:

• - Recognize the importance of monitoring and independent verification to assess compliance with the standard.
• - Request suppliers to provide information and facilitate assessments, including subcontractors.
• - Establish confidential reporting mechanisms for workers.

Principle 5: Awareness Raising and Training:

• - Embrace a continual improvement approach, developing improvement plans with suppliers not meeting the standard's requirements.
• - Address individual circumstances and take corrective action if serious breaches persist.

• - Maintain confidentiality of supplier information.
• - Foster open and honest relationships with suppliers, ensuring transparent communication.
• - Provide feedback to unsuccessful suppliers in competitive situations, ensuring fairness.
• - Disclose any personal interests that may affect impartiality in the procurement process.
• - Ensure suppliers understand and agree to negotiated terms and conditions
• - Consider supplier size, maturity, location, and dependence when awarding business.

• - Conduct regular monitoring of sustainable procurement implementation and ethical standards.
• - Identify trends and ensure environmental and social factors are considered in procurement decisions.

• - Seek additional guidance and information on relevant legislation from sources such as DEFRA, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), and the Environment Agency.

The included questionnaire serves as a tool to assess compliance with ethical and environmental standards at production sites.

Publisher Risk Assessment Questionnaire

Dear Supplier,

My Doctor Shop is committed to ensuring a high standard of ethical and environmental trade practices, including the provision of safe working conditions and the protection of workers' rights across its global businesses. We require conditions at factories and work sites to be checked to ensure compliance with our Code of Ethical Policy. In many cases, we require full independent audits of work sites and labor standards. However, where work sites are located in "lower-risk" countries, a full audit may not always be necessary. To help identify such cases, we are piloting the use of a basic employment profile assessment.

Instructions:

Please answer the questions in the table below and return the completed form to [insert contact name]. Once completed and returned, My Doctor Shop will inform you of any further steps. Thank you for your cooperation.

Production Site:

• - Name of company:
• - Ownership:
• - Location of production site:
• - Nationality of Management:
• - Year of establishment:
• - Working hours / Shift patterns:
• - Main products / activities of the work site:
• - Seasonality: (Describe which months are busiest)

General Questions / Management System:

• - How many workers do you employ? (including permanent, agency, and temporary staff)
• - Do you have a Health & Safety Manager? (Y/N)
• - Do you have a Human Resources Manager? (Y/N)
• - Do you have a production manager? (Y/N)
• - Do you record working hours (basic & OT)? (Y/N)
• - Do you record wages (basic & OT)? (Y/N)
• - Do you record personnel information? (Y/N)
• - Is your site certified (ISO, SA8000)? If yes, which scheme?
• - Do you have a worker committee / forum / trade union on-site? (Y/N)

Directly Employed Staff:

• - Total number of permanent workers (on an ongoing contract):
• - Nationalities of permanent workers:
• - Languages of permanent workers:
• - Turnover: (% annually, for permanent staff)
• - Total number of temporary workers (on a short-term contract):
• - Nationalities of temporary workers:
• - Languages of temporary workers:
• - Highest working week (weekly working hours including OT):
• - Lowest basic hourly wage paid (hourly wage):

Indirectly Employed Staff:

• - Number of agency workers (average per day):
• - Nationalities of agency workers:
• - Languages spoken by agency workers:
• - Average length of employment for agency workers:
• - Number of agencies (please include catering/security/core, etc.):
• - Split of agency workers per agencies/services:
• - Main activities performed by agency workers:
• - Highest working week (weekly working hours including OT):
• - Lowest basic hourly wage paid by agency to agency worker (hourly wage):

Sub-contracted Work:

• - Do you sub-contract work? (Y/N)
• - To whom do you sub-contract (e.g., home workers, other factories)?
• - Please describe the terms and conditions of the sub-contracted work (for example: job description, timeline for job completion, budget/payment for the job)

Environmental Impact:

• - Do you have a recycling policy? (Y/N)
• - Has a copy of the policy been provided? (Y/N)
• - Do you have a waste management policy? (Y/N)
• - Has a copy of the policy been provided? (Y/N)

Thank you for your cooperation in completing this questionnaire. Your responses will help us assess compliance with our ethical and environmental standards. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.