Cisco strives to treat employees, and the communities in which we operate, with respect and dignity.
As a supporter of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and Global Compact, Cisco's codes of conduct, employee policies, and guidelines substantially incorporate laws and ethical principles including those pertaining to freedom of association, nondiscrimination, privacy, collective bargaining, compulsory and child labor, immigration, and wages and hours. These codes, policies, and guidelines are reviewed by Cisco's Corporate Citizenship Council. Consistent with Cisco's culture and applicable laws, employees are encouraged to:
- Promote a safe, healthy, and supportive work environment where employees can contribute their skills
- Participate with local stakeholders in addressing community well-being, social and economic development, and environmental preservation
In addition, all Cisco employees are required to respect the human rights and dignity of others as outlined in the Code of Business Conduct
, employee policies, and guidelines or local laws applying and abiding within the scope of their individual roles and responsibilities to whichever sets higher standards.
Implementation
The Code of Business Conduct is monitored by Cisco's Ethics Program Office and annually affirmed by Cisco's employees. Cisco provides individual and online training to employees on various topics covered by our codes of conduct, employee policies, and guidelines.
The Ethics Program Office is available to all employees, customers, partners, and shareholders who wish to bring to Cisco's attention any potential violation of or nonconformance with the Code of Business Conduct.
In 2004, Cisco adopted the Electronics Industry Code of Conduct (EICC), which was developed as a voluntary measure to establish and promote a unified standard for social and environmental practices across the electronic industry's supply chain. It covers a range of social responsibility issues, including labor and employment practices, health and safety, ethics, the protection of the environment, and management expectations to help ensure Code conformity. The EICC forms the basis of Cisco's Supplier Code of Conduct and extends our business values and expectations to our suppliers.
Since FY2003, Cisco has partnered with other companies in the electronics sector to address issues related to responsible corporate citizenship, and to promote social and environmental standards across the industry.
Our progress toward the UN Global Compact principles are reported in the Citizenship Governance section of this Citizenship Report.
Emerging Issue: Internet Use and Human Rights
Cisco does not in any way participate in the censorship of information by governments. Moreover, Cisco complies with all U.S. government regulations which prohibit the sale of our products to certain destinations or to users who misuse our products or resell them to prohibited users.
Some countries have chosen, as a matter of national policy, to restrict or limit access to information on the Internet to their citizens. Functionality inherent in Cisco equipment, such as our routers, may be employed by such nations to restrict this access, but it is important to note that this is the same functionality that libraries and corporate network administrators use to block sites in accordance with policies they establish. This functionality can be used for many different purposes, and Cisco has not specially designed or marketed products for any government, or any regional market, to censor Internet content from citizens.
Cisco cannot determine what sovereign information is regulated by sovereign nations inside their own countries. Even within nations that have signed the UN Global Compact there is rich debate in the courts and society concerning access to the Internet, lines between commercial speech and political speech, and related issues. Cisco supports transparency in the way the Internet is used and complies with all applicable regulations.
For more information about Technology and Trade compliance of Cisco and our Channel Partners, visit our Export Compliance Website.
