The Highest Ethical Standards
At Avient, we maintain a strong commitment to sustainability, by conducting business in a way that puts the safety of our employees and needs of our customers first, while enabling a sustainable world.
Knowing that the judgments and decisions we make as individuals affect the way Avient is viewed in the marketplace and in the communities where we work, we let our foundational strengths of unwavering customer focus, diverse technology portfolio, commercial excellence & financial rigor, and a culture of safety & sustainability shape the way we do business. These strengths are based on high ethical standards, and demand honesty and integrity in our business dealings.
We hold ourselves to a consistent global standard of ethical conduct, while respecting the cultures and business practices of the countries and local communities with which we interact. As a testament to its importance, all our acquisitions are integrated into our Ethics and Compliance programs within the first year.
Our Code of Conduct establishes a clear set of ethical and behavioral standards for our business conduct. Our internal Ethics Committee and the Audit Committee of our Board provide oversight and direction for the training and education of the Code of Conduct and other ethics-related matters, including a review of trends that may affect Avient.
We also recognize that our responsibility extends beyond our operational and process boundaries to our supplier partners. Our Supplier Code of Conduct provides requirements to suppliers and their employees, personnel agents, and subcontractors to fully comply with applicable laws and regulations and adhere to internationally recognized environmental, social, corporate governance and management system standards.
Compliance and Training Programs
Compliance oversight is provided by a combination of the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Corporate Ethics Officer; the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors; and our internal Ethics Committee, which is comprised of leaders from our global business and functional teams. The Audit Committee and Ethics Committee formally meet to provide oversight and the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Corporate Ethics Officer has direct access to both committees and provides regular updates throughout the year.
To set clear expectations and understanding, our policies, along with the training and communication of these policies are provided in over 20 languages and disclosed on our website. Code of Conduct training is an annual mandatory requirement for all our employees. In addition, we reinforce important topics such as anti-bribery, anti-corruption, antitrust, harassment and discrimination, conflict of interest, insider trading and information security, with supplemental training provided to dive deeper into important topics. Further, based on assessment of global risk and in an effort to sustain a culture of excellence, we select certain specific countries or functional groups within Avient for focused training or audits.
Ethics Hotline and Reporting
An independently managed Ethics Hotline, with multi-language capabilities, is available globally via Web or by phone, 24/7. The Hotline is available to anyone within or outside Avient to allow access to report questions or concerns directly to Avient’s Ethics & Compliance team. Those who file reports can remain anonymous.
We promote the availability of our Hotline through a number of avenues, including our annual Code of Conduct trainings, new-hire onboarding, Hotline posters which are displayed at all Avient locations, internal network resources, and ongoing employee communications. Additionally, during our Internal Audit team’s site engagements across the globe, we conduct employee interviews to assess and reinforce the importance of speaking up if they have concerns.
Avient does not tolerate retaliation against any individual who, in good faith, seeks advice, raises a concern, reports misconduct or provides information in an investigation related to a suspected Code of Conduct violation.
All reports, received through the Hotline or other sources, are investigated by an independent and objective team which often includes Ethics & Compliance, Legal and Human Resources. Standardized processes and forms are used to ensure a thorough review and resolution of ethicsrelated reports. Investigations into ethics-related matters have led to disciplinary action, including termination. The Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Corporate Ethics Officer, presents the number of ethics reports, report trends, substantiated reports, and a comparison of our ethics data vs. a benchmark to both the Audit and Ethics Committees.