Ethics Handbook
In 2008, Danfoss published an internal Ethics Handbook including ethic guidelines for every Danfoss employee globally. The Ethics Handbook describes the unwritten rules for what Danfoss employees should particularly pay attention to, and what is not acceptable.
In addition to the ethics handbook, Danfoss has also set up a call service to answer questions about ethical issues and an Ethics Hotline for the reporting of cases where ethical guidelines may have been violated.
Layoffs and voluntary resignations
Since 2004, Danfoss has reported layoffs and voluntary resignation caused by unethical conduct which violated the company policies.
In 2008, the number of dismissals was extraordinarily high (64 dismissals caused by unethical behaviour). In 2009, this number was reduced to 29, which is at the same level as 2007. The causes of unethical behaviour resulting in dismissals or the employees voluntarily resigning were:
- 6 cases of theft and unethical use of company funds
- 7 cases of tampering with time registration and/or lack of performance
- 2 cases of abuse of confidential information
- 4 cases of conflicts of interests, caused by an employee’s relationship with other companies
- 4 other cases which are difficult to categorise
- 6 cases concerning attempts of bribery. (The bribery attempts were recorded in Europe, Latin America and Asia.)
It is often difficult to satisfy the burden of proof in cases of alleged suspicion of bribery or attempted bribery. Despite the difficult aspects of such cases, it is vital for the Danfoss Group to get to the bottom of them, since they are criminal acts (considered as such in the majority of jurisdictions) and because they are violations of the Danfoss Group’s clear guidelines. When the suspect is confronted with the suspicion of bribery, he or she usually chooses to resign.
In 2009, one of the in total 29 dismissal cases was reported via the Ethics Hotline
