GCC Policies

In Global Compliance Certification (GCC), we are dedicated to upholding a set of values and ethical standards while fulfilling the needs of our clients and serving the best interests of our communities and the general public. This policy establishes the expected conduct and responsibilities of all GCC employees and contractors acting as auditors. The policy aims to ensure professionalism, ethical behavior, impartiality, confidentiality, and the avoidance of conflicts of interest in all audit engagements. Adherence to this policy is mandatory for all GCC auditors.

Respect and Professionalism

• All auditors must respect and maintain a polite and helpful attitude towards employees, clients, and business partners of GCC.
• Auditors must disclose any potential conflict of interest with GCC and its clients before accepting any job offered by the company or organisation.
• Auditors must act in a trustworthy, ethical, and unbiased manner when performing their duties on behalf of GCC, GCC clients, and their interested parties, as outlined in the agreement and requested by GCC.
• Auditors are expected to reply to inquiries respectfully and, if unable to provide requested information, refer the requester to the appropriate source.
• Discrimination based on race, nationality, religion, political activity, gender, marital status, age, carer or family responsibilities, physical features, disability or impairment, pregnancy, breastfeeding or parental status, or sexual preference is strictly prohibited in connection with auditors’ duties.

Integrity and Ethical Conduct

• Auditors must always be frank and honest, refraining from any conduct that may cause unwarranted offense or embarrassment to any reasonable person.
• Auditors must comply with the requirements of relevant legislation or regulations, including but not limited to the Privacy Act 1988, Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and Work Health and Safety Act 2011 or equivalent Work Health & Safety legislation.
• Auditors must not promote or represent any business interests or entities in which they have or may have an interest.
• Auditors must not accept any inducement, commission, gift, or other benefits from any interested party.
• Auditors must not communicate false, erroneous, or misleading information that may compromise the integrity of any audit.
• Auditors are required to fully cooperate with any inquiry in the event of a complaint or alleged breach of this policy.

Impartiality and Restraint of Trade

To maintain the integrity of GCC’s auditing services and fulfill contractual obligations, auditors must adhere to the following instructions:

• Introduction; When interacting with clients, auditors must explicitly introduce themselves as ‘GCC Auditor’ to establish transparency and clarity regarding their role and affiliation.
• Confidentiality; Auditors must avoid discussing any other jobs, employers, such as consultancy or other certification companies, during or after the audit. Maintaining confidentiality ensures compliance with the contractual obligations of impartiality and restraint of trade.
• Service or Product Offerings; Auditors must not offer any services or products to the client, either during or after the audit. This includes consulting services, recommendations, or any other form of business offerings. Adhering to this instruction preserves the impartiality and independence of the auditing process.
• Neutrality; Auditors must avoid praising, recommending, or criticising any consultant or consulting firm to the client. Maintaining neutrality ensures that auditors do not unduly influence the client’s decisions or opinions, thereby upholding the principle of impartiality.

By strictly adhering to these instructions, GCC auditors demonstrate professionalism, comply with contractual obligations, and uphold the reputation and trustworthiness of GCC’s auditing services.

This policy outlines the commitment of GCC to impartiality in providing audits and certification services. GCC recognises the importance of maintaining impartiality throughout its operations to ensure the credibility and trustworthiness of its certification services. This policy is publicly available on the GCC website and serves as a foundation for the organisation’s business practices.

Conflict of Interest
GCC acknowledges the potential for conflicts of interest to arise from the provision of certification services. We conduct a comprehensive identification, analysis, and documentation of these possibilities to ensure transparency and adherence to impartiality principles. It is important to note that not all relationships automatically imply conflicts of interest. However, GCC is committed to addressing any relationships that may pose a threat to impartiality. The organisation will document and demonstrate the measures taken to eliminate or minimise such threats. This information will be accessible to the committee responsible for safeguarding impartiality. The demonstration shall encompass all potential sources of conflicts of interest, regardless of whether they originate from within GCC or external entities.

Unacceptable Threat to Impartiality
In cases where relationships pose an unacceptable threat to impartiality, GCC will avoid providing certification services. We maintain a thorough review of potential conflicts of interest during the contract review process and when selecting the audit team. All members of the audit team are required to sign an agreement that includes a declaration of independence, ensuring confidentiality and impartiality in their roles.

Consultancy Services
GCC and any part of the same legal entity do not offer or provide management system consultancy services. This separation ensures that conflicts of interest related to consultancy activities are avoided. If a relationship between a consultancy organisation and GCC, or its employees, poses an unacceptable threat to impartiality, GCC will not engage in certification services. The relationship in question may be based on ownership, governance, management, personnel, shared resources, finances, contracts, marketing, or any other factors that could compromise the impartiality of GCC’s operations.

Certification of Certification Bodies
GCC does not certify other certification bodies for their management system certification activities. This policy ensures that the organisation maintains its independence and prevents conflicts of interest that may arise from certifying competitors or entities with similar services.

Independence and Ownership
GCC is an independent company and has a policy of not owning any other business or company, either wholly or partially. This approach reinforces the organisation’s commitment to impartiality. In instances where a relationship poses an unacceptable threat to impartiality, such as the ownership of a wholly or partially owned subsidiary by GCC or employment of GCC personnel, certification services will not be provided.

GCC is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of impartiality in its audits and certification services. This policy ensures that potential conflicts of interest are identified, documented, and appropriately addressed. By adhering to this policy, GCC aims to maintain its reputation as a trusted and impartial certification body. This policy is subject to periodic review to ensure its continued effectiveness and alignment with the organisation’s values and objectives.

GCC recognises the importance of safeguarding the confidentiality of information obtained or created during the performance of certification activities. This policy establishes the principles and arrangements to ensure that all stakeholders involved in GCC’s operations, including committees and external bodies or individuals acting on its behalf, adhere to strict confidentiality standards. This policy applies to all levels of GCC’s structure and emphasises the protection of sensitive information.

Confidentiality of Information

• GCC will inform the client in advance regarding any information it intends to disclose publicly. All other information, except for information made publicly accessible by the client, shall be treated as confidential.
• Unless required by accreditation bodies or governmental authorities, GCC shall not disclose information about a particular client or individual to a third party without obtaining written consent from the client or individual concerned. In cases where GCC is legally obligated to release confidential information, the client or individual will be notified in advance, except where prohibited by law.

Confidentiality Agreement

• GCC has established a confidentiality agreement that outlines the obligations of all staff, employees, auditors, contractors, and members of committees associated with GCC and its clients.
• The confidentiality agreement requires stakeholders to maintain the confidentiality of GCC’s clients’ information and prohibits the disclosure of any confidential information to third parties, unless explicitly authorised by GCC.
• Stakeholders must ensure that any documents or materials containing confidential information are kept separate from their personal documents and materials.
• Prior to engaging in any activity related to GCC, all staff (including directors), auditors, contractors, and members of committees must sign the confidentiality agreement.

Secure Handling of Confidential Information

• GCC is committed to providing secure equipment and facilities to handle confidential information. Appropriate measures will be implemented to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of such information.
• GCC stakeholders are responsible for utilising the provided equipment and facilities to handle confidential information in a secure manner.

Compliance and Enforcement

• GCC will regularly review and assess compliance with this policy and related confidentiality obligations.
• Non-compliance with the confidentiality policy may result in disciplinary actions, including termination of employment or contract, as deemed appropriate by GCC.
• GCC will provide necessary training and awareness programs to stakeholders to ensure understanding and compliance with this policy.
• Stakeholders are encouraged to report any potential breaches or concerns related to confidentiality to GCC’s designated authority.

This policy outlines the activities for suspension, withdrawal, extension or reduction of the scope of certification, and the subsequent actions that will be taken by GCC. The policy is designed to ensure that certified clients of GCC continue to satisfy the requirements of the management system standard and maintain the integrity of the certification process.

Suspension and Withdrawal Procedure
GCC has documented a Suspension and Withdrawing procedure that specifies the steps to be taken for suspension, withdrawal, extension or reduction of the scope of certification. The procedure outlines the following:

• The conditions under which certification may be suspended, withdrawn, or reduced in scope
• The actions to be taken by GCC and the certified client
• The arrangements for ensuring the discontinuation of the use of advertising matter that contains any reference to a certified status by the certified client
• The arrangements for updating the status of certification
• The measures to be taken by GCC to make the suspended status of certificates publicly available

Maintenance of Certification
GCC maintains certification based on the demonstration that the client continues to satisfy the requirements of the management system standard. This includes conducting surveillance or recertification audits at the required frequencies and taking effective corrective actions to identified non-conformities within the set time limit.

Public Notification of Suspended Status
GCC will publish or make publicly available the suspended status of certificates or take other measures it deems appropriate. This is to ensure that stakeholders are aware of the suspended status of the certification.

Enforceable Arrangements
GCC has enforceable arrangements with the certified client concerning conditions of withdrawal. Upon notice of withdrawal of certification, the client is required to discontinue its use of all advertising matter that contains any reference to a certified status.

Grounds for Suspension of Certification
GCC will suspend certification in cases when:

• The client’s certified management system has persistently or seriously failed to meet certification requirements, including requirements for the effectiveness of the management system
• The certified client does not allow surveillance or recertification audits to be conducted at the required frequencies
• Failure by the customer to meet the requirements for maintaining the certification of the management system, relevant legislation requirement or the agreement between GCC and the client
• Failure to take effective corrective actions to identified non-conformities within the set time limit
• Failure to pay the fees due, upon written notice from GCC
• Improper use is made of the certification status, the Certificate of Registration, or the GCC and/or JAS-ANZ Certification Mark
• The certified client has voluntarily requested a suspension (this must be submitted in writing)

This policy outlines the complaints and appeals procedure established by GCC (Company Name) for handling complaints and resolving issues with clients or third parties regarding any of its services. This policy ensures transparency, fairness, and accountability in addressing and resolving concerns raised by stakeholders. GCC is committed to providing a robust mechanism to address complaints and appeals promptly and efficiently.

This policy applies to all stakeholders, including clients, partners, employees, and any other individuals or organisations directly or indirectly affected by GCC’s services.

Principles

The following principles guide the complaints and appeals procedure:

• Fairness GCC ensures that all complaints and appeals are treated fairly, without any discrimination or bias against the complainant or appellant.
• Independence Persons engaged in the handling process are independent and separate from those involved in carrying out audits and making certification decisions.

Complaints and Appeals Handling Process
GCC’s complaints and appeals handling process includes the following elements and methods:

• Receipt and Documentation GCC receives and documents all written and verbal complaints or appeals using the internal Non-Conformance (NC) sheet, ensuring accurate and comprehensive recording of information.
• Acknowledgment Upon receiving a complaint or appeal, GCC promptly acknowledges receipt to the appellant and provides progress reports throughout the handling process. The outcome of the complaint or appeal will also be communicated to the appellant.
• Appointment of Respondent GCC appoints a designated respondent for each complaint or appeal. The respondent is responsible for overseeing the handling process, ensuring impartiality, and coordinating the investigation.
• Investigation and Resolution GCC organises a thorough investigation of the complaint or appeal, collecting all necessary evidence and information. Based on the findings, GCC takes appropriate actions to address and resolve the issue at hand.
• Formal Report Within 10 working days of receiving the complaint or appeal, GCC prepares and sends a formal report to the complainant or appellant. The report outlines the details of the complaint or appeal, summarises the actions taken by GCC, and provides any necessary explanations or justifications.
• Confirmation of Response Within one month of receiving the response, GCC contacts the complainant or appellant to seek confirmation that the provided response was received and found acceptable. This step ensures that both parties are in agreement and have reached a satisfactory resolution.

Non-Discriminatory Actions
GCC guarantees that the submission, investigation, and decision on complaints or appeals will not result in any discriminatory actions against the complainant or appellant. No negative consequences, such as retaliation or discrimination, will arise due to the act of raising a complaint or filing an appeal.

Continuous Improvement
GCC recognises the importance of continuous improvement in its complaints and appeals handling process. Feedback obtained from complainants, appellants, and the overall experience of stakeholders will be taken into account for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of this procedure.

Compliance
All GCC stakeholders are expected to comply with this complaints and appeals procedure. Any attempts to impede or obstruct the process, as well as any misuse of this procedure, will be subject to appropriate disciplinary actions.

By implementing this policy, GCC aims to foster trust, transparency, and accountability in its relationships with stakeholders. The company remains committed to addressing complaints and appeals promptly and fairly, promoting continuous improvement, and upholding the highest standards of service delivery.

GCC is dedicated to maintaining a workplace that fosters equal opportunity for all job applicants and employees. This policy outlines our commitment to providing fair and unbiased treatment to individuals throughout their employment journey, from recruitment and promotions to training, remuneration, leave, and all other aspects related to employment. We strive to ensure that all employment decisions are based on merit and are free from any form of discrimination or bias.

Equal Employment Opportunity
GCC firmly upholds the principle of Equal Employment Opportunity, which ensures that all staff members and potential employees are treated equitably and fairly, irrespective of their personal characteristics or attributes. The company prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, nationality, religion, physical or intellectual disability, age, sexual preference, or any other irrelevant factors. This policy extends to all employment-related activities and benefits offered by GCC.

Merit-Based Selection
GCC is committed to a merit-based selection process that focuses on identifying the most suitable candidates for job openings, promotions, and training opportunities. Our human resource activities are guided by the merit principle, where decisions are made based on objective assessments of skills, qualifications, relevant work experience, and the ability to thrive within our organisational culture. By adhering to this principle, we aim to provide an equal chance for all individuals to apply for jobs and pursue professional growth within GCC.

Reporting Mechanism
To ensure a genuine commitment to preventing illegal and undesirable conduct, GCC maintains a reporting mechanism that allows employees and others to report concerns freely and without fear of reprisal or intimidation. We encourage the reporting of any instances of discrimination, harassment, or any other violation of this policy. Reports will be promptly and impartially investigated, and appropriate action will be taken to address the concerns raised.

Benefits of Equal Employment Opportunity
Equal Employment Opportunity offers numerous benefits to both GCC and its staff members. By identifying and eliminating direct and indirect discriminatory practices and barriers, we create an environment that is inclusive and supportive for all individuals seeking employment or advancement opportunities within the organisation. Embracing diversity and equal opportunity allows us to attract a wider pool of applicants, increasing our chances of selecting the best person for each role. Additionally, providing access to training and development opportunities promotes a more qualified workforce that is representative of the diverse customers we serve.

GCC is fully committed to maintaining a workplace that values and promotes equal opportunity for all stakeholders. This policy reaffirms our dedication to fairness, consistency, and the elimination of discriminatory practices. We believe that by adhering to the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity, we create an environment where individuals can thrive, contribute their unique perspectives, and collectively contribute to the success of GCC.

This policy applies to all employees, contractors, vendors, customers, and any other individuals associated with GCC. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to uphold and adhere to this policy, fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment for all.