ISO 26000 Index

Our statement of Business Practice, The Way We Work, defines BT's business principles that apply worldwide, to all employees, agents, contractors and others when representing BT.

BT has an enterprise wide risk management system.

Our statement of Business Practice, The Way We Work, defines BT's business principles that apply worldwide, to all employees, agents, contractors and others when representing BT.

We aim to be number one for customer service. Even so, things can go wrong. When they do, we want to know so we can put them right as quickly as we can. Our customer complaints code provide clear guidance on how to contact us and what to do if the complaint is not resolved satisfactorily.

We strive to treat our people fairly and responsibly and respect their personal and community commitments. We communicate our business principles to all employees in The Way We Work.

We respect the dignity, liberty and equality of every BT employee and everyone who has dealings with us.

Our statement of Business Practice, The Way We Work, defines BT's business principles that apply worldwide, to all employees, agents, contractors and others when representing BT.

BT is an equal opportunities employer. We strive to treat our people fairly and responsibly, help them achieve their full potential, and respect their personal and community commitments.

Our people are of great value to our business, so we reward them fairly for their work. This approach helps us to secure the trust and commitment of our existing workforce, and to recruit talented people

Our employee communication and engagement activities keep our people informed about any changes that may affect their ability to meet these expectations. We also value employees’ ideas and contributions, and use them to improve how we do things at BT.

Protecting the health and safety of all BT people is a major priority for us, we systematically assess our health and safety risks and have comprehensive management systems to help make our workplaces as safe as possible.
Health and safety is not just about avoiding accidents – it also involves protecting our employees’ physical and mental wellbeing. We provide information and support so employees and their families can make the right choices to stay healthy.

To compete effectively in the rapidly changing ICT sector we need to continually invest in skills, helping our workforce to keep up with changing technology and customer requirements. We do this in a variety of ways including through the BT Apprentice Scheme, our Graduate and MBA programmes and our annual learning and development planning.

Our environmental managment system covers our worldwide operations.

BT's environmental managment system covers our worldwide operations.

We have been measuring and reporting on our efforts to reduce our carbon emissions since 1992

We are not a major landowner. We have procedures in place to reduce the impact of our operations in the environment. This is not a material issue to our stakeholders, therefore we do not report on our performance.

We have a specific policy on anti-corruption and bribery.

We aim to be transparent about our public policy activities and report at least annually on our activities. Current public policy issues can be found on our website

Our statement of Business Practice, The Way We Work, defines BT's business principles that apply worldwide, to all employees, agents, contractors and others when representing BT.

BT has procurement standards on; environment, climate change and labour rights for example. For more information see our Supply Chain stanards section or our procurement website.

BT is not a significant land owner, either in the UK or its international markets.

We have a number of Codes of Practice covering various elements of our business, see our Codes of practice

We don’t manufacture our own products, so we work
closely with our suppliers to ensure that the products and services we provide are to the highest standards. We have a blacklist of banned materials and a grey list of materials giving cause for concern which we use when negotiating with our suppliers.

We aim to reduce all forms of waste, and seek ways to extend the life of network infrastructure and equipment, and recycle equipment that cannot be reused.

Our focus is on excellent customer service. We always aim to be within easy reach and we want customers to get the answers they want quickly and easily. The different methods to contact us are summarised here.

Our business is based on accessing, sharing and processing information. This brings a great deal of responsibility. BT handles huge amounts of information as part of daily business, including personal and financial data for our employees, customers and suppliers. We take the responsibility to protect their privacy and data security very seriously.

We recognise the importance of internet and telephone services and try to avoid disconnecting customers. We offer flexible payment options to help people budget for their bills and work with customers having temporary payment difficulties to agree on payment over a longer period than usual. Our Codes of Practice describe our procedures for requesting payment and the help customers can expect if they have problems paying.

We are proud of our long standing support for customers with special needs. In 1984 we created an Age and Disability team to champion accessibility. We provide services such as Braillle bills and phones with amplified handsets. More details on these services can be found on ourwebsite.

We engage with all our stakeholders throughout the year. Throughout our report we offer readers the opportunity to comment and engage with us.

We provide free educational resources through our Learning and Skills programme. Our people are supporting the communities taht we live and work in through our volunteering initiatives.

We are an equal opportunities employer. We have longstanding apprentice and graduate entry programmes and provide work inspiration placements for young people to help prepare them for their working lives.

We have been supporting communities around the world for many years. Helping them to engage with new communications technologies and participate in the digital economy.

BT has actively supports the commuities in which it operates. Our purchasing stimulated economic and social development. Our comminity activities are targeted at areas of most need.

Protecting health and safety is a priority for BT. Not only for our people but our customers, contractors and suppliers.

One of our key aims is to help build stronger communities. We have wide ranging partnerships with organisations (for example charities) who are best equipped to address social inequalites. This support is in the form of cash and knowledge sharing.