This statement is made on behalf of AVEVA Group Ltd and its subsidiaries pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and section 6(2) of the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act to disclose the actions taken to prevent modern slavery within our operations and supply chains for the financial year ending 31st December 2023.
The AVEVA Group is a leading global provider of engineering and industrial software. It consists of a parent company, AVEVA Group Ltd, incorporated in the U.K., and several subsidiaries held directly or indirectly by AVEVA Group Ltd, which are incorporated in various jurisdictions around the world. These subsidiaries (including Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea (the Republic of), Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the U.A.E., the U.K. and the U.S.), each contributing to the Group’s profits, assets, and cash flows. On 18th January 2023, Schneider Electric announced the acquisition AVEVA Group Ltd. Schneider Electric intends for AVEVA to remain as a distinct legal group with its own board of directors.
Our zero-tolerance stance against modern slavery is enshrined in our group-level Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy ("the Policy"), which is reinforced by our Business Conduct Guidelines. This Policy applies comprehensively to all individuals associated with AVEVA, irrespective of their capacity, including employees, directors, contractors, and business partners. Breaches of this Policy are met with disciplinary actions, including potential dismissal, and could result in termination of our relationships with other parties.
In addition to our centralised procurement function, which primarily manages procurement related to supplier contracts, our subsidiaries and business units directly handle other procurement activities. Despite the varied nature of our business and supply chains, encompassing office supplies, IT and technology, transportation, recruitment, and legal and financial services, we assess the risk of modern slavery occurrence as relatively low given we do not produce physical goods. We are pleased to report that there have been no known instances of modern slavery within our business or supply chains, and we actively encourage reporting of potential concerns by our employees or any third-party through AVEVA’s Speak Up platform.
We require our business partners and suppliers to comply with applicable labour laws and international labour standards. This includes the right to a healthy and safe workplace, non-discrimination, freedom from forced labour and human trafficking, equal opportunity, freedom of association and privacy. We also require compliance with applicable laws on working hours, overtime, wages, and benefits.
AVEVA maintains a group-level Supplier Code of Conduct which describes our ethical business practices. At a minimum, AVEVA requires Suppliers to operate in full compliance with the laws, rules, and regulations of the jurisdictions in which they operate including any applicable international laws and regulations. This Code also encourages Suppliers to go beyond legal compliance to advance business ethics drawing upon internationally recognised standards.
Moreover, we continually strive to enhance our efforts in preventing modern slavery. In the previous financial year, we undertook several measures, including:
- Enhanced due diligence on all our suppliers and business partners to identify heightened modern slavery risks. This includes screening for offences related to modern slavery or human trafficking.
- Comprehensive staff training on modern slavery risks, integrated into our mandatory annual Ethics training.
- Inclusion of provisions in contracts with suppliers and contractors to ensure compliance with applicable laws, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
- Requiring existing and new suppliers to sign our Supplier Code of Conduct or provide an equivalent code. Our code specifies our zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery. AVEVA has deployed an ESG self-assessment questionnaire for suppliers accounting for the top 53% of our total spend as a mechanism to evaluate the measures our suppliers have in place to effectively comply with our code. This questionnaire includes questions on human rights and labour laws compliance, policies, and risk management processes. Based on our assessment of the questionnaires, we build Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) with our suppliers to drive alignment and improvements.
Furthermore, we align our practices with International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicators of modern slavery, emphasising compliance with labour laws and international labour standards. Our Human Rights policy underscores our commitment to a healthy and safe workplace, non-discrimination, freedom from forced labour and human trafficking, equal opportunity, freedom of association, privacy, and compliance with laws governing working hours, wages, and benefits.
In the unfortunate event of identifying modern slavery in our workplace, we are committed to swift and effective remediation. We believe in transparency, accountability, and collaboration in addressing such issues, working closely with relevant stakeholders to investigate, rectify, and prevent recurrence of modern slavery incidents.
This statement was duly approved by the Board of Directors of AVEVA Group Ltd on undersigned by Caspar Herzberg, Chief Executive Officer of AVEVA Group Ltd.
Caspar Herzberg
Chief Executive Officer
AVEVA Group plc