Share


Good governance and ethical behaviour

To guide and promote good governance and ethical behaviour across our Group, we maintain a series of policies. These guide our actions and those of our employees, suppliers and partners.


This is Haleon’s policy on:

We have zero tolerance of all forms of corruption. We are committed to acting with honesty, transparency, and integrity in all our business dealings, and upholding all relevant laws and regulations. Our Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABAC) Policy sets global principles, standards, and requirements of our Company. It is designed to ensure that we uphold the highest standards of professional integrity and trust.


What we do matters. So does how we do it. That’s why we must always do the right thing. It means holding our actions and decisions to the highest possible standards. Together, we must create a safe environment where our Code of Conduct and applicable written standards are respected, and everyone feels comfortable to raise any concerns we might have. Within the Code, we explain the principles that underpin our ethical standards.


Key Promotional Principles

  • All promotional activities must be conducted in accordance with Haleon’s Code of Conduct as well as our value: “Always do the right thing”.
  • This Code must be followed unless there is a stricter local law, regulation, or industry code. Local laws must always be complied with.
  • In the absence of any guidance (Code, local law, regulations, industry codes), local GM/BU Head and relevant control functions should establish local guidelines.
  • All promotional material must be consistent with locally approved labelling and should be accurate, fair, objective and not include unapproved uses, nor any negative commentary about competing products. Off-label promotion is prohibited.
  • All promotional materials must be approved via Content Approval Process (governed by Marketing) in accordance with the Content Approval Playbook.
  • Approved global deviations to this Code are documented and saved in the “Other Useful Documents” section in the Code of Promotion section of the Ethics and Compliance Hub.

Haleon, as with other entities listed in the US, are required to disclose information about products they manufacture, or contract to manufacture, that may contain conflict minerals originating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or its neighbouring countries.

A copy of our disclosure on Form SD, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is available below.

A conflict of interest arises when personal activities, interests or relationships interfere or appear to interfere with our professional judgement, decisions, or actions. Our Conflict of Interest Policy sets global principles and requirements related to the management of conflicts of interest at our company. It is designed to ensure we act with fairness and transparency when facing a conflict of interest to make sure our ability to perform our duties is not influenced by, or in conflict with, our personal relationships or any actual or anticipated benefit.


We take seriously our obligation to secure the data and protect the privacy of consumers, experts, and our employees. We do this through the implementation of processes, training and technologies that protect confidentiality and embed our privacy standards.


At Haleon, we embed sustainable business practices throughout our company and brands. Doing so is central to delivering on our ambition to help make better everyday health more inclusive, sustainable and achievable, aligned to our corporate purpose: to deliver better everyday health with humanity. It is important to us as a business that we do our best to minimise our impact on the environment. We are dedicated to the continued reduction of our environmental footprint and impact of our operations and products.

Our purpose is to deliver better everyday health with humanity by going beyond, doing what matters most and keeping it human. Nothing is more human than keeping one another safe, healthy, and well. This is why we are dedicated to doing the right thing and ensuring that our people, who are helping improve the health of others, go home healthy, safe and well themselves. We take care of each other. This policy describes our commitment, requirements and responsibilities for the health, safety and wellbeing of our people.

The code of Scientific Engagement applies to the interactions and exchanges of scientific information between Haleon and the External Experts we engage with in order to advance scientific and medical understanding.

It applies to any third parties contracted to conduct these activities on our behalf. 

This code must be applied unless there are more stringent local laws, regulations or industry codes.  In which case, the more stringent local laws, regulations or industry codes will apply.

Our purpose at Haleon is to deliver better everyday health with humanity. We will always strive to do the right thing and take responsibility to respect and support human rights wherever we do business. We are committed to following the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises which include ensuring we have policies and processes to prevent, mitigate and remediate potential and actual adverse human rights impacts. We are also committed to upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the core labour standards set out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Our quality management approach includes clear policies and technical guidance, regular internal and external quality reviews and audits, training for colleagues and testing of raw materials, packaging components and finished products. We have rigorous quality procedures in place for manufacturing, product component and logistics suppliers.

Delivering better everyday health with humanity requires an everyday commitment to excellence. What we do matters. So does how we do it. Reaching millions of people responsibly with our marketing communications involves upholding both clear and high standards.

That's why we’ve laid out our Responsible Marketing Principles. The principles will hold us accountable and go beyond merely good intentions – whether it is about clear information, transparent advertising, an environmentally, culturally, or socially committed execution or conscientious channel selection.

At Haleon, we always do the right thing. However, there may be rare occasions when an employee or third party intentionally or unintentionally acts in a way that is not in line with our Code of Conduct Principles and our culture, our policies or the law. We are all responsible for speaking up, if we have a concern or reason to suspect that this has occurred. It can feel hard to speak up and raise a concern. But always remember that by not reporting suspected misconduct, you’re allowing inappropriate behaviour and actions to continue. This may harm our colleagues, our consumers, our company and our culture. In some cases, it may also lead to significant financial losses and serious reputational damage for Haleon.

All concerns raised will be reviewed in detail by colleagues in Ethics & Compliance, Legal and/or HR, and, if appropriate, a formal investigation may take place. We will ensure that your concern is addressed in the appropriate way. We may ask you to provide further information to enable us to fully investigate your concern. You should treat any information about the investigation as confidential. As the person who reported the concern, we will give you feedback at the end of the process, even if we are unable to share the outcome in detail for confidentiality or other reasons.

You should report your concerns directly to your line manager or a member of your local management team in the first instance. Alternatively, if you feel uncomfortable speaking up to your line manager or local management team, you may report your concerns to Ethics & Compliance, HR or Legal.

You can also use the Speak Up channels via telephone, web portal, email or mail. These channels are managed independently of Haleon and are available globally in multiple languages.

Always remember that by speaking up and raising concerns, you are doing the right thing.

Learn more: Speak Up reporting channel

Download Haleon’s EU Whistleblowing Policy


Haleon is committed to operating to high environmental, social and ethical standards to ensure we maximise the long-term sustainability of our business, business partners and relationships, and of the communities which we source from and operate in. This commitment is reflected in our Supplier Code of Conduct, which establishes the minimum standards that must be met by any entity that supplies products or services to the Haleon group of companies.

Related topics: Anti-bribery and corruption; Code of conduct; Speak up; Human Rights; Working with Responsible Third Parties

Our supplier code of conduct

 

Centred around our core value of seeking to always do the right thing, we take our responsibility towards tax transparency seriously. Our Tax strategy outlines our tax management and governance framework, our approach to tax planning and tax risk and our dealings with UK and other tax authorities. Our tax strategy applies to the UK and all other countries in which we operate.