Sexual Harassment Statement

This statement was last reviewed on: 19 November 2024.

Kocho’s Commitment

At Kocho, we encourage everyone to live by our values and Kocho will not tolerate sexual harassment towards our employees by anyone working for us or by a third party.

Kocho is committed to creating a work environment free from any type of harassment, bullying or victimisation, ensuring all employees are treated with dignity and respect and treat others in the same way. Procedures are in place so that any concerns can be confidentially reported without fear of intimidation or repercussion, and any incidents of sexual harassment will be dealt with promptly, sensitively, and confidentially.

We recognise that sexual harassment can occur both in and outside the workplace. As such, Kocho is committed to address every instance of sexual harassment should it occur, not only to inform an individual that their behaviour is unwanted, but also to prevent further inappropriate conduct against other colleagues, or potential escalation to more serious conduct.

Risk Assessment and Management

Risks associated with sexual harassment are managed via the Kocho Risk Management Framework, which helps determine our response and the controls that we implement. In addition:

• Our Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policy is made available to all employees. The requirement to familiarise themselves with this Policy is one of the compliance obligations required of all employees.
• Training is provided to all employees to ensure awareness of sexual harassment and how to prevent it, together with highlighting the guidance and support in place for those affected by such harassment.
• Where an employee has been affected by, or suspects an instance of, sexual harassment, they are encouraged to report it immediately to either their management line, the People Team, the Head of Compliance or a member of the Senior Leadership Team. There are various ways they can do this, including use of a dedicated ‘speak-up’ email.

Associated policies and documents also support our efforts in identifying and preventing sexual harassment in our business, namely:

• Employee Code of Conduct: This encapsulates the three values of ‘Do what’s right’, ‘Think greater’, and ‘Better together’ and encourages our employees to exhibit the highest standards of conduct and ethical behaviour when representing our company.
• Whistleblowing Policy: Kocho is committed to ensuring that no employee will suffer any repercussions from reporting any suspicion of sexual harassment. To this end, the Whistleblowing Policy is available to all employees and details how they can report any suspicions without fear of retaliation.
• Supplier and Client Codes of Conduct: We require our clients and suppliers to exhibit the same high standards of conduct and behaviour that we expect from our employees, and we will ensure that their employees receive the same consideration and respect while they are engaging with Kocho employees.

Compliance with the Legislation

To demonstrate compliance with the legal requirements of the legislation:

• We have issued a Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policy and made this available to all employees via our intranet. This Policy will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis in line with our document review schedule.
• The Policy and this Statement are approved by the Board of Directors and signed off by a member of the Senior Leadership Team.
• All new starters are required to complete training on recognising and understanding sexual harassment within their first month of employment with Kocho. Furthermore, awareness training on sexual harassment forms part of the annual training programme completed by all employees.
• A number of reporting options to report sexual harassment in the workplace have been set up.
• A record of any complaints will be kept to watch for patterns of unwanted behaviour. The impact of the Policy, training, and reporting mechanisms will be reported to Senior Management and the Board on a regular basis to monitor the workplace climate and encourage a continuous improvement approach.
• Kocho has also taken active steps to prevent third party harassment of employees, including making our zero tolerance position clear to clients, suppliers, and visitors to our offices.