The present Code of Conduct and Ethics reflects the basic principles and rules that must govern the operation and activity of both TSSO and the Special Fund for the Organization of Concerts- ETOS, -the two hereinafter described as “Entity” for the purposes of this document- in all its aspects, as approved by the Management and the Board of ETOS. Constant care for its observance is a necessary condition to ensure our operation, without exposure to ethical risks.
This Code, consisting of its General and Specific Sections, constitutes an integral part of the contractual terms of cooperation with the personnel that the Entity employs directly and also with third parties acting on its behalf. Any future amendment or deviation from it shall require additional approval of the Entity.
CORE VALUES OF THE TSSO
-
respect for human rights
-
conduct with respect for the law
-
responsibility in the dissemination of culture
-
work ethics
-
transparency, safety, and equality at work
-
solidarity
ETHICAL STANDARDS
The Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra:
-
rejects all forms of social exclusion and marginalization.
-
offers equal opportunities for professional development based on the essential and formal qualifications of each person, regardless of gender, age, race, religion, or nationality, based on the transparent and objective evaluation of each person.
-
rejects all discrimination and segregation deriving from any basis of diversity, and advocates the preservation of a harassment-free working environment .
-
In particular, it rejects and assesses as particularly serious any kind of harm or abuse of a person’s image and character (moral, sexual or any other kind of harassment, intimidation, persecution, etc.), the use of verbal, physical, or psychological violence, threats, abuse, any kind of unequal treatment on the grounds of nationality, racial origin, gender, marital status, religious or political beliefs or physical and other characteristics and, in general, any form of social exclusion, oppression, exploitation and mistreatment.
-
invests in the development of its personnel’s potential, through social and technological means and expertise, fostering a working environment where everyone within it enjoys security and respect for their individuality.
-
discourages and disapproves of behavior that may lead to exploitation of the individual, deriving from any abuse of power or by any compromise of the principles that must be respected in accordance with this Code and the law.
-
encourages all personnel not to accept and not to permit any kind of conduct that may affect the integrity and dignity of any person, involving discrimination of any kind.
-
promotes information and support for the reporting of incidents affecting any worker or employee.
RELATIONS WITH THIRD PARTIES
-
TSSO's relations with all its partners, whether permanent or external, shall also be governed by the provisions of the applicable legislation and by the principles of integrity, trust, transparency, equality, solidarity, and honesty, on the basis of this Code of Ethics and Conduct.
COMPLIANCE WITH THE LEGISLATION
Compliance with the current legislation constitutes a prerequisite in all matters relating to the operation of the Entity (compliance with labor-, insurance-, and tax legislation, health, and environmental protection rules, etc.).
SCOPE
This Code of Ethics and Conduct defines, as a set of guidelines, the above fundamental principles, values, and rules that form the framework of our organization's operation and that determine the ethical and professional conduct of all persons employed by, or acting on behalf of the organization. The guiding principle is the establishment of a solid matrix of clear and as specific as possible rules, applicable to managers, permanent and contract staff, external contractors, and all employees in general, when working for or on behalf of the TSSO.
In particular, it applies and produces full binding effect in face of:
a. the administrative bodies of the Entity
b. every employee, artist or not, employed under any type of employment contract in the Entity, external collaborators, and the whole personnel of the Entity in general.
c. any other participant in the actions and procedures of the Entity, such as external collaborator, volunteer, supplier, etc.,
d. any person subject to a process of joining the Entity for any period of time and with any relationship (temporary, occasional, permanent, voluntary, etc.)
It also applies wherever any act and procedure related to the Entity takes place, either in relation to its artistic work or not, such as interviews, rehearsals, location scouting, fittings, meetings, appointments, conferences, workshops, travel, information groups, etc.
In addition to this, it also regards to any kind of behavior in a time and place not directly related to the entity, especially when there are reasons and circumstances of de facto hierarchy and dependency relations. Also, in cases of cooperation and meetings outside the entity, in cases of teleconferences and teleworking, etc.
DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES
The strict application of this document is the primary obligation of all parties of the organization, managers, employees and external partners. Any breach of its principles and rules shall constitute a breach of the basic obligations of the above mentioned and may entail the consequences provided for by law, including termination of the contract and the obligation to restitute any damage caused as a result of the above breach.
ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ETHICS COMMITTEE
A three-member ethics committee is set up under the responsibility of the Director of TSSO and the President of ETOS, with a one-year term of office, which will receive any complaints from the personnel or any collaborator of TSSO. The committee will consist of the Deputy Administrative Director of ETOS, one member from the rank of musicians, and one member from the administrative staff, as well as two alternate members from the artistic and administrative staff respectively. The Committee will examine the complaints without delay and, in compliance with the provisions of the legislation, to ensure the protection of the parties involved, will immediately take all measures and procedures provided for by the current legislation against any authority.
ETOS shall make its Legal Adviser available to the Committee. In this advisory role in the handling of complaints, the Legal Adviser shall be bound by professional secrecy in order to ensure the independent character of the Committee.
The procedures followed by the Ethics Committee are set out herein as follows:
In particular:
Any report/petition/complaint shall be submitted to the Ethics Committee, in writing, in an explicit and specific manner or electronically, to a special e-mail account, accessible only by the members of the Committee.
An appointed telephone line or Internet platform providing the above guarantees shall also be established.
Members of the Committee are obliged to observe all due rules of confidentiality and secrecy of the information, data, documents etc. contained in them, in accordance with the confidentiality clauses herein (see below) and with respect to the personal data protection provisions.
The members of the Board of Directors of the Entity, and any supervisor towards a subordinate, have an additional obligation to report to the Committee any incident that violates the principles of the Code of Conduct, which has come to their knowledge in any way.
The competent Committee must deal with any report/complaint without delay and within a reasonable time, which must not exceed 10 working days, to conduct an investigation to assess the validity of the report.
In this context, the Committee will conduct interviews with the parties involved individually, as well as potential witnesses, in order to establish whether there has been a violation of the provisions of the Code of Conduct of the Entity.
At the hearing of the parties concerned, the petitioner may present its views on the petition and may submit evidence in support of the petition he/she has submitted.
The Committee may collect and arrange for any additional information and procedure, may request an additional hearing of the parties, and may do whatever judges appropriate for the assessment and examination of the complaint, if the evidence already collected is insufficient.
When examining/evaluating the report, the Committee may request the assistance of the services of the Entity's Legal Adviser, who supports its work.
Upon completion of the investigation, the Committee shall draw up a clear and specific report with its findings/conclusions, which shall be submitted without delay to the Board of the Entity for information and for appropriate action. The Board has in any case the right to make a legal assessment of the facts in accordance with the evidence brought before it, without being bound by the Committee's findings.
If, in particular, the Committee considers/suspects that the reported incident constitutes a criminal offence, it shall explicitly state this in its findings and may forward the file directly to the competent Public Prosecutor or to the Board of Directors, with a recommendation that it be forwarded to the competent Public Prosecutor. The Board shall in any case have the discretion and right to make a legal assessment of the case in accordance with the evidence brought before it.
If the investigation does not produce sufficient evidence, the file shall be closed.
SPECIAL PROCEDURES AND MEASURES TO DEAL WITH NON-ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR:
A behavior is presumed to be structurally/systematically intolerable, in particular when there are more than one report of the same person by more than one or by the same person of the same or similar behavior.
In order to anticipate and prevent the occurrence of unacceptable behavior, the following measures are taken, indicatively:
a. regular training sessions shall take place for all persons covered by the scope of the Code in order to ensure their understanding of and compliance with its provisions and their correct observance of it.
b. information will be provided before each artistic action or event on the content of the Code, the permitted and prohibited behaviors it includes, the reporting mechanisms and a sense of confidentiality and security will be instilled in those who participate.
c. In addition, each newly recruited member shall be specifically informed of his/her obligations and rights as they arise from the present Code.
d. a person will be designated to provide information on the provisions and operation of the Code of Conduct.
CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSES:
Ι. It is stipulated that each report will be thoroughly examined upon submission in order to distinguish between genuine and malicious reports-complaints.
Malicious complaints fall herein as discouraged and unacceptable behavior on a case-by-case basis.
II. It is expressly stated that any reports/complaints shall not be published or come to the knowledge of third parties not involved, in order to protect the privacy of the parties involved,
III. The protection of the petitioner is regulated in order to avoid retaliation against: (non-exhaustive list:)
a. suspension, dismissal, or equivalent measures,
b. demotion or deprivation of promotion,
c. transfer of duties, change of place of work, reduction of salary, change of working hours,
d. deprivation of training,
e. negative performance assessment or negative professional recommendation,
f. imposition or application of a reprimand or other disciplinary measure, including a fine,
g. coercion, intimidation, harassment, or marginalization,
h. discrimination or unfair treatment,
i. non-renewal or early termination of a temporary employment contract,
j. damage, including damage to reputation, in particular on social media, or economic loss, including business loss and loss of income,
k. revocation/cancellation of their license.
APPLICABILITY OF THE CODE
The Code of Ethics and Conduct is widely distributed to the staff of the Entity and is made available to every person/organization that cooperates with it and is available on its website. It shall apply in parallel and in addition to the rules of the Entity and all other regulatory acts governing its operation. It shall be established by a regulatory framework of the Management, after having been unanimously approved by the ETOS Board.
Any amendment thereto can only be made by decision of the Board of Directors and should be communicated immediately to the company's staff and any third person/entity acting on its behalf.
In any case, its provisions shall be reassessed and updated every two years for regular review and modernization. Each revision must be approved by the Management, the ETOS Board and must receive the agreement of the Board of the Employees' Association. If, during the process of drafting and implementing the Code of Conduct, an amendment and modernization issue arises concerning the disciplinary institutional framework, the necessary actions should be initiated on the part of the Entity for the relevant amendment and update of the framework.