Ethics

Communication on Progress 2005

During 2000, Pearson, along with other companies, signed a 'global compact' at the United Nations which sets out a series of principles on labour standards, human rights and the environment. Since 2001 we have put in place our commitments and ways to monitor our performance against these principles, and have reported on our progress.

Some of the Global Compact principles concern the environment and are covered by our environmental policy. One principle relates to anti-corruption and our Code of Conduct describes the standards that we set ourselves in that area. Others refer to labour standards and human rights. They are:

Labour standards

• Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.
• The elimination of all forms of compulsory labour.
• The abolition of child labour.
• The elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation.

Human rights

• To support and respect international human rights within our sphere of influence.
• To ensure that we are not complicit in human rights abuses.

The report on our progress describes how our guidelines reflect the UN principles and show the progress made against our key commitments in 2005.

Board responsibility

David Bell, as director for people, is the board director with overall responsibility for these issues.