WNS ESG: Ethics, Integrity, and Compliance Practices

Home

At WNS, responsibility for sustainability starts at the top – with our Board actively overseeing our sustainability strategies and progress against related commitments – and cascades throughout the business. We believe strong independent leadership is essential for the Board to perform its functions effectively and to help ensure independent oversight of management. Board oversight of sustainability-related issues is pivotal in driving our sustainability agenda ahead. The Nominating and Corporate Governance & Environment, Social and Governance (NCG & ESG) Committee oversee all sustainability-related strategies, policies, commitments and initiatives.

Our Board’s diverse composition, spanning experiences, cultures, ethnicities, races and genders, facilitates the integration of diverse perspectives into our business strategy. This commitment to diversity not only signals our dedication to inclusivity but also ensures well-informed decision-making from both business and sustainability perspectives. Ultimately, our diverse Board inspires a culture of innovation that makes us a successful and socially responsible business.

Policies and Programs

We aim to inculcate and nurture qualities in our employees that promote a just, equitable, fair and responsible work environment. The policies that we have instituted offer clarity on our expectations of good and ethical conduct in business from employees. They reflect and reinforce our corporate values and act as guardrails against missteps.

The policies that apply to our employees are:

Code of Business Ethics and Conduct (CoBEC)

CoBEC sets the ethical standards for the business and defines the contours of the operating framework for the compliance program. At an operational level, CoBEC prescribes principles and practices that the company and our employees must follow. There is a strong flavour of CoBEC in the Human Rights Policy, Client Gift and Entertainment Guidelines, Supplier Governance framework and Know Your Business Partner evaluation standards, among others.

Our employees provide an annual sign-off on CoBEC, which includes a declaration and an undertaking to adhere to the compliance standards, as a part of their employment terms and conditions. CoBEC is the overarching compliance policy that also underpins other areas of compliance oversight, including:

Reporting, accounting and financial records
Conflict of interest (for more details on mitigation strategies and measures implemented by our organization, (CoBEC)
Anti-money laundering
Insider trading
Prevention of sexual harassment and discrimination
Information security

For more information, please refer to our policy.

Whistleblower Policy and Mechanism

WNS empowers its associates to flag issues around non-compliance with rules and regulations, fraud or deficiencies. Complaints are given their due and dealt with expeditiously and complainants are protected from harassment. A complainant can bring an issue to the notice of the appropriate authority anonymously. All complaints are reviewed under the direction of the Audit Committee with oversight provided by the company’s General Counsel, internal audit manager or other designated individuals as deemed appropriate.

For more information, please refer to our policy.

Supplier Code of Conduct

WNS is committed to protecting human rights and prohibiting child labor or forced labor, not only in its business but also in the entire value chain. The undertone of our Responsible Sourcing agenda is about ensuring good governance in the supply chain as well.

As an extension of our commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) toward fair labor practices, the procurement team leads the initiatives under the supply management function. The team ensures transparency and accountability of the supplier toward the prevention of modern slavery, bribery and corruption in the supply chain. This is achieved through an annual self-assessment and awareness program designed to achieve supplier compliance with WNS governance standards. The above principles are amply articulated in the WNS Supplier Code of Conduct and is integrated into the supplier management function, through contractual obligation and with a mandatory consent as a prerequisite for supplier onboarding.

For more information, please refer to our policy.