# Supplier Code of Conduct Template > Source: https://netray.co/tools/supplier-code-of-conduct-template > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Free Tools ## Short answer A supplier code of conduct you can brand and issue, covering labor and human rights, health and safety, ethics, environment and responsible sourcing. ## Category compliance-legal ## Audience - Procurement manager - Supplier quality manager - Compliance officer - Buyer ## Tool **Kind:** template **Output:** document **Fields:** #### Your company **Key:** company **Type:** text **Default:** Acme Precision Ltd #### Code version **Key:** version **Type:** text **Default:** Version 1.0 #### Issue date **Key:** date **Type:** date **Default:** 2026-11-01 #### Reporting contact (email) **Key:** contact **Type:** text **Default:** ethics@example.com #### Audit notice period (days) **Key:** audit_notice **Type:** number **Default:** 10 #### Corrective action response time (days) **Key:** cure_days **Type:** number **Default:** 30 #### Minimum working age policy **Key:** min_age **Type:** select **Options:** - Not below the local legal minimum age and not below 15 - Not below the local legal minimum age and not below 16 - Not below 18 for hazardous work **Default:** Not below the local legal minimum age and not below 15 #### Working hours expectation **Key:** hours **Type:** select **Options:** - Comply with local law and international norms; avoid regular weeks above 60 hours - Comply with local law, with at least one rest day in seven **Default:** Comply with local law and international norms; avoid regular weeks above 60 hours #### Minerals due diligence **Key:** minerals **Type:** select **Options:** - Required where products contain tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold - Not applicable to our products **Default:** Required where products contain tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold **Blocks:** #### {{company}} Supplier Code of Conduct **Body:** {{version}}, issued {{date}}. This Code sets out the standards {{company}} expects from suppliers, their employees, agents and sub-tier suppliers. Suppliers must comply with all applicable laws and, where this Code sets a higher standard, with this Code. #### 1. Labor and Human Rights **Body:** Employment is freely chosen: no forced, bonded, prison or trafficked labor, no withholding of identity documents and no recruitment fees charged to workers. Child labor is prohibited: {{min_age}}. Working hours: {{hours}}. Wages and benefits meet applicable law and are paid on time. No discrimination or harassment, and workers may associate and bargain collectively as the law allows. #### 2. Health and Safety **Body:** Suppliers provide a safe workplace: hazard identification and control, machine guarding, lockout and tagout, emergency exits and drills, fire protection, suitable personal protective equipment, occupational injury reporting and clean sanitation and drinking water. Dormitory housing, where provided, must be safe and sanitary. #### 3. Environment **Body:** Suppliers hold required environmental permits, manage hazardous substances and waste responsibly, control emissions and wastewater, and work to reduce energy use and waste. Products must meet applicable restricted-substance laws that the supplier is told about, such as RoHS or REACH, and the supplier must pass material declarations down its own chain. #### 4. Business Ethics **Body:** Zero tolerance for bribery, corruption, extortion and embezzlement, including facilitation payments. Disclose conflicts of interest. Protect confidential information and intellectual property. Keep accurate business records and do not falsify test data, certificates or traceability. Compete fairly and follow applicable trade, export control and sanctions laws. #### 5. Responsible Sourcing and Product Integrity **Body:** Minerals due diligence: {{minerals}}. Suppliers must source components from authorised channels, take reasonable steps to prevent counterfeit or suspect parts entering products, and keep traceability records to the level required by the purchase order. #### 6. Management Systems and Sub-Tier Suppliers **Body:** Suppliers maintain policies, assigned responsibility, risk assessments, training and corrective action processes sufficient to meet this Code, and communicate its requirements to their own suppliers. #### 7. Monitoring, Audits and Corrective Action **Body:** {{company}} or its representative may assess compliance, including on-site audits on {{audit_notice}} days' notice, except where serious concerns justify shorter notice. Suppliers respond to corrective action requests within {{cure_days}} days. Repeated or serious breaches may lead to reduced business or termination in line with the supply agreement. #### 8. Raising Concerns **Body:** Workers and suppliers can report concerns confidentially to {{contact}}. Retaliation against anyone who reports in good faith is prohibited. #### Supplier Acknowledgement **Body:** By signing, the supplier confirms it has read this Code, will comply, and will tell {{company}} promptly of any significant noncompliance. **Signatures:** - Supplier name and authorised signatory - Date **Notes:** Generic starting point based on common industry frameworks, not legal advice. Align it with your own policies and with the laws that apply to you, such as due diligence, modern slavery or supply chain transparency rules, and have counsel review before making it a contract term. ## Content **Intro:** Customers and auditors increasingly ask what you require of your own suppliers. A written supplier code of conduct answers that question and gives your buyers a single page to attach to purchase orders, onboarding packs and agreements. **Sections:** #### How to use the template **Body:** Fill in your company name, version and issue date, choose the minimum age, working hours and minerals positions that match your policies, and set the audit and corrective action timings. Export to PDF for issue and Word for translation. Attach the Code to supplier onboarding and reference it in purchase order terms so it is part of the contract, then keep the signed acknowledgements with the supplier master record. **Bullets:** - Reference the Code in PO terms or the supply agreement - Collect a signed acknowledgement from each supplier - Translate it for suppliers in other countries - Review it yearly and bump the version number #### What the Code usually contains **Body:** Most codes follow the same pillars as widely used industry frameworks: labor and human rights, health and safety, environment, ethics, and management systems. Manufacturers add responsible sourcing (conflict minerals, counterfeit parts) and product integrity. A Code states expectations; it does not replace the supply agreement, which carries the remedies. Keep language clear and concrete so a factory manager in any country can implement it without a lawyer. #### Making it more than a document **Body:** A Code only helps if you check it. Combine it with a risk-based approach: assess suppliers by country, commodity and spend, use a short self-assessment for most, and visit or audit the highest-risk ones. Record findings and corrective actions against the supplier in your ERP or quality system. Customers and regulators care less about the existence of a policy than about evidence that you acted when a problem appeared. #### Common mistakes **Body:** Frequent errors include copying a large company's Code that is far beyond what your suppliers can meet, so nobody signs it; failing to make it contractual; and having no one own follow-up. Some companies list audits and penalties they never carry out, which weakens credibility. Start with a realistic code, communicate it, and add depth where your customers or laws require more. **Cta:** If you want supplier acknowledgements, audit findings and corrective actions linked to your supplier records in the ERP, we can show how that could be set up. **Faq:** #### Is a supplier code of conduct legally binding? **Answer:** Only if it becomes part of the contract, for example by reference in the supply agreement or purchase order terms and by supplier acknowledgement. On its own it is a statement of expectations. Ask counsel how to incorporate it in your jurisdiction. #### Which standards do these codes usually draw on? **Answer:** Many follow themes found in the Responsible Business Alliance Code of Conduct, ILO core conventions and the UN Guiding Principles. This template is generic and does not reproduce any of them, so check the source documents if you need to align with a named framework. #### Do small suppliers need to sign it? **Answer:** Customers often apply it to all active suppliers, but risk-based scoping is reasonable. Start with strategic and high-risk suppliers, then widen. The key is that every supplier you require to comply has actually received and acknowledged it. #### How do I handle conflict minerals? **Answer:** If your products contain tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold, many customers expect supplier due diligence and reporting using standard templates. The Code can require cooperation. The actual process is separate and usually driven by the legal rules that apply to you or your customers. ## Search terms supplier code of conduct template, vendor code of conduct sample, supplier ethics policy template, responsible sourcing policy manufacturing, supplier code of conduct word, supplier acknowledgement form, conflict minerals supplier policy --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json