HP encourages employees to speak up, ask questions, and report anything that doesn't seem right without fear of retaliation.
Asking questions and reporting concerns
The ethics office encourages employees to seek advice anytime they are uncertain of the best course of action. Guidance is available in the Standards of Business Conduct (SBC), the accompanying quick reference guide and training module, our corporate policy directory, and the ethics and compliance website. Our goal is to increase the amount of counseling provided on ethical issues to prevent possible violations of the SBC. In 2010, we exceeded our target to increase the volume of ethics and compliance consulting matters by 10%.
Our Open Door Policy enables employees to talk to their manager or more senior levels of management if ethics issues arise. Employees can also seek advice from internal ethics and compliance experts or regional or business ethics and compliance liaisons.
When potential violations of law, company policy, or the SBC do occur, we provide formal, confidential communication channels through which employees and third parties can report. These include postal mail, email, and a global 24-hour toll-free hotline with translators available. This line is also accessible to external parties via our website, partner, and supplier portals. Where allowed by law, reporting can be anonymous.
See how to ask a question or report a concern.
Investigating concerns
HP's Global Case Management System records all ethics violations allegations in a worldwide database. The system provides management with access to incident details while protecting personally identifiable information. It also pinpoints locations where higher levels of ethics and compliance-related incidents are being reported, indicating additional action may be needed.
We promptly investigate and respond to all alleged violations. The person submitting a concern usually receives a response within two business days. Investigations led by the HP Litigation Investigations team may be local, regional, or corporate depending on the allegation, and may include members of other relevant functions, as needed. The legal department oversees all escalated, corporate-led investigations. Details and results of investigations are kept confidential to the extent reasonably practical.
Investigation process overview
Items reported to the Global SBC team or other compliance functions
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human resources | 37% |
31% |
34% |
34% |
| Misuse of assets | 20% |
15% |
20% |
17% |
| Fraud | 12% |
16% |
15% |
15% |
| Sales channel violations | 9% |
12% |
4% |
3% |
| Conflicts of interest | 7% |
9% |
6% |
9% |
| Confidentiality | 4% |
3% |
6% |
5% |
| Customer relationships | 1% |
1% |
2% |
3% |
| Financial and public reporting | 1% |
2% | 4% |
4% |
| Competition | 0% |
1% |
1% |
2% |
| Other | 9% |
10% |
8% |
8% |