Prevention of discrimination, sexual and workplace harassment (3.2.1. ISDJ)

Regulatory framework for rejecting discrimination, sexual harassment and workplace harassment 

1. Code of Ethics and Conduct (3.1.3.1 DJSI – public policies against discrimination and harassment across the group) 

The Code of Ethics and Conduct is a compendium of rules that define the standards of behavior expected by the organization and guide the way Ecopetrol S.A., the companies that make up the Group and all the recipients of the Code proceed, under the ethical principle of Integrity and its promoters: commitment to life, respect, transparency, responsibility and honesty. 

This Code also contains a guide to conduct, real situations, warning signs and frequently asked questions to achieve a better understanding and internalization of the ethical principle of Integrity and its promoters. 

The Code was prepared taking into account the applicable regulatory framework, national and international standards, references of companies in the Oil & Gas sector worldwide, good practice guides, evaluations of ethical and compliance issues, and the results of surveys with workers. Its approval was made by the Board of Directors. 

2. Code of Ethics and Conduct for suppliers, contractors, subcontractors and partners (3.1.3.1. DJSI - public policies against discrimination and harassment across the group) 

The Code of Ethics and Conduct for suppliers, contractors, subcontractors and allies sets out the mandatory ethical and conduct guidelines that define the day-to-day procedure for all natural or legal persons identified as suppliers or contractors, subcontractors and allies, in addition to the natural or legal persons that these groups link under any modality for the execution of the activities derived from the contractual relations with the Ecopetrol Group along the value chain. 

This Code guides the way in which stakeholders proceed under the ethical principle of Integrity and its promoters: commitment to life, respect, transparency, responsibility and honesty. 

The Code makes explicit the expected behaviors in terms of respect and rejects any form of discrimination (3.1.3.1. DJSI Zero Tolerance for Discrimination Policy) 

1. Ecopetrol Group Code of Ethics and Conduct 

Integrity: the starting point and the drivers that build it 

At the Ecopetrol Group, we have five drivers of integrity: commitment to life, respect, transparency, responsibility and honesty. The drivers of integrity, binding and enforceable, focus our journey on the path to excellence. As recipients of this Code, it is our duty to follow these drivers:  

Respect, accepting and recognizing differences without disparagement or discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, nationality, origin, level of education, sociocultural situation, religion, worldview or other characteristics of our diversity. 

Unwavering against discrimination, guaranteeing a gender approach and diversity 

The processes and procedures of any kind that are carried out in the Ecopetrol Group must be characterized by non-discrimination and the rejection of any conduct that impedes, obstructs or restricts the full exercise of the rights of people due to their ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or other characteristic of their diversity. For this reason, we encourage ourselves to seek inclusive language, avoiding terms that may be exclusionary, discriminatory or violent, recognizing within the equity approach the particular differences and risks to which certain groups may be susceptible.  

We foster, through our procedures and practices, a work environment that celebrates diversity in all its forms and encourages equal participation in decision-making and equal opportunities for all the people who make up this Group. 

We respect human rights (HR) 

At the Ecopetrol Group we know, respect and actively promote human rights through the following actions: 

• Compliance with applicable local and international standards relating to fair labour practices and human rights, including prohibitions on forced or child labour. 

• Voluntary Signing of the United Nations Global Compact: an initiative that promotes the commitment of the private sector, the public sector and civil society, to align their strategies and operations with ten universally accepted principles in four thematic areas (human rights, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption). 

• Understanding and support for the development of communities that are considered allies in the management, prevention and, when necessary, mitigation and remediation of the negative impacts generated by the operation on people. 

We share the conviction that business practices that ensure respect for human rights contribute to the generation of a more stable, equitable, inclusive global market that fosters more prosperous and developed societies. 

1. Code of Ethics and Conduct for suppliers, contractors, subcontractors and partners  

Integrity: the starting point and the drivers that build it 

At the Ecopetrol Group, we have five drivers of integrity: commitment to life, respect, transparency, responsibility and honesty. The drivers of integrity, binding and enforceable, focus our journey on the path to excellence. As recipients of this Code, it is our duty to follow these drivers:  

Respect, accepting and recognizing differences without disparagement or discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, nationality, origin, level of education, sociocultural situation, religion, worldview or other characteristics of our diversity. 

We strongly reject these behaviors that impact human rights, affecting the well-being, security, dignity and integrity of people.  

Ecopetrol has a Guide for the Prevention and Attention of Sexual Harassment and/or Discrimination in the Workplace, which addresses these situations comprehensively and provides protection, confidentiality and tools that avoid revictimization, in addition to covering all measures to promote a safe environment for victims. 

As recipients of this Code, we must have our own procedures that ensure the prevention and proper management of these situations. Under this understanding, we are obliged to have a protocol for attention, management and solution, which must be part of our internal control and risk system.   

Unwavering against discrimination, guaranteeing a gender approach and diversity 

The addressees of this Code strive for the development of processes and procedures that are characterized by non-discrimination and the rejection of any conduct that impedes, obstructs or restricts the full exercise of the rights of individuals due to their ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age or other characteristic of their diversity. For this reason, we encourage the search for inclusive language, avoiding terms that may be exclusive, discriminatory or violent, recognizing, within the equity approach, the particular differences and risks to which certain groups may be susceptible, in addition, we eliminate barriers and promote inclusion in the work environment and in the relationship with our stakeholders. 

The code of ethics also highlights the rejection of any form of Sexual Harassment (3.1.3.1 DJSI Explicit Declaration of Prohibition of Sexual Harassment) 

1. Ecopetrol Group Code of Ethics and Conduct 

We do not allow workplace or sexual harassment or sexual violence 

Workplace harassment refers to persistent and demonstrable conduct, exercised on an employer, a boss or immediate or intermediate hierarchical superior, a co-worker or a subordinate, aimed at instilling fear, intimidation, terror and anguish, causing work damage, generating demotivation at work or inducing the resignation of the worker. 

 Sexual harassment is the behavior of a person that can be verbal, gestural, physical contact and insinuation, consisting of sexual observations, exhibition of pornography and verbal sexual demands or facts that affect the dignity of another person, these acts being unwanted and offensive to the recipient. 

Sexual violence occurs with any act of aggression or non-consensual sexual conduct that causes physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual harm; for example, sexual abuse, unwanted physical contact, touching, physical approaches, physical sexual harassment, rape, or any other type of sexual coercion.  

1. Code of Ethics and Conduct for suppliers, contractors, subcontractors and partners  

We do not allow workplace or sexual harassment or sexual violence 

Workplace harassment refers to persistent and demonstrable conduct, exercised on a worker by an employer, boss or immediate or intermediate hierarchical superior, a co-worker or a subordinate, aimed at instilling fear, intimidation, terror and anguish, causing labor damage, generating demotivation at work or inducing the resignation of the worker. 

 Sexual harassment is the behavior of any recipient of this Code, including personnel associated with any of them, which may be: verbal, gestural, physical contact and innuendo, consisting of sexual remarks, obscene language, display of pornography, sexist jokes and comments, and verbal or de facto sexual demands that affect the dignity of another person,  these acts being unwanted and offensive to the recipient.  

Sexual violence occurs with any act of aggression or non-consensual sexual conduct that causes physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual harm, for example, sexual abuse, unwanted physical contact, touching, physical approaches, physical sexual harassment, rape, or any other type of sexual coercion.  

2. Human Rights and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policies: 

Ecopetrol's management is aligned with eight principles of the Human Rights Guide: Due Diligence, Reparation, Transversality, Complementarity, Collaborative Work, Differential Approach, Territorial Approach and Continuous Improvement. The company emphasizes refraining from violating the human rights of third parties and avoids any negative consequences on the human rights in which it is involved. This involves identifying, assessing, addressing and monitoring human rights risks to ensure responsible business conduct in their activities and supply chain, in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles and Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) standards. Ecopetrol also addresses the adverse human rights impacts it identifies, providing compensation or remediation as needed. 

Diversity and Inclusion Policy 

Human Rights Policy 

3. Law 1010 of 2006 on workplace harassment and Guide of the Labor Coexistence Committee (3.1.3.1 DJSI Explicit Declaration of Prohibition of Workplace Harassment - Non-sexual harassment) 

With Law 1010 of 2006, the Colombian State seeks to protect labor relations from situations that attack human dignity, whose framework of action is both inside the company and outside it. Our function as an organization, based on current regulations, includes informing, preventing and correcting any form of conduct that may constitute any of the forms of workplace harassment established in the Law. At Ecopetrol S.A., in compliance with the provisions of the standard, we have the Labor Coexistence Committee, which aims for a healthy work environment in the organization and to overcome the situations that may arise of conflicts in the context of labor relations; the resolution of conflicts is sought through the establishment of agreements in favor of those involved. If agreements are not reached, the cases are transferred to other bodies that are responsible for verifying the situations denounced and imposing possible sanctions, such as the Attorney General's Office in the case of the workers of Ecopetrol S.A.  

The Labor Coexistence Committee of Ecopetrol S.A. promotes Respect, Impartiality, Tolerance, Serenity, Attitude of Dialogue and Conciliation that tend to the improvement of Labor Coexistence in a total environment of Confidentiality. In this sense, improvement plans are built agreed upon by those involved, follow-up on them, and closure of cases with the aim of building human relationships with mutual well-being.  

The organization rejects any form of workplace harassment also developed in accordance with the regulatory framework of the country of operation. In the case of Colombia, in accordance with Law 1010 of 2006, the following types of workplace harassment are contemplated:  

Labor abuse: Any act of violence against the physical or moral integrity, physical or sexual freedom and property of the person who works as an employee or worker. This group includes physical, verbal or moral abuse.  

Verbal abuse: It is any insulting or outrageous verbal expression that harms the moral integrity or the rights to privacy and good name of those who participate in a labor relationship, or any behavior that tends to undermine the self-esteem and dignity of those who participate in a labor relationship.  

Labor persecution: Any conduct whose characteristics of evident arbitrariness seek to induce the resignation of the employee or worker, through disqualification, excessive workload and permanent changes in schedule that may produce work demotivation.  

Employment discrimination: Any differentiated treatment for reasons of race, gender, age, family or national origin, religious belief, political preference or social situation that lacks any reasonableness from the labor point of view.  

Labor hindrance: Any action aimed at hindering the fulfillment of the work or making it more burdensome or delaying it to the detriment of the worker or employee.  

Labor inequity: Refers to the assignment of functions to the detriment of the worker.  

Lack of labor protection: Any conduct that tends to put the integrity and safety of the worker at risk through orders or assignment of functions without compliance with the minimum requirements of protection and safety for the worker.  

Preventive management measures and action against discrimination and sexual harassment  

Prevention 

1. Trainings for all staff on discrimination and harassment in the workplace and other Stakeholders (GoI) (3.1.3.2 DJSI – Training for all staff on discrimination and harassment in the workplace) 

Ecopetrol annually conducts training on the prevention of discrimination, sexual harassment, workplace harassment and prevention of gender-based violence, among other topics that reinforce the prevention of discrimination and harassment in the workplace.