The Jazzfest ethics

The Trondheim Jazz Festival's reputation depends on the entire organization's professionalism and skill, and a high level of ethics. It is therefore expected that everyone acts with care, honesty and objectivity, and refrains from actions that may weaken confidence in the foundation.

The ethical guidelines apply to everyone who is employed, engaged or has a position in Jazzfest, including board members and volunteers, collectively referred to as employees.

The ethical guidelines are a summary of what we expect of ourselves in the areas of human rights, sustainability, working environment and reputation.

Trondheim Jazz Festival (Jazzfest) will show responsibility in how we run our business and responsibility in our contributions to the society around us.

1. Purpose
Our ethical guidelines should be a guideline for our daily activities.

The guidelines clarify the principles that form the basis of our role as employer, employee and communicator of culture at a high artistic level.

2. Human rights
As a cultural arena, we have a special responsibility to respect and contribute to respect for human rights in our own activities. Jazzfest's employees will treat everyone they come in contact with through their work with courtesy and respect.

Employees must refrain from behavior that may have a negative impact on colleagues, the work environment or the public. This includes any form of harassment, discrimination or other conduct that may be perceived as threatening or degrading. Our staff must respect human rights in accordance with the UN's guiding principles.

3. Sustainability
All employees are expected to comply with our routines for collecting, sorting and recycling waste, routines for reducing paper consumption, and taking environmental considerations into account when traveling on business.

We work to leave the least possible environmental footprint, and seek to be environmentally conscious in our purchasing, waste management and energy consumption.

4. Working environment
Trondheim Jazz Festival is a modern cultural arena where employees, project staff and volunteers are our most important resource. It is crucial that all employees have a good physical and psychosocial work environment.

Trondheim Jazz Festival has zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment on the basis of gender, gender identity, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation or age.

We must show each other respect and act professionally and kindly towards everyone, be it colleagues, the public, public authorities and competitors. Jazzfest employees should never act condescendingly.

It is important that all employees are involved in the development of the organization and decisions that are important for their everyday work.

To succeed, everyone must take responsibility for creating the work environment we want, including saying no if you observe that colleagues are treated or treat others in violation of our principles.

5. Diversity
We consider it a strength and a competitive advantage that we are different. We value our employees' differences and different advantages, be it differences in background, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age and not least different skills and competence.

6. Ethics / compliance
Adherence to our ethical guidelines is an individual responsibility for everyone in Jazzfest. This of course means complying with the principles of our daily work, but also saying no in the event of a breach.

In the event of suspicion of undesirable incidents or objectionable conditions in the business, including breaches of our ethical guidelines, notification is encouraged in accordance with our notification routines. Our notification routines must ensure that notification is investigated, followed up quickly and properly.

Everyone in the organization must act in accordance with the highest ethical standards for our business, and is encouraged to report any breaches of the guidelines to the immediate superior or general manager.

Training and compliance with our ethical guidelines is a management responsibility. The general manager has a special responsibility to ensure that the employees are guided in, understand the relevance of and act in accordance with the guidelines in force at any given time in our daily activities.

7. Duty of confidentiality
All employees have a duty of confidentiality regarding operations, contracts and other matters of an internal and confidential nature in connection with the engagement, unless they have a right or duty to provide information by law.

Information about partners shall be treated as confidential when it is probable that dissemination may harm the partner.

8. Loyalty, impartiality and conflict of interest
All employees have a duty of loyalty to the organization, and shall not participate in the processing or decision of cases where there is a conflict of interest or other circumstances that are suitable for weakening confidence in the employee's independence. In such cases, no influence must be exercised on others. Conflicts of interest may include, among others, customers, suppliers, employees and related parties.

In the event of a conflict of interest, employees must on their own initiative assess the situation and notify the supervisor of incapacity or conflict of interest.

9. Private matters
Engagement in external positions and positions must not have a scope or be of such a nature that it affects the employment relationship or conflicts with the organization's business interests.

Employees of Jazzfest may not, without the employer's consent, work, hold board positions in or operate or hold / have an interest in companies that conduct competing activities.

Positions of trust, for example in political activities and trade unions, shall be performed in accordance with law and agreements, and shall be arranged so that there is as little inconvenience as possible for the organization.

10. Notification / information about violation
Jazzfest has developed a procedure for notifying of unwanted incidents and objectionable conditions in the organization.

Notification shall be made either to the immediate superior or general manager. Notification of matters worthy of criticism in which the general manager or others in the administration are involved shall be made in writing to the chairman of the board or deputy chairman.

Notification shall take place when there are matters worthy of criticism that are in conflict with legal rules, ethical guidelines or ethical norms to which there is broad support in society, for example matters that may involve:

• Comply with laws and regulations that are relevant to the business
• Take care of the organization's resources in the most economical and rational way.
• Refrain from actions that may weaken trust in the organization or the organization business.
• Refrain from abuse of power, physical violence, bullying, harassment, freezing and sexual harassment. By harassment and sexual harassment is meant acts, omissions, unwanted attention or utterances that have the purpose or effect of being offensive, intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or harassing.

Everyone covered by the guidelines has:

• responsibility to act professionally, treat everyone they come in contact with through their work with courtesy and respect, and refrain from any form of communication, action or treatment that may be perceived as offensive.
• responsibility for carrying out its tasks in an ethically sound manner, and to act in such a way that it does not damage the organization's reputation.
• responsibility to avoid getting into situations that could lead to conflicts between self-interests and the organization's interests.

11. Communication and statements in the media.
How we communicate externally is important for our reputation and how we are perceived. All external communication and statements on behalf of the festival to the press and media, shall only be made by the general manager or chairman of the board.

In the case of private utterance or communication, including the use of social media, employees must exercise extra caution and not express themselves in such a way that it may damage the organization's reputation. In case of press contact, always politely refer to the general manager or chairman of the board.

12. Drugs and addiction problems
Limited amounts of alcohol can be served when local customs and special occasions make this appropriate. Abuse of drugs in a work context is not accepted.

The guidelines were adopted at a board meeting on 14.02.2022.