Since January 2008, the Group has invited its suppliers to become involved and work in cooperation, by signing a Responsible Purchasing Charter. This enables Le Groupe La Poste to share its values of openness, fairness, solidarity and societal development and to involve its service providers in a common process of progress. In addition to the commitment for both the Group and the service provider to respect the fundamental laws and international regulations, the Charter encourages the exchange of good practices and sometimes the contracting of progress plans.
By signing the charter, the successful provider agrees to respect the principles of the Global Compact and the eight fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)(1). The provider must not only comply with “the relevant social and environmental regulations”, but also “put in place actions aimed at moving closer to the best practices in its profession”. The supplier also undertakes to ensure compliance with these principles “throughout its supply chain, including in countries that are not signatories of the ILO Conventions where it may be required to work”. La Poste therefore recommends that its partners distribute the charter to their own sub-contractors.
Any organisation can ask to be listed with the Purchasing Department via the supplier portal of Le Groupe La Poste. La Poste is aware of its responsibility in the national economy. It is committed to using the services of SMEs and signed the "SME Agreement” as a founding member in 2004. La Poste has also signed the charter “10 commitments for responsible purchasing” (28 June 2010) and the “Public companies charter to promote the emergence and development of Innovative SMEs” (18 December 2012).
Through these commitments, La Poste recognises that SMEs can deliver real gains in competitive edge. La Poste devotes almost one-quarter of its purchases to SMEs, or almost 40% including companies of intermediate size. To avoid any risk of supplier dependence, La Poste monitors the ratio of La Poste turnover to supplier turnover. It encourages suppliers to look for new customers.
La Poste is not legally required to purchase services from the IAE sector (integration through employment). However, it has put in place an active approach as a player committed to national economic and social development.
On 19 June 2017, La Poste won the gold medal in the 11th Purchasing awards in the category, “Buyer, sustainable and responsible purchasing” for the creation of a labour pool with temporary employment agencies promoting integration through employment.
● Purchases from the social and solidarity economy totalled €26 million, compared with €21.9 million in 2017: €18.2 million for the EA and €7.9 million for the AE. The overall increase compared with 2016 is 19%.
● The Group’s aim is to reach an annual figure of €30 million with the SSE in 2020.
Stakeholders involved in the purchasing action undertake to contribute with the buyer to strict compliance with the rules and ethics of purchasing. This results in the application of the regulatory texts governing La Poste's purchases (European Directives).
The new Purchasing IS put in place by Le Groupe La Poste provides real-time traceability of the process followed by purchasing files.
Suppliers are selected and assessed on the basis of pre-set, explicit criteria. La Poste undertakes to respect the confidential nature of the information provided by suppliers.
Le Groupe La Poste is committed to an organised Ethics procedure. It has also implemented a policy of prevention of corruption and to do so, has defined rules for its employees. Several documents make up the anti-corruption kit distributed by the Group:
● The Group’s Anti-corruption policy;
● The “Gifts and invitations” policy and its instructions for use.
The recommended practices apply in the relationship with the different partners of the Group.
(1): The 8 core ILO Conventions cover forced labour, freedom of association and protection of the right to organise and bargain, equal compensation, the abolition of forced labour, discrimination, the minimum age for admission to employment and the worst forms of child labour.