Last Updated: September 1, 2024
Why This Matters We’re committed to doing our work with complete honesty and fairness. This policy helps us spot and handle any conflicts of interest or political bias that might get in the way of that commitment.
Who Needs to Follow This Everyone working with us — from board members and full-time staff to contractors and partners — needs to understand and follow these guidelines.
Our Basic Principles We believe in:
- Putting our mission first, before personal interests
- Being open about potential conflicts
- Staying free from political pressure
- Making decisions based on facts, not favorites
What Counts as a Conflict? Sometimes our personal lives can bump up against our work responsibilities. Here are some examples:
- Having financial connections to companies we work with or compete against
- Holding a political office while working with us
- Playing favorites in hiring or choosing vendors
- Taking gifts that might influence our decisions
How We Handle Conflicts Being open about potential conflicts is crucial:
- If you spot a potential conflict, tell our compliance team right away compliance.team@factcheck.by
- We’ll look at each situation carefully and figure out the best way to handle it
- Everyone needs to declare any possible conflicts once a year
- We keep careful records of all this information (but keep it private and secure)
Staying Politically Neutral We take political neutrality seriously:
- Don’t use our organization’s name for political endorsements
- Keep our resources separate from political campaigns
- Regular training helps everyone understand how to stay neutral and fair
When Things Go Wrong We need to take action when these rules aren’t followed:
- Not telling us about conflicts can lead to disciplinary action
- Breaking our political neutrality rules might mean losing your position
- If you disagree with how we’ve handled something, you can appeal to our compliance team compliance.team@factcheck.by
Keeping Current We review this policy every year to make sure it’s still working well and meets all legal requirements.