Integrity is WT’s most important core value and business philosophy. The Group’s executives and employees must abide by clear moral standards and code of conduct, and do their utmost to fulfill WT’s commitments to shareholders, banks, customers, employees, vendors and other suppliers. It is also the core requirement for WT to gain competitive advantage and act correctly.
In 2020, WT formulated the Social Policies and Code of Conduct, United Nations Anti-Corruption Policies, and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Policies. In 2023, it released Anti-corruption, Anti-bribery and Anti-money laundering Policies, and revised the Ethical Corporate Management Best Practice Principles in line with global corporate governance and anticorruption
concepts and frameworks. The social policies and codes of conduct apply to the Board members, the Group’s employees, independent contractors, suppliers, and all those who do business with WT.The Ethical Corporate Management Best Practice Principles, Procedures for Ethical Management and Guidelines for Conduct, Codes of Ethical Conduct, and Supplier Code of Conduct that the Board has adopted are available in either the Corporate Governance section or Sustainability Report section of the Company’s official website and the Intranet in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and English. Information on Ethical Values and Professional Code of Conduct and Insider Trading Prevention Education and Advocacy are made available on the Intranet for all employees’ reference. In addition, relevant personnel are also appointed to participate in lectures and symposiums held by industrial associations or professional groups, so as to strengthen the Group’s ethical operation policies.
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Social Policy and Code of Conduct
Regular refresher training on Code of Conduct to raise integrity awareness among all employees
An annual refresher training is given to all employees of the Group to ensure they are aware of applicable rules and regulations. In 2023, a total of 2,566note in-service employees were required to receive refresher training and 224 new hires to receive on-board training on Ethical Values and Code of Conduct. All of them have completed the course and passed the test (100% pass rate), with an accumulated attendance of ethical management training reaching 1,486.5 hours.
Note: After the merger with Excelpoint in 2022, the management systems are set to be integrated in phases, and the ethical management training is scheduled to be integrated in 2024.
WT conducts annual ethical management training for its employees, including full-time staff, contract workers, and subcontractor personnel. In 2023, the training covered 2,790 full-time staff members (accounting for 99.47%) and 15 subcontractor personnel (accounting for 0.53%). As of December 31, 2023, there were no contract workers in the company, resulting in no training participation from this category.
Promoting integrity management across departments to ensure implementation
To improve ethical management, the Ethical Management Team was jointly formed by HR, Legal and Auditing office, and headed by the Chief Human Resources Officer. Each department is responsible for making ethical management policies, formulating and implementing relevant measures, and handling reporting procedures within their functions and responsibilities to ensure the implementation of the Ethical Corporate Management Best Practice Principles.
WT has a complete and effective mechanism in the internal control system to reduce the probability of risk occurrence. Each operating unit conducts self-assessment with regard to business activities and operating procedures highly exposed to dishonest behaviors, and reviews risks in the operating procedures through internal controls. If a change in internal control system is necessary, the audit team will be notified of the adjustment. The internal auditors are informed of risk assessment results to prioritize high-risk operations among items in the annual audit plans and strengthen preventive measures. The audit execution results are presented to regular Board meetings, and the Company’s annual internal control self-assessment requires each department and subsidiary to self-assess the internal control system to ensure the effectiveness of the design and implementation of the system.
The Ethical Management Team reports the results of the previous year’s ethical management implementation to the Board every year. At the Board meeting on January 31, 2024, training on Ethical Values and Code of Conduct, status of professional ethical violation reports, and prevention of insider trading were reported to assist the Board in evaluating whether the ethical management prevention measures established by the Company are operating effectively.
No involvement in political-related initiatives and no political donations
WT has not made any direct or indirect donations to political activities, political parties/associations/NGOs, politically related organizations, individual politicians, or other voting/referendum initiatives in the past five years. The amount of political donations has been NT$0. In addition, WT has not lobbied on specific issues or conducted related activities with interest representative groups.
Compliance with laws and regulations
WT strictly abides by all applicable laws and regulations at each operating location. As of the end of 2023, the Taiwan headquarters was fined NT$50,000 in accordance with Article 24 of the Labor Standards Act after a labor inspection discovered failure to timely complete the handling of an overtime application. Subsequently, the management was reminded to fulfill their management obligations and care for employees at all levels. The working hours management
and overtime tracking mechanisms were strengthened, attention is paid to employees’ labor rights and physical and mental health protection. No violation of laws or regulations were found in economic aspect (investment, securities, taxation, etc.), environmental aspect (air pollution, wastewater, waste, etc.), or social aspect (human rights, disabilities, injuries, etc.) in any operating sites, and thus no resulting penalties from the competent authorities.
Whistle-blower ID and the investigation process are kept highly confidential
WT has a whistle-blowing system specified by the provisions of Article 23 of the Ethical Corporate Management Best Practice Principles and Article 21 of the Procedures for Ethical Management and Guidelines for Conduct. Anyone who suspects or discovers a violation should take the initiative to report it to Independent Directors, supervisors, internal audit supervisor or other appropriate person.
WT’s whistleblower channels include an internal whistleblower mailbox and a whistleblower section on the official website for whistleblowers to report illegal conduct of company personnel. The Auditing Office is responsible for accepting external reports, forwarding them to the heads of relevant units for investigation, and following them up until the cases are closed. The identity of the whistleblower, the content of the report, and the investigation process are all kept confidential. A complete record of the case acceptance, investigation process, and results is kept for five years. In addition, an independent hotline, dedicated mailbox, and special handling procedures have been set up for sexual harassment complaints in order to protect the privacy of the complainant. A serious breach of integrity is subject to removal or dismissal in accordance with relevant laws or management regulations, depending on the circumstances of the case.
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Reporting Channels Mail to “14F.,No.738, Zhongzheng Rd.,Zhonghe Dist., New Taipei City 235603 , Taiwan (R.O.C.)” WT Website：”Report Ethical Violation in the Workplace“ |
Receiving Unit Auditing Office |
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