Supplier Standards: Discrimination Policies
A business typically relies on other businesses for goods or services. These businesses are referred to as suppliers or vendors, and the activity between businesses is referred to as Business-to-Business, or B2B.
In order to ensure that suppliers act in a manner that adheres to a business' own standards, many businesses establish standards of conduct that set expectations for behavior of their suppliers. This is especially important for businesses that rely on suppliers in other countries.
Many businesses include expectations of non-discrimination in their supplier standards.
Nondiscrimination
IBM Suppliers will not discriminate in hiring and employment practices on grounds of race, religion, age, nationality, social or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, political affiliation, or disability.
-- "IBM Supplier Conduct Principles: Guidelines" [PDF] [www-03.ibm.com] obtained March 2008
Such standards should require a supplier to prove or otherwise verify that it does in fact adhere to the non-discrimination standards.
