Benefits, retirement and savings

Benefits

Our full-time and part-time team members are eligible for competitive benefits coverage, including health care, online virtual health care, disability, travel, critical illness, life and accident insurance coverage, and a variety of optional benefits are available for purchase at attractive group rates.

Building on the improvements and additional options rolled out last year, our benefits enhancements for 2024 continue to focus on flexibility, inclusion and wellness. New family planning benefits are available to support team members who may require assistance in starting or growing their family. Coverage for adoption and surrogacy (up to a lifetime maximum of $15,000) was added to the medical options (Basic, Standard and Plus). Additional coverage for fertility treatments (up to a lifetime maximum of $5,000) is included in addition to the current $15,000 lifetime maximum for fertility drug coverage.

We continue to offer the gender affirmation benefit under the medical plan in order to increase access and provide financial support (up to a lifetime maximum of $20,000) to plan members and their families throughout their transitioning process. Psychoeducators is a new category added as an eligible practitioner for unlimited mental health coverage. Additionally, more expenses are eligible for coverage under the Lifestyle Account to provide reimbursement of insurance costs, such as home and auto insurance and pet insurance.

Retirement and savings

Most recently, to address the diverse needs of our team members, we increased flexibility by adding two new savings options: a Group First Home Savings Account (Group FHSA) and a Short-term Tax Free Savings Account (Short-term TFSA). The Group FHSA allows first-time home buyers to save up to $40,000 on a tax-free basis, with an $8,000 annual contribution limit to a maximum of 15 years. Contributions are tax deductible, like an RRSP, and withdrawals to purchase a first home would be non-taxable, like a TFSA. The Short-term TFSA allows employees to save money for their short-term needs, such as an emergency saving fund or to pay-off debt (like a student loan). Both savings options offer a choice of investment options, including those to help secure account balances against market fluctuations.

DC pension plan members aged 55 and over can start drawing a retirement income directly from the plan after departure from Bell. In addition, they have the opportunity to transfer external registered savings and consolidate their retirement assets on one platform. As a result, they can invest all of their retirement savings in the same fund options they accessed during their career at Bell, allowing them to benefit from our low administration and investment management fees.

In 2023, we contributed, directly or through our pension plans surpluses, an estimated value of $220 million in accrued benefits to the 40,000 active participants in our DB and DC pension plans. With respect to our 50,000 pensioners and beneficiaries across the country, they have received pension payments of $1.2 billion over the past year. Our retirees can also access a wide range of benefits to support their health and well-being after their career at Bell. In the MyFuture Marketplace, team members can buy medical, dental, travel and life insurance plans designed specifically for retirees and provided by some of Canada's leading insurance companies.

For summary tables of our Benefits plans and Retirements and savings plans see our ESG data summary.

Bell’s Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP)

Accessible and mobile, Bell's Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) is available confidentially 24-hours a day and free of charge to support employees in making meaningful changes that improve their lives and work. It aims to prioritize mental well-being through a modern and proactive approach. The easy to navigate page includes self-guided programs, toolkits and training that support mental health.

Bell highlights the EFAP on the updated Mental health and well-being intranet page. Here, team members will also find information about unlimited mental health support benefits coverage, spotlight pages that highlight and resources on work-life harmony, substance use support and mindfulness, including the 5-minute mindfulness sessions that are available three times a day in both English and French.

Pay equity

This overall approach aims to help us attract, engage and retain the talent, skills and resources we need to drive growth, innovation and success in a highly competitive market. Total compensation also aligns individual employee performance with our strategic imperatives and financial results to generate value for our customers, team members and shareholders.

Our goal is to provide equitable compensation based on skills, role, performance and the external market, regardless of gender, age, disability, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, cultural heritage or creed.

In support of pay equity and in addition to our many diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Bell strives to comply with all relevant government laws and legislation, including the federal Employment Equity Act, as well as federal and provincial pay equity requirements.

Health & Safety

Protecting the health and safety of our team members and our customers is our top priority. Neglecting health and safety may result in increased lost-time incidents and costs, decreased employee engagement, operational disruption, reduced profitability, and risk of prosecution. At Bell, there is nothing more important than to have every team member return home safely at the end of each day.

Bell strives to provide a healthy and safe workplace for all team members, as it is an integral part of the way we do business. Dedication and leadership bring health and safety to the forefront of our business, and we continue to develop programs to identify hazards and mitigate associated risks.

Management system and Corporate Safety Action Plan

Our Corporate Safety Action Plan (CSAP) is the foundation of our maturing safety management system. Our management system seeks to ensure that health and safety programs are managed in a systematic and diligent manner, that resources and responsibilities are clearly identified, and that our progress is monitored and reviewed quarterly.

Health and Safety programs are integrated into Bell's business units and subsidiaries that have designated Health and Safety coordinators. This structure seeks to ensure compliance with operational requirements and continuous reporting to the corporate Health and Safety team.

Hazard Identification and Risk-Assessment Program

Bell Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) program is an important health and safety governance program, and the risk assessments performed for all job functions allows a continuous review of hazards and control measures to be in place across the company.

In 2023, we have simplified our process to enhance governance and ensure that any changes of tasks, processes, equipment, or legislations are captured and addressed in a timely matter.

Hazard prevention

Bell has robust safety programs that cover confined spaces, electrical safety, ergonomics, occupational hygiene, tools and equipment, working at heights, and transportation and road safety. These programs are supported by rigorous standards, internal simulation exercises, training, and regular tool and equipment reviews. Bell continues to practice a series of operational measures including prevention plans (i.e. monthly observation & inspection), pre-job hazard assessments, wellness programs, and ongoing safety communications. This is not an exhaustive list, and we are continuously looking for new ways to make the work environment safer and more comfortable.

Further to this, we have a rigorous contractor safety management program that includes an in-depth prequalification process and monitoring program for contractors and their subcontractors performing high-risk tasks.

Hazard reporting, incident management and investigation

Bell incident management begins with a swift and coordinated response to severe incidents through our National Incident Centre. All incidents are documented and accidents are investigated. Our centralized system allows us to govern both hazard and incident reporting, along with incident investigation timelines and hazard resolution times. This allows us to better identify areas where improvement is required to enhance our prevention programs.

In 2023, our overall lost-work accident frequency rate based on worked hours was 1.37^{(1)footnote 1}, which is an increase of 14% year-over-year. Bell’s overall lost-time accident frequency includes technicians from BTS, Field Services and Expertech operations, whereas our direct competitors have outsourced resulting in a significant difference in scope of those functions resulting in significant difference in scope of reported accidentsreported accidents compares to companies who have outsourced those functions.

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H&S training and qualification

All team members at Bell receive safety training specific to their job function. Training content is delivered through a variety of methods. Following a team member’s initial training, a cycle of refresher training is established, the frequency of which is dependant on topic and risk level.

In 2023, we launched a safety qualification program for high-risk activities. Criteria for qualification includes a combination of recurrent training events and manager observations. Field technicians that do not meet the qualification criteria are removed from performing the high-risk activity until resolved.

Engagement, learning and development

This section provides a more detailed overview of the key programs & initiatives that help us to foster a culture of continuous learning and development across our organization.

Key highlights in 2023

• Corporate team members, union partners and subsidiaries spent over 1.1 million hours in learning development;
• Our team members spent an average of 1.2 hours per month on learning;
• Over 9000 company paid skill building courses, now offered in English and French to our learners;
• In our employee surveys, 90% of respondents reported feeling that our learning programs have helped them build skills or develop in their role.

Our goal is to provide equitable compensation based on skills, role, performance and the external market, regardless of gender, age, disability, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, cultural heritage or creed.

Essential Learning

A series of mandatory learning programs that outline the company’s principles and values, provide guidelines of expected employee behavior, help us to protect our company's assets and privacy, protect employee well-being and safety and increase employee morale through inclusion and mutual respect. Team members are automatically enrolled to complete these trainings when hired and are reassigned every 2 years thereafter for reinforcement. Frequent reporting and communications are shared with leaders to govern compliance and protect the well-being of our workforce. We strive to have a 95% or higher compliance score for all targeted employees at all times, for each of essential courses.

In 2023, we launched new courses to support the importance of French at Bell in support of Bill-96, leading a respectful workplace and Accessibility at Bell.

Transformational Learning

Our Bell Learning Hub is a self-directed learning experience platform offering thousands of video-based courses. These courses feature premium content providers and industry experts in a centralized learning portal that is customized for each individual learner based on preselected career development goals and focus areas. We have over 15,000 active users, viewing more than 1M content items per year (for the forth consecutive year 2020 – 2023). Active learners spend 3.5 hours on average viewing content. Over the last year we’ve had an 80% increase in technical skills development and an over 200% increase in Agile Methodologies which are critical transformational focus areas of our business.

Bell’s Virtual University (Bell U)

Our Bell U Community provides high tech  team members the opportunity to upskill and learn new skills in the flow of work in the highly sought technical sector. Targeted learners get access to an intelligent learning experience platform (LXP) that connects content, colleagues and personalized skills ratings and development.

Our Bell U Academy offers a white-glove program that gives team members the opportunity to learn new skills and redirect their careers in the highly sought technical sector. Team members participating in the learning academy score eight points higher on engagement scores than the average at 84%.  The program has been highly successful with a 98% graduate retention rate. 44% of graduates were promoted. 32% of participants are women.

We leverage a mobile-friendly learning tool for many of our front-line sales and support team members. Learners play games, earn points and compete with peers on leaderboards. The tool delivers real-time communications, knowledge metrics by individual questions and enables interaction between team members. There are over 14,500 active learners participating in 1.45M learning sessions. 7.6 Million learning questions were answered contributing to an average knowledge lift of 15.6% across all relevant topics. Learners log in 3-4x a week on average, exceeding the industry best practice.

Bell’s Education Reimbursement Program (ERP) helps to subsidize the costs for approved education courses recognized by specialized or postsecondary institutions for team members who are looking to further develop or get certified in their current or aspiring role at Bell. Team members can get up to a $1500 reimbursement each calendar year upon successfully completing their program. Participants have scored +5 pts on engagement index compared to Bell average. 90% feel the program has helped them develop and 35% more likely to exceed performance objectives.

Preparing future leaders

Bell believes in creating a workplace where you can make an impact, feel you belong and immerse yourself in opportunities. Our Leadership Development Program supports foundational and mastery skill development for all management levels. Our People Leader programs are customized in collaboration with industry experts for Bell in providing the learning that leaders need to lead, support and develop their people. We have had a very positive net promoter score of 87%.

For executives, we focus on capability building and engagement through formal development and networking programs. We also provide opportunities to advance education, such as sponsoring an executive MBA.

Bell’s Mentoring program has shifted form from business unit specific, siloed and small-scale programs to a unified online platform with profile attributes that is always on and open to all leaders, and a self-serve approach to finding meaningful connections. Investing in mentoring is key to the Future of Work, promotes career mobility, fosters connections, engagement and retention as well as increases skills proficiency. In 2023, over 1200 team members have experienced a mentoring relationship.

Key programs & initiatives

Our listening strategy

Bell Team Survey

Bell’s success requires a dynamic and engaged team that is committed to the highest environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. The annual Bell Team Survey allows us to continually assess our engagement and how positively our team members feel about their job, department and the company as a whole. A highly engaged workforce has higher rates of customer satisfaction, higher rates of employee retention and employee attraction, lower rates of absenteeism and higher rates of performance and productivity.

Key actions

Distribute our annual survey and leverage results to provide employee engagement insights, identify trends and opportunity areas to guide leaders in action planning;

Results drive annual action planning and strategic initiatives to address and improve upon areas of opportunity;

Annual review of questions to align with leading industry standards.

Measure of success

• 83% Participation rate
• 73% Engagement score (target: 75%) [This metric is calculated as the average score obtained in the annual Bell team member satisfaction survey. The team member engagement score is based on five specific questions and the percentage of employees who responded favourably (strongly agree and agree) to the questions out of the total number of employees who responded to the survey.]
• 84% Leadership score [This metric is calculated as the average score obtained in the annual Bell team member satisfaction survey. The team member engagement score is based on five specific questions and the percentage of employees who responded favourably (strongly agree and agree) to the questions out of the total number of employees who responded to the survey.]
• Measure key category scores: Impact, Opportunity, Mental health, ESG, DEIB, Work environment, my job, my department, my company.
• Drive action planning and strategic initiatives based on survey results.

Employee values & recognition

Recognition

Bell’s unified social recognition program, Better Together, offers many ways for all business units to celebrate great teamwork and accomplishments across three levels. In addition to level one social recognition, team members can show extra appreciation, giving their peers pre-allotted points that recipients can redeem for items in the product catalogue, including merchandise, gift cards and more, based on the following leadership attributes:

• Champions the customer
• Acts to grow our business
• Drives results with superior execution
• Communicates clearly
• Promotes belonging

To further recognize those that go above and beyond in contributing to Bell’s success, the quarterly Excellence and Innovation Awards celebrate the exceptional accomplishments of individuals and teams that helped accelerate the transformation of Bell from telco to techco by best demonstrating our leadership attributes. All quarterly award winners are then eligible for The Bravo Award, Bell's highest honour, which is given to those best-of-the-best team members that have fully embodied the leadership attributes as they accelerated Bell’s business goals.

Key actions

• Scale program engagement by delivering meaningful campaigns tied into corporate initiatives
• Demonstrate recognition best practices by integrating recognition activity into project milestones
• Increase mix of cross-BU recognition at all levels to further accelerate transformational change

Measure of Success

• Increase in sent recognition year over year
• Increase in monthly active employees in Better Together program
• Increase in overall budget utilization with equitable spread across all business units

Employee Value Proposition

Having a strong employee value proposition (EVP) is key for us at Bell to help set us apart from our competition, attract quality candidates and retain existing talent. By forming a new EVP in 2022, we are demonstrating the importance of “people” in our workplace, recognizing what matters most to our team

members and continuously engaging and investing in them.

Key actions

In developing our EVP, we talked to team members who told us what they value most about working at Bell, via focus groups and interviews across the company;

Team members told us amazing stories that demonstrate the incredible value they bring to work each day and the impact they have on their teammates, customers and communities, regardless of where they work at Bell;

Three distinct themes were apparent – that Bell is a place where you can make an impact, immerse yourself in opportunities and feel like you belong;

We formulated these themes as our EVP and socialized them across the organization.

Measure of success

Continually monitor and measure Bell's brand as an employer of choice in the market, through candidate and employee feedback, candidate attraction, employee engagement and retention.

Ethics and human rights

Business ethics

Since Bell's founding in 1880, our leadership in communications investment and innovation has been central to the growth and prosperity of our country. A trusted Canadian brand that delivers value to its customers, communities, shareholders and team members, Bell's goal is advancing how Canadians connect with each other and the world. Building on our legacy of service and achieving our purpose, we must all achieve the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in our work, including understanding and abiding by the values and requirements set out in the Bell Code of Business Conduct (CoBC).

Ethical risks

Ethical risks arise when organizational behaviours are not aligned with desired or expected conduct. Bell provides clear guidance on expectations about ethical behaviour in the CoBC, that often goes beyond legal and regulatory requirements. A range of examples are provided to help employees navigate through difficult situations in areas of personal integrity, conflict of interest, sales practices, employee values including harassment and diversity, customer engagement and supplier relations, with the goal of reinforcing Bell's commitment to the highest ethical standards and the prioritization of positive reputational outcomes when faced with an ethical dilemma.

Roles and responsibilities for business ethics risks

BCE's full Board is entrusted with the responsibility of identifying and overseeing the principal risks to which our business is exposed (including business ethics risks), and seeking to ensure that there are processes in place to effectively identify, monitor and manage them. These processes seek to mitigate rather than eliminate risk. A risk is the possibility that an event might happen in the future that could have a negative effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, financial results or reputation. While the Board has overall responsibility for risk, the responsibility for certain elements of the risk oversight program is delegated to Board committees. This ensures that these elements are treated with the appropriate expertise, attention and diligence, with reporting to the Board on a regular basis.

The Audit Committee receives a quarterly report from management regarding business ethics risks, reports and inquiries made through our anonymous and confidential Business Conduct Help Line. Each Board committee oversees different categories of reports and receives, on an annual, quarterly or ad hoc basis, updates from management about investigations into reports received across all channels, including the confidential Business Conduct Help Line, for the applicable category of reports.

BCE's Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer has overall responsibility for:

Identifying ethical risks, including bribery and corruption

In addition, it contains specific provisions applicable to gifts, pursuant to which employees are prohibited from:

Our CoBC requires that employees report any illegal acts or violations of the Code or other Bell policies and provides instructions on how to do so through our confidential and anonymous Business Conduct Help Line or by contacting the Corporate Secretary or the Chair of the Audit Committee. Furthermore, it clearly states that disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, will be taken in the event of a violation of the BCE's CoBC.

Confidential whistleblower channel for reporting ethical breaches

BCE considers it vital that employees have the most effective tools to ask questions or raise issues concerning any ethical dilemma. Our Business Conduct Help Line can be accessed 24/7 by phone (1 866 298-2942) or online (clearviewconnects.com) on a completely anonymous and confidential basis, to ask questions or report concerns relating to issues under the CoBC. The system is administered by a third-party firm, independent of BCE, specializing in the field. It also allows employees to track the progress of their inquiries online and respond to requests for additional information (when required), and provides BCE with an auditable record of issues. The Business Conduct Help Line received 238 reports and inquiries in 2023.

The Business Conduct Help Line is under the responsibility of the Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer and the Corporate Secretary's office. Confidential complaints can also be submitted directly to the Corporate Security Group, the Corporate Secretariat or the Chair of the Audit Committee.

The CoBC states that any employee who in good faith, reports an unethical behaviour will be protected from threats of retaliation, discharge or other types of sanctions that are directly related to the disclosure of such unethical behaviour.

Accounting and auditing matters

With respect to accounting and auditing matters, our Complaint Procedures for Accounting and Auditing Matters Policy (Complaint Procedures Policy) established by the Audit Committee, directs anyone with concerns pertaining to corporate fraud, accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters, to report such concerns through the Business Conduct Help Line, or, for members of the public, to Bell’s “Complaints and Concerns” line, or directly to the Corporate Secretary.

Any director, officer or employee of any business unit who receives a submission from any person, in writing or verbally, regarding a reportable activity, pursuant to the Complaint Procedures Policy, is required to immediately report such submission to the Corporate Secretary, Internal Audit or Corporate Security.

Where a submission considered to be a material reportable activity is received, the Complaint Procedures Policy requires the Corporate Secretary to ensure that the activity is reported to the Audit Committee Chair, to review the activity with the Chief Financial Officer, Internal Audit, Corporate Security and Audit Committee as appropriate, and whenever possible and appropriate, to report back to the employee or third party who reported the activity.

The Complaint Procedures Policy requires that submissions made by employees be treated confidentially and anonymously, unless otherwise specifically permitted by the employee or required by law, and protects employees making reports from any retaliation, discharge or other type of sanction.

Ethical Sales Practices Program

These efforts have focused on presale activities and those during customer interactions, as well as on subsequent auditing and governance processes. Concerning pre-sale activities, Bell has instituted sales ethics and vulnerable Canadians training, and also provides accessibility training and price positioning training to ensure sales agents are able to clearly communicate Bell’s pricing structure.

In order to measure adherence to these training programs during the sale process, Bell has implemented a multichannel mystery-shopping program. This program is used, among other uses, to identify systemic issues in how pricing is communicated to customers, to determine if customers feel pressured to make a purchase and to assess if customers are feeling misled during the transaction.

After-sale monitoring is equally important, and therefore, Bell has instituted an audit program where agents have a minimum number of calls per month assessed for compliance with Bell’s sales ethics and price positioning training. Coaching is provided for all instances of non-compliance. A governance committee also participates in quarterly call calibration sessions to ensure alignment across all segments on the standard of ethical sales.

Political contributions and lobbying

This policy does not apply to political contributions made by individuals within BCE on their own behalf. However, funds or assets being contributed must originate with or belong to the individual making the contribution, and individuals making political contributions may be required to demonstrate ownership. While BCE is a member of industry groups that promote public policies that advance the interests of Canadians and Canada’s communications system, we do not make any payments to trade associations or tax exempt entities that are used to influence political campaigns.

The laws of jurisdictions in which we operate set certain boundaries pertaining to lobbying activities and establish disclosure requirements to ensure that lobbying activities are transparent and ethical. These requirements vary by province and municipality and may include, among other things, registration and annual or bi-annual certification or updates. In most jurisdictions in which we operate, lobbying activity must be registered and the registration is a matter of public record. Our CoBC requires that employees consult with the Regulatory and Government Affairs Team before making any representations to public office holders. Individuals who may be in a position to conduct lobbying activities on behalf of Bell are asked to report any lobbying activities on a periodic basis so that our Regulatory and Government Affairs Team may assess these activities and ensure compliance with our CoBC. Non-compliance with our policies on political contributions and lobbying may result in penalties under our CoBC, and Bell may refer any such matter to the appropriate regulatory and legal authorities.

Incident investigation, corrective actions and reporting

All reports submitted to our anonymous and confidential Business Conduct Help Line are reviewed and, as required, investigated under the oversight of the Corporate Secretary's Office and our Internal Audit Team by one of the Internal Audit, Workplace Practices, Corporate Security, Environmental Management and Corporate Secretariat / Legal teams. If a report reveals a well-founded issue or concern, responsibility for the remediation of system and process deficiencies will be allocated based on ownership, while the relevant business segment will remain responsible for addressing any employee misconduct through established procedures, that include taking recommendations from appropriate corporate groups such as Human Resources, Corporate Security and Legal. Outside advisors are engaged where appropriate. The reviewing and investigating teams have established protocols for:

As indicated above, the Audit Committee receives a quarterly report from management regarding business ethics risks, reports and inquiries made through our anonymous and confidential Business Conduct Help Line. Each Board committee oversees different categories of reports and receives, on an annual, quarterly or ad hoc basis, updates from management about investigations into reports received across all channels, including the confidential Business Conduct Help Line, for the applicable category of reports.

Team member training

Everyone at Bell, including members of our Board of Directors, executives and employees, are required to annually certify that they have reviewed and follow the CoBC, which contains the rules that apply to everyone within the company with respect to ethical risks, bribery and corruption. In addition, all employees are required to take mandatory online training on the CoBC every two years. Our learning management system automatically reminds all employees to complete their training two years after the date of their last completion. New employees must certify their review of the CoBC and complete the online training as part of their onboarding process.

Auditing our Business Ethics Program

The Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Compliance (HSSEC) Oversight Committee monitors changes in legal and/or regulatory requirements, business operations and policies that can affect BCE’s compliance risks, including risks related to unethical business practices. The HSSEC Oversight Committee focuses its efforts on employees who may be exposed to such risks, and analyzes trends in public policy, stakeholder expectations and external events to engage the company in the development of strategies that enhance ethical behaviour and action plans, in order to address emerging compliance risks as appropriate.

BCE's Internal Audit Team has oversight, with the Corporate Secretary's Office, of all reports submitted through our Business Conduct Help Line. Every quarter, the Audit Committee receives a quarterly report from management regarding business ethics risks, reports and inquiries made through our anonymous and confidential Business Conduct Help Line.

The Internal Audit Team is responsible for the review of the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes, the reliability and integrity of information, compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies and procedures and is focused on safeguarding company assets for all business units and majority owned subsidiaries within the BCE group.

Respectful workplace and human rights

Safety, respect and professionalism in the workplace

With the goal of pursuing efforts to promote a safe, healthy and professional environment, Bell has created Workplace Practices, a dedicated neutral and impartial team that specializes in matters of respect for team members, prevention and management of conflicts, psychological harassment and violence and discrimination in the workplace. Workplace Practices has a multidisciplinary team of investigators, mediators and conciliators and offers training on leading and fostering a respectful workplace. Bell also has a Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Policy that outlines Bell’s zero tolerance approach with regard to harassment and violence situations, including how to address situations of family and intimate partner violence. This policy outlines safety options available to protect our team members' health and safety.

In addition, Bell has a dedicated intranet website on respectful workplace ethics, where users can obtain information on how to help:

Human rights

To make it possible for all team members to do their job, adaptations or modifications may need to be made to their work environment or to the duties associated with their role, based on protected human rights grounds.

Bell also recognizes that workplace harassment and violence can occur on the basis of prejudice, bias or misconceptions associated with a team member's personal characteristics such as race, national or ethnic origin, skin color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics, disability or on any other prohibited grounds listed in the applicable human rights legislation. Bell supports everyone’s right to work in an environment free from bullying, discrimination, harassment and violence. Employers need to be aware of their responsibility to ensure that the working environment or workplace culture is safe, respectful, inclusive, diverse, equitable and one where everyone belongs.

Bell supports human rights by striving to create a safe, equitable, inclusive and accessible workplace that respects and values employees’ contributions and differences and where team members are supported to achieve their full potential. Bell aims to comply with all applicable laws. Bell's Human Rights Policy is informed by internationally proclaimed human rights standards and we strive not to infringe on those rights in the course of our business operations. This policy supports internationally accepted standards as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, General Assembly resolution 217A (III) 1948, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, 2011, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, 2011. Bell upholds the human rights of workers, and is committed to treating them with dignity and respect and to endorsing internationally accepted standards as defined in the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and regional or national legislation governing working conditions. Since 2006, Bell has been a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement 10 universal sustainability principles. These Principles are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

Bell’s Human Rights and Accommodation Policy outlines Bell’s commitment to protecting and supporting human rights and the right to reasonable accommodation by identifying innovative and practical solutions to balance team members’ needs with operational requirements, and offers fair and consistent processes to evaluate and resolve concerns of discrimination. Bell also takes action against any form of direct or indicted discrimination, whether directed against one team member or a group of employees.

Via our intranet, we provide team members with information on the accommodation process, roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder and other tools specifically designed to support our commitment to human rights. We have processes in place to support accommodation requests due to medical, family or religious needs, including an online medical accommodation tool and forms for family or religious needs that team members can easily access to fill out accommodation requests.

Leaders also gain tools through mandatory mental health leadership training. We understand that leading a mentally healthy workplace involves identifying and implementing appropriate accommodations that balance the needs of the team member with the business. Bell also has the Disability Management Group, a dedicated internal team responsible for assessing medical accommodation requests in a timely manner and for providing support to team members and Bell leaders for finding reasonable accommodation.

The Workplace Injury Management Group is responsible for supporting team members in need of an accommodation following a workplace injury, and for guiding leaders in the accommodation process. Promoting accommodation and making it a part of our company's culture is also key to ensuring a successful return to work following a disability leave. Furthermore, the accommodation process is formally integrated into the collective agreements applicable to our unionized team members.

These policies are communicated to the respective parties as appropriate, through a variety of channels. These include our intranet site where team members can also find support and resources, the CoBC, mandatory training (to be completed every two years), various webinars on being inclusive and promoting diversity and through a contractual requirement where our business partners require that their employees review our Supplier Code of Conduct.

Our insistence on fairness extends to recognizing the right of our employees to be compensated fairly. Consequently, we provide our employees with a very competitive compensation package, including wages and extensive benefits. Our sustained success as a business enables us to offer high-value careers in an important industry, with a company that prides itself on a solid social, environmental and governance record. We believe that this enables us to attract the very best new recruits, thus helping us sustain our progress.

Bell understands that respecting human rights reduces a number of risks and costs for Bell and results in many benefits, including: offering a fair and accessible work environment for our employees, increasing our ability to attract and retain team members, customer loyalty to our products and services, brand recognition, safeguarding our social license to operate, reducing exposure to legal liability and punitive action by investors and business partners.

Our Code of Business Conduct is publicly available on BCE.ca

Our CoBC requires each team member to demonstrate respect and value our unique differences, including those of: culture, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and others on the basis of human rights. Our CoBC also outlines Bell’s expectations with regard to workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention, which supports Bell's efforts to foster a safe, respectful, diverse and inclusive workplace and to prevent and effectively resolve incidents of harassment and violence that may occur. This includes those based on human rights, as well as providing support to those who may have been involved in such incidents. The CoBC is signed by team members annually, acknowledging their role in supporting Human Rights at Bell. We also exert influence through value-chain management. Because of the proliferation of global sourcing and distribution, companies must be aware of potential human rights issues, both upstream and downstream. To address this issue, Bell has had a Supplier Code of Conduct in place since 2008, that was recently updated in 2020. We have also adopted measures in our purchasing operations with the objectives of avoiding conflict minerals that finance or benefit armed groups, and the use of forced labour or child labour in our supply chain. Bell supports the objective of eliminating global forced and child labour, and to this end, has enacted procedures and policies that seek to ensure that its suppliers have adequate controls in place.

Respecting and supporting human rights strengthens our relationships with our stakeholders. By doing so, customers and team members can feel that their values are reflected in the company's culture, and responsible investors can feel assured that the company is being managed in a supportive and proactive manner.

Auditing of processes designed to protect workplace human rights is intended to verify that Bell is not causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through our own activities and with regard to labour and employment practices, in our capacity as producers, service providers and employers.