Our Ethics
Responsibility & community is at the heart of who we are
The Sleep Store Code of Conduct
Introduction
We are a values based, family-owned business with a long history of supporting both the community and the environment. Values such as ‘Ethical’ and ‘Sustainable Communities’ are at the heart of all our decision making, our customer service, manufacturing and day to day processes.
The Sleep Store is committed to making positive economic, social and environmental contributions to society, consistent with the principles of honesty, integrity, fairness and respect and especially in regard to sustainability and protection of the environment.
Our directors have adopted this Code to provide a set of guiding principles to be observed by all THE SLEEP STORE personnel and our supply chain, and against which we hold ourselves accountable.
Our principles
We expect all members of our team to act consistently at all times within the following principles:
- Act with honesty, integrity and fairness in both our internal and external relationships and be accountable for our decisions.
- Engage professionally and honestly in all our business relationships.
- Respect and support each other and those we interact with outside our organisation, value diversity and strive to achieve shared success in achievement of our goals.
- Provide a safe working environment internally and throughout our supply chain.
- Seek to make positive and sustainable economic, social and environmental contributions to the communities in which we operate.
- Respect and maintain privacy and confidentiality of information and accuracy of business records.
- Take pride in what we do and the reputation we have earned for seeking innovation and improvement throughout our business.
Sustainability
At The Sleep Store, our actions and focus around sustainability are guided by our core values - including Sustainable Communities (supporting families, contributing to our community and respecting the environment, to leave the world a better place) and Ethical conduct (doing the right thing, showing integrity and fairness in our relationships and in all we do).
As our business has grown and as awareness has sharpened everywhere about the impact businesses and individuals have on our environment - we have asked ourselves - what can we do to minimize our environmental impact?
We developed a Sustainability Strategy and Plan focussing on 4 key areas:
- Carbon assessment, reduction & offsetting
- Waste stream – packaging and warehouse
- Product stewardship
- Social responsibility
We are proud to be a net Carbon Zero organisation. This means we are audited annually by Toitu and offset all our carbon from our business operations. This includes offsetting the carbon generated from all inwards freight, the delivery of your packages, travel, waste and power.
Core Values for our team
Working together in a collaborative session, The Sleep Store Auckland employees set out their own set of core values.
These are the values we aim to uphold every day:
- Success
- Awesomeness
- Loving our customers
- Being Ethical
- Enabling sustainable communities
- Working together
- Valuing time
- Being brave
- Taking responsibility
Charity & Community
As a business and personally for Louise and Matt, giving back to our community is an important aspect of being in business.
We choose to support the following organisations when we can:
- Oxfam New Zealand. An amazing charity working in the Pacific region to reduce poverty and tackle climate breakdown. We have raised over $60,000 for Oxfam and continue as a regular donor.
- Give a Kid a Blanket - We have supported our friends at this wonderful local charity for over 10 years with product donations and collecting community donations.
- Babywearing Aotearoa - we founded and fund this community organisation to promote safe baby carrier use, educate parents and support other local babywearing groups around New Zealand.
- Playcentre - We attended this wonderful parent cooperative ECE for 10 years when our children were young. We will always support requests for fundraising as Playcentre receives the lowest financial support from government despite being a parent run not for profit.
- Little Miracles Trust - We support with custom made NICU swaddles and other product donations.
- Littlemore - We support with product donations
- The Nest Collective
- Kindness Collective
- Mental Health Foundation
Living Wage Employer
While many retail choose to pay their staff the minimum wage, we choose to instead be a Living Wage Employer.
This means all staff are paid at least the Living Wage, which is usually about $4-5 above the minimum wage. The Liwing Wage is calculated annually and our team on this rate all automatically the relevant pay increase each September.
The idea is that workers on the Living Wage can live with dignity — that’s good for our collective wellbeing, our workplaces, and our economy.
We were the first retailer in New Zealand to become an accredited Living Wage Employer back in 2017.
Your Baby's Safety First
At The Sleep Store, your baby's safety is always at the front of our minds when we choose products and make business decisions. We will always choose safety over profit.
- We only stock products which are safe. Products will meet local or international safety standards where this is relevant and will be chosen with care at all times.
- We will only use information and images which show safe sleep.
- We advocate for safe infant sleep and safe products. We submit recommendations to government agencies and advocate for safe infant products and education on safety.
- We maintain our free-to-access sleep advice online library. We believe parents should be able to access quality advice at no cost. Post natal depression is closely linked with sleep deprivation so we offer judgement free options for helping families sleep better.
Ethical Sourcing Policy
The Sleep Store aims to provide its much valued customers with quality products and value for money. In today’s global market, this means sourcing products from a variety of international locations.
In recent years, concerns over poor working conditions and environmental degradation in developing countries and emerging markets have made it necessary for companies to implement specific social and environmental criteria for the production facilities from which they source products, enabling them to share common goals and build long-term partnerships.
In order to address these concerns, The Sleep Store is introducing its Ethical Sourcing Policy to ensure it is:
- Sourcing its products in a responsible manner,
- Working with its suppliers to improve and maintain global best practice social compliance and responsible sustainable environmental practices,
- Providing clear guidance to its buying staff, and
- Protecting its corporate reputation and its brand.
Our Commitment
The Sleep Store is committed to upholding human rights, fair working conditions and environmental protection.
In accordance with the expectations of our customers, the community, and the requirements of the Law, we endeavour to always operate responsibly and we expect the same from our suppliers.
Maintaining a reputation for the highest legal, moral and ethical standards in our dealings with our customers and other key stakeholders is critical for our ongoing success. Our Ethical Sourcing Policy has been developed to complement our core values of integrity, trust and acting responsibly.
We are committed to working with our suppliers to help improve their social compliance and environmental practices.