Microsoft to require annual sustainability reporting by vendors

Assess your impact Get started by measuring and monitoring your environmental footprint. Accelerate progress Adopt more sophisticated solutions to minimize the impact of your organization and supply chain. Transform your business Reimagine your business systems and business models while meeting the needs of the planet. View the report. Learn about our carbon work. Learn about our water work. Learn about our waste work. Learn more about ecosystems. Consider a new standard for Scope 3 emissions transparency Learn how Microsoft is calculating Scope 3 emissions in our value chain and how we empower customers with insights to inform their reporting.

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Find solutions. Sustainability in action. Suppliers must comply with Washington's paid leave law. Suppliers may take advantage of Washington's program to provide the paid leave as applicable.

Suppliers may, of course, offer more generous benefits to their employees. Suppliers may take advantage of state programs to provide the paid leave if those programs apply but will need to supplement any state-provided leave to reach our standard.

We do require Suppliers to pass down these obligations to their subcontractors. The paid time off, W2, and healthcare requirements went into effect in ; the paid parental leave requirement went into effect January 1, The 1, hours is not tied to Microsoft work.

It is based on the time they have worked for their employer. That time may or may not have started with a Microsoft engagement. Suppliers can rely on state administered paid parental leave benefits, but to the extent the state-administered leave does not meet our required minimum, the Supplier is responsible for administering their paid parental leave program to reach our standard and creating a compliant environment that benefits their employees.

The assignment length policy remains in place. The 15 days of paid time off each year for the eligible employees will be either 10 days of paid vacation and five days of paid sick leave or 15 days of unrestricted paid time off.

More specifically, suppliers will be required to disclose their carbon emissions and develop plans to reduce such emissions.

The timing of supplier conformance to this requirement may be determined by Microsoft standards and requirements that are set forth in their contract with Microsoft. Our policies are designed to achieve these goals in partnership with our suppliers.

Sustainability requirements have historically been listed in the Microsoft Supplier Code of Conduct. Microsoft partners with CDP to disclose its own GHG emissions and water usage, as well as to collect emissions information from its suppliers. CDP is not the only platform available for emissions disclosure.

Microsoft wants to leverage the most accurate data possible to understand its emissions and to enable transparent tracking of emissions reduction progress. We will leverage alternative, industry-specific disclosure tools, as necessary.

As an example, we require construction suppliers to utilize the EC3 tool to disclose the embodied carbon of datacenter builds. Primary anthropogenic sources of GHG emissions are the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation. CO2e, or carbon dioxide equivalent, is a standard unit for measuring greenhouse gas emissions.

This is the same methodology recommended by CDP. While we do not require a specific methodology to be followed, we do require our suppliers to report complete, consistent, and accurate data. During our feedback sessions, we heard from suppliers that a lot of the existing resources are quite technical. As such, we have developed some sustainability learning resources designed to help our suppliers report their GHG emissions, develop clean energy strategies and reduce their energy-related emissions.

These are available publicly on Tools and resources - Microsoft sustainability. We have developed some sustainability learning resources designed to help our suppliers report their GHG emissions, develop clean energy strategies and reduce their energy-related emissions. Learn more about the Climate Innovation Fund. In January , our President, Brad Smith, shared the context behind our carbon emissions reduction commitment:.

While the world will need to reach net zero, those of us who can afford to move faster and go further should do so. We cannot meet our goals alone, which is why we are partnering with suppliers to reduce our scope 3 emissions.

As we move forward to achieving our net zero ambition, it is critical that we work with companies who share these values. Sentiment across Microsoft to engage suppliers who prioritize sustainability is strong. Most importantly, reducing GHG emissions is a global effort to limit climate change, in line with a 1. Suppliers will share emissions reductions plans as part of the annual CDP disclosure or an alternative prescribed by Microsoft.

Feedback we heard from suppliers included an interest in sharing best practices amongst companies and learning from each other. We would like to support this effort and are thinking through the best way to facilitate learning sessions. We heard from suppliers that carbon emissions disclosure requires a great deal of time and expertise, especially for organizations new to the process.

Microsoft will contact you if you will be required to disclose. SCoC obligations are carried down to supplier's subcontractors for work that is directly related to a Microsoft contract. All Supplier Categories are in scope to obtain written permission to use subcontractors on any Microsoft engagement. There are no blanket approvals for suppliers to use subcontractors beyond the specific, approved engagement.

Supplier Code of Conduct and training. Learn about your responsibilities as a Microsoft supplier Read the Microsoft Supplier Code of Conduct SCoC to review how our values, integrity, honesty, and compliance extend throughout the supplier ecosystem.

Download the English Supplier Code of Conduct. Expand all Collapse all. Download the Vietnamese Supplier Code of Conduct. The SCoC and training focus on: Doing business ethically when it comes to anti-corruption, conflicts of interest, hiring practices, human rights, and honesty in business and corporate recording Demonstrating respect and inclusion - ensuring accessibility, the ability to raise workplace concerns, and share our climate and environment commitments Protecting information, data, and Intellectual Property rights And of course, ensuring privacy rules and regulations are met for all We know our greatest impact comes when we work together with shared values and goals for people and the planet.

Supplier Code of Conduct training Microsoft expects suppliers to act ethically and with integrity. FAQs Select a tab below to learn more information in each section:. General information. Where can I find help with Supplier Travel and Reimbursement questions? What does SCoC compliance look like? Are there reporting requirements for SCoC compliance? When was the SCoC updated? Where do I update our contact information?

How does the SCoC impact Partners? Has Microsoft already provisioned the license for the Pro Plus client to assigned microsoft. What if the supplier devices come with Office Business Premium for their users, would that supersede the requirements for Office Pro Plus? Where can Suppliers find information on Accessibility expectations and resources?

Training requirements Supplier training:. How do suppliers get access to the third-party SCoC training platform and what is required? We would like to centralize our annual SCoC training requirement. Are we able to do this in the new training platform? When the training manager assigns courses to employees, do the employees need to be associated with the Supplier ID?

Can we continue to use it to meet our SCoC annual training requirement? What if the worker only dedicates a small amount of time to Microsoft, are they still required to complete the SCoC training? Is this SCoC Training new? If an External Staff completes SCoC training through the Microsoft onboarding processes, are they also required to complete the training from their Supplier as well?

What about External Staff who do not need Microsoft access credentials not in Headtrax? How long does the SCoC training take to complete? Is the training available in other languages? What if I have additional questions or comments related to the Supplier Code of Conduct training requirement? How long does it take to set up an External Staff in Headtrax? Where in the External Staff setup process does the individual receive the training email?

How do I know if my External Staff have completed the onboarding training? What if an individual encounters technical difficulty during registration, while completing onboarding training, or when accessing the online training?

What is the expected turnaround time for technical support? Where do I find it? Are there any technical requirements to complete the Supplier Code of Conduct training? Internet access is required.

If you are still getting an error when registering for the course, please do the following: If you are using Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer, please launch a new browser window in InPrivate mode and then register If you are using Chrome, please launch a new browser in incognito mode and then register. Background screening. How do I set up an account with the background screening supplier to request a background check? Inspired by cryptocurrency miners, the immersion method of cooling can be cheaper and more effective than the traditional approach of air cooling.

While not in large-scale use at Microsoft yet, two-phase immersion has innovative potential for a wide range of technology. As part of the Microsoft sustainability goal to become carbon negative by , the Redmond campus will include the Thermal Energy Center, which includes an unusual tunnel spanning feet into the ground. Designed to harness the earth's thermal energy, this system is the latest sustainable development to the Washington offices.

More companies are starting to invest in engineering technological solutions for carbon removal, but the process can be expensive. A Microsoft white paper released in explores some of the potential shortcomings for alternatives to natural climate solutions, such as tree planting or crop rotations. In , Microsoft set sustainability goals, including becoming carbon negative and water positive, to be achieved by One year into the endeavor, we explore the enabling conditions, early efforts and lessons learned.

We also celebrate partners and customers who are using Microsoft solutions to aid in their own sustainability goals. One year has passed since our "moonshot" pledge for Microsoft to become carbon negative by From reducing carbon emissions to removing carbon from the environment, we're sharing our initial successes, outlining what we've learned, and discussing what's in store for the coming years as we work to make Microsoft even more sustainable.

From setting the goal to be carbon negative to committing to protect more of the land we use, Microsoft has spent making plans to become more sustainable. As a technology company, we hope to bring digital solutions to climate problems, and signing The Climate Pledge is the latest step in our climate-conscious journey. In January , Microsoft announced plans to be carbon negative in the next decade.

Since that announcement, our commitment to increasing company and global sustainability practices has grown, expanding to include goals towards becoming water positive and zero waste by This will be the next step in our commitment to supporting growth and innovation in Denmark. Microsoft, partnered with SSE Airtricity, is bringing green energy resources to dozens of schools in Ireland as part of the fight against global climate change.

The project includes solar panels powered by Azure IoT and Microsoft Azure, as well as an educational campaign about renewable energy.

The United Nations Sustainable Development goals are 17 initiatives designed to create a positive global impact by As a way to accelerate these goals, Microsoft created the BuildFor campaign, highlighting partners whose work is making a difference. At the end of the first year of the campaign, we look back at all the incredible work being done. For World Cities Day , established to shine a light on public issues, Microsoft celebrates partners who are driving impact in climate action, as well as reasserts our own commitment to becoming carbon negative, water positive and zero waste.

We are setting ambitious goals for each and empowering our customers with the technology and our learnings to do the same. With the support of our technology and employees, we hope to make a positive impact on the planet, and help other companies do the same.

This interactive Microsoft by the Numbers experience highlights sustainability initiatives across the company, including spotlight on our carbon-negative announcement, sustainability initiatives in both Surface and Xbox, and the thousands of bees living in our AI-enabled smart hives. In a worldwide first that could jumpstart a long-forecast clean energy economy built around the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen fuel cells have powered a row of datacenter servers for 48 consecutive hours.