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Equal Opportunity and Ontology Policy Statement

Effective Date: October 2016

At Edifice, we are firmly committed to being an equal opportunity employer. In line with the principles set out under Hong Kong’s key anti-discrimination ordinances—including the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 480), Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 487), Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 527), and Race Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 602)—we ensure that all employment practices are free from bias or unfair treatment.

This policy affirms that no job applicant or employee shall face discrimination or harassment, whether directly or indirectly, based on:

  • Race, ethnicity, nationality, or colour
  • Gender, marital status, or gender identity
  • Disability, including any long-term physical or mental condition
  • Sexual orientation
  • Religious or philosophical beliefs
  • Political affiliation
  • Age
  • Trade union involvement

Edifice is committed to promoting workplace fairness, inclusion, and dignity. Our key goals are to:

  • Eliminate discrimination and harassment from all workplace areas to the extent reasonably practicable.
  • Promote a culture where all staff members actively confront and address inequality and harassment.
  • Dissuade discriminatory or exclusionary behavior at every level.
  • Reassure employees that they have the company’s full support when addressing issues of discrimination or harassment.

We strive to maintain a respectful and inclusive working environment where equal opportunities are a standard practice. Hiring, promotions, remuneration, and employee retention will be based solely on merit, performance, and suitability—without prejudice or stereotyping.

Personal harassment: Inappropriate comments, offensive jokes, humiliation, critical remarks, or ostracising behaviours.

Physical harassment: Direct threats of intent to inflict harm, physical attacks, threatening behaviour, or destroying property to intimidate.

Power harassment: Excessive demands that are impossible to meet, demeaning demands far below the employee’s capability, or intrusion into the employee’s personal life.

Psychological harassment: Isolating or denying the victim’s presence, belittling or trivialising the victim’s thoughts, discrediting or spreading rumours about the victim, or opposing or challenging everything the victim says.

Sexual harassment: Sharing sexual photos (pornography), posting sexual posters, sexual comments or jokes, questions about one’s sex life or sexual orientation (including gender identity), inappropriate sexual touching, inappropriate sexual gestures, or invading personal space in a sexual way.

Third-party harassment: Harassing behaviour from a client, customer, contractor, or another person from outside of the business.

Discrimination is any unfair treatment or arbitrary distinction—direct or indirect—based on someone’s protected classes. Here are some examples of discrimination at work:
  • Racial discrimination (including race, color, and ethnicity)
  • Disability discrimination
  • Pregnancy discrimination (including maternity/paternity leave)
  • Gender discrimination
  • Age discrimination
  • Sexual orientation discrimination
  • Religious discrimination
  • Parental status discrimination
  • Genetic information (including family medical history)

Bullying is a common type of workplace harassment. Unlike harassment, bullying is not classified as illegal—but it can be classed as harassment if the behaviour is repeated over time to the point that it creates an intimidating, hostile, or abusive environment. Examples of workplace bullying include:
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  • Verbal bullying: Mockery, humiliation, jokes, gossip, or other spoken abuse.
  • Intimidation bullying: Threats, social exclusion in the workplace, spying, or other invasions of privacy.
  • Bullying related to work performance: Wrongful blame, work sabotage or interference, or stealing or taking credit for ideas.
  • Retaliatory bullying: Talking about the bullying can lead to accusations of lying, further exclusion, refused promotions, or other retaliation.
  • Cyberbullying: Sharing humiliating things about the victim via mass email or chat, spreading lies or gossip on social media, or sending harassing instant messages or texts directly.
  • Institutional bullying: When a workplace accepts, allows, and even encourages bullying, such as unrealistic production goals, forced overtime, or singling out those who can’t keep up.
Harassment and discrimination can drain employees’ motivation, productivity, and engagement at work—resulting in high staff turnover as well as issues with recruiting new talent. Workplaces with high rates of bullying and harassment can also experience serious negative consequences, such as:
  • Liability and financial loss from legal costs or investigations.
  • Decreased productivity and morale.
  • Increased employee absences.
  • High staff turnover rates.
  • Poor team dynamics.
  • Reduced trust, effort, and loyalty from employees.
  • Reduced job satisfaction and motivation.
  • Issues with employee commitment, loyalty, and turnover.
  • Reduced reputation and recruitment.

Providing equal opportunities is a legal obligation and a core business principle. Encouraging a diverse and inclusive workplace allows every team member to reach their highest potential. This ensures that the Company benefits from its workforce’s full range of skills, talents, and experiences—driving both performance and innovation.

Shared Responsibility
While the Board of Directors is responsible for policy enforcement overall, all employees play a vital role. Each person’s actions and behaviours must contribute to maintaining and supporting an inclusive workplace culture.

  • Support initiatives that promote equality in the workplace.
  • Be considerate of others’ perspectives and experiences.
  • Avoid participating in or endorsing any form of discriminatory behavior.
  • Ensure that team members under their supervision comply with this policy.
  • Never coerce, influence, or pressure others to violate the policy.
  • Treat individuals who raise complaints or concerns fairly and without retaliation.
Violations of this equal opportunities policy, including any form of unlawful discrimination or harassment, will result in disciplinary action. In severe instances, this may result in the termination of employment. This policy equally applies to all contractors, outsourced partners, and agents engaged within Edifice-managed environments.
A fair and impartial recruitment process is essential to our commitment to equal opportunities. All hiring decisions will be based on clearly defined, job-related criteria. We provide training to ensure that those involved in the selection process are aware of and avoid both conscious and unconscious bias, thereby enabling a fair assessment of all candidates.
We are committed to offering equitable opportunities for advancement to every employee. Supervisors and managers are expected to continually evaluate the promotion potential of their team members using transparent and objective standards and Ontology workshop training.
Employees who believe they have faced discriminatory treatment or harassment—whether racial, sexist, or otherwise—should report their concerns through the established management or supervisory channels. If the issue involves a member of the management team, employees are encouraged to contact Human Resources directly.
The success of this policy depends on effective communication. All levels of management are responsible for ensuring that this policy is thoroughly understood, properly implemented, and consistently enforced by all employees and prospective candidates.
Edifice Global Markets Limited: Effective Date: 14th December 2023
- End of Statement -
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