Delightful Ethical Digital

Fat Beehive Ethical Policy

Who we will (and won't) work with and how we work

Who we work with

Fat Beehive specialises in third sector websites; we do this because, as a team, we all get up in the morning wanting to assist organisations in making people’s lives better. Helping others is bound up in the philosophy of what we do and we attract staff who deeply care about helping organisations with their missions. Additionally, we have 25 years experience helping the third sector get the most from their digital.

Whilst we specialise in charity and third sector, we will work with organisations that share our values and whose aim is to help make the world a better place. This includes the public sector, universities, social enterprises, not-for-profits, tech for good, community interest companies (CICs), co-ops and any organisation pushing for positive social change.

Our core values

We care about our clients, we are experts in our field and we aim to operate ethically and fairly in everything we do.

  • Honest
  • Passionate
  • Ethical
  • Creative
  • Friendly
  • Excellent
  • Authentic

We aim to enact these values by

  • Considering these values when deciding what work to do.
  • Promoting cooperation and mutual aid to the wider world.
  • Working cooperatively within our team.
  • Recognising and addressing power dynamics in our everyday interactions.
  • Being honest, accountable and open to feedback.
  • Making training, facilitation, and resources accessible to as many people as we can.
  • Minimising our participation in systems of economic exploitation.
  • Reducing our ecological footprint, the number of resources we consume and the pollution we create.
  • Not exploiting other animals.

Who we won’t work with

We have chosen to work with the third sector as these organisations are more likely to share our values. However, we won’t work with simply anyone and choose our clients carefully. Although not a definitive list, as a matter of principle we won’t work with any of the following:

Organisations that fail to protect human rights and equality:

    1. That are involved in arms manufacture and trade;
    2. That advocate discrimination and/or incitement to hatred;
    3. That have links to oppressive regimes;

Organisations that undermine economic and social development

    1. That take an irresponsible approach to the payment of tax in the UK and elsewhere;
    2. That encourage excessive consumption of, reliance upon or addiction to: alcohol; food; tobacco; non-prescription medication; gambling or the provision of payday loans
    3. Fail to implement basic labour rights as set out in the Fundamental UN ILO Conventions, e.g. avoidance of child labour, or that actively opposes the rights of workers to freedom of association, e.g. in a trade union.
    4. Impedes access to basic human necessities, e.g. contraceptives, safe abortion, safe drinking water or vital medicines.
    5. Engages in irresponsible marketing practices, e.g. with regard to tobacco products and manufacture.

Organisations that harm the environment or animals

    1. Whose core activity contributes to global climate change, via the extraction or production of fossil fuels
    2. The manufacture of chemicals that are persistent in the environment, bio-accumulative in nature or linked to long-term health concerns.
    3. The unsustainable harvest of natural resources, including timber and fish.
    4. The development of genetically modified organisms where there is evidence of uncontrolled release into the environment, negative impacts on developing countries, or patenting, e.g. of indigenous knowledge.
    5. The development of nanotechnology in circumstances that risk damaging the environment or compromising human health.
    6. That is involved in the exploitation of great apes, e.g. in experimentation or general commercial use.
    7. Whose activities significantly contribute to the degradation of endangered animal species’ habitats.
    8. Involved in animal testing of cosmetic or household products or their ingredients, intensive farming methods (e.g. caged egg production), blood sports (e.g. the use of animals or birds in sport to catch, fight or kill each other) or the fur trade.

Organisations that undermine democratic principles

      1. Whose activities promote or produce fake news, misinformation or falsehoods for profit or political gain
      2. That are involved in production or promotion of hate speech or dehumanise minority groups
      3. That promote social, financial, gender, sexual or race inequality

Ethical work culture

Fat Beehive is dedicated to providing a friendly, relaxed, safe, fulfilling and fair work environment. We want to create a workspace where people want to come to work and that engages them to give their best. Attracting, recruiting, developing and inspiring the very best people – people who are happy and engaged in their work do a better job – which ultimately makes it easier for us to delight our clients.

We share financial information and strategy with the whole team on a monthly basis and encourage them to think entrepreneurially and feel empowered to make their own decisions. Everyone has an understanding of the business strategy and how they play a part in working towards this. We value the voices our employees have and take the time to listen to them and respect their opinions – their passion and belief in the company is why we are the leading digital agency for the third sector.

Staff benefits:

  1. Profit Share (shared equally) and quarterly performance bonus for all staff
  2. 27 days annual leave, plus one extra day for each year worked (up to 5), two Volunteer days per year and the possibility to buy 5 extra days each year
  3. Matched Pension contribution up to 10%
  4. Dental Plan (£1000 cover), Death in service (3 times salary), and Income protection in case of long-term illness (2 years of cover)
  5. Dedicated training budget for each staff member
  6. Family-friendly employment
  7. Two Volunteer days
  8. Transparent financial reporting to all staff
  9. Focus on recruiting and retaining a diverse and gender-balanced team
  10. Fair work culture
    1. No emails out of hours
    2. No expectation to work long hours
    3. Bi-weekly chair massage
    4. Free Friday team drinks during (in work time)
    5. Staff lunch one a month

Reporting

As part of our transparency, all staff receive the same monthly financial report that goes to the board. Additionally, we publish both our demographic information, gender pay gap and pay ratio. 

2022/23 statistics

  • Gender pay gap (Tech average is 28%)
    • 4% (mean)
    • 10% (median)
    • Quartiles
      • 1st –  23% Female
      • 2nd – 45% Female
      • 3rd – 67% Female
      • 4th – 23% Female
  • Senior Management – 33% Female
  • Pay Ratio (UK average is 84 to 1)
    • 3.1 to 1 (highest to lowest)
  • Staff demographics
    • 23% BAME
    • 15% LGBT+
    • 10% Disabled
    • 46% Women

Diversity

Fat Beehive is committed to promoting equality and diversity and promoting a culture that actively values difference and recognises that people from different backgrounds and experiences can bring valuable insights to the workplace and enhance the way we work. Fat Beehive aims to be an inclusive organisation, where diversity is valued, respected and built upon, with the ability to recruit and retain a diverse workforce that reflects the communities it serves. All staff undertake Equality and Diversity Training and we have a dedicated Equality and Diversity Policy which sets out what we do and how we measure diversity. Additionally, all staff undertake training on accessibility standards for websites. Fat Beehive recognises that gender pay is a product of historically rooted gender biases that still thrive today and takes measures, such as flexible employment and actively supporting women in the tech industry, to reduce it.