DRS annual report Jan. 2021 - Dec. 2021

Workplace & Environmental Responsibility:

DRS, Inc. are committed to not only providing the highest quality products and services, but also providing a workplace code of conduct that not only achieves decent and humane working conditions consistent with the Fair Labor Association (FLA), but also ensures responsibility for the environment.  Our intent is to comply with all relevant and applicable laws and regulations of the United States, and any other country we may in the future employ.  Policy and procedures have been, and will continue to be, in place to help ensure positive working conditions and the humane treatment of our team members. We are dedicated to social and environmental responsibility in the following ways:

 

Employment Relationship

We have policies and procedures in place to help promote a positive employment relationship with team members to safeguard their rights under national and international labor and social security laws and regulations. We believe in and will respect the fundamental human rights and the dignity of the individual, according to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

Discrimination & Harassment

We are committed to maintaining a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment, where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.  To fulfill this commitment, we prohibit discrimination and harassment of employees or applicants based on a person’s age, disability, gender, national origin, ethnicity, race, caste, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, union membership, political affiliation, marital status, physical appearance, or other applicable prohibited basis in the workplace, such as individuals who are "Fit for Work" are accorded equal opportunities and are not discriminated against on the basis of factors unrelated to their ability to perform their job.

 

Forced Labor & Child Labor

DRS, Inc. are “Employment-At-Will” companies.  Employees have the right to leave the company at any time, with or without notice. Our company also follows federal and state labor laws regarding employment of minors, and object to the employment of anyone under the age of 14 under any circumstances. Additionally, we will not use any forced, bonded, indentured or prison labor, nor restrict the freedom of movement of Employees and dependents.

 

Freedom of Association & Collective Bargaining

We strive to provide a comfortable, safe, productive, legal, and ethical work environment. We encourage employees to discuss any problems, concerns, or grievances they have in the workplace with their supervisor or upper management.  Although our company does not currently have a collective bargaining unit in place, we recognize and respect each team member’s right to speak about working conditions and to form a collective bargaining unit.  We do not wish to impede a team members rights to form a collective bargaining unit.

 

Hours of Work

We are proud to provide a flexible work schedule to help team members balance their work/life individual needs.  We follow, at minimum, and above and beyond, federal and state Department of Labor laws, and comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act to ensure employees are paid fairly and equitably.

 

Compensation

We pay team members at or above state and federal minimum wage, and comply with all the legal requirements with respect to wages and benefits.  Our intent is to provide affordable and employee beneficial fringe benefits such as health, dental and vision insurance, short and long term disability, life insurance, and a 401(K) with company match and profit sharing contribution.

 

Health & Safety

We are committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment to prevent workplace accidents and injuries.  We will not use corporal punishment under any circumstances and will prohibit the use of degrading treatment, harassment, abuse, coercion or intimidation in any form. The satisfaction that each employee goes home to their loved ones each day, free from accident or injury, is of the utmost importance to DRS and its management team.   Each team member is responsible and encouraged, through our safety suggestion reward program, to identify potential hazards that may cause any type of accident or injury.

 

Business Ethics

We prohibit bribery in all business practices and transactions that are carried out by our employees, business partners and suppliers. We will not offer, accept or tolerate any payments, gifts in kind, hospitality, expenses or promises, as they may compromise the principles of fair competition or appear to be an attempt to steer business to, or from, a specific individual or organization.

 

Environmental Impact

In addition to employee safety, we are committed to the protection of the environment. This includes supporting initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility as well as complying with applicable laws and regulations concerning the environment.  In keeping with these commitments, we will:

• operate our business in a way that is environmentally conscious and responsible
• take measures to reduce our environmental footprint by eliminating and minimizing negative impacts to the environment
• manage our use of resources and energy as efficiently as possible
• adopt practices that promote Biodiversity and reduce adverse effects on Biodiversity
• support the development of communities where we operate, contributing to their social and economic welfare

The jewelry industry uses metals and other minerals for a wide variety of purposes, and it is, therefore, in our company’s best interest to ensure that our jewelry, that is produced using those metals, is produced in environmentally and socially responsible ways.

 

Business Ethics & Management Systems:

 

DRS, Inc. is committed to operating its business at a high ethical standard, ensuring integrity, transparency and conformance with all applicable laws.

 

Bribery & Facilitation Payments

We prohibit bribery in all business practices and transactions that are carried out by our employees, business partners and suppliers. We will not offer, accept or tolerate any payments, gifts in kind, hospitality, expenses or promises, as they may compromise the principles of fair competition or appear to be an attempt to steer business to, or from, a specific individual or organization.

We clearly communicate with our employees that no employee will suffer demotion, penalty or other adverse consequences for voicing a concern, or refusing to pay a bribe or Facilitation Payment even if this action may result in the company losing business.

 

Money Laundering & Financing of Terrorism

We do not tolerate money laundering and/or any other type of corruption.  We maintain financial records of all business transactions where required by law and in accordance with national and international accounting standards.  These accounts are independently certified and audited by a qualified auditor on a yearly basis.

We operate within the principles of "know your customer" so that we can establish the identity of each organization that we do business with. This is done so that we have a clear understanding of their business relationships and have a reasonable ability to identify and react to transaction patterns appearing out of the ordinary or suspicious.

 

Product Integrity & Security

We disclose the material characteristics of the products that we sell as accurately as possible. We comply with relevant trading standards legislation and, where applicable, specific national and/or local regulations applicable to diamond and gold jewelry products. We make reasonable efforts to properly disclose all relevant information on physical characteristics, such as weight, color, cut, clarity, and fineness, among other characteristics, of our products.  We do not knowingly make untruthful, deceptive or misleading statements, material omissions or false representations when advertising, selling, and distributing diamond, treated diamond, synthetic, simulant, or any gold product, in any sales channel.

We have established security practices and procedures that apply to our facilities and product shipments to protect against damage, theft and substitution. At no time is the security of product and facilities placed above the security and well being of our employees, visitors and other business partners.

 

Confidentiality & Privacy

We respect the confidentiality of our employees, customers, suppliers and other business partners. We take reasonable measures to secure and protect information assets regarding all entities that we perform business with. Please refer to our externally accessible Privacy Policies for more information.

 

Management Systems

Our management systems comply with all applicable laws and conform to the Code of Practices established by the Responsible Jewelry Council (RJC).  We assess our risks, including risks to our business from our business partners, and have established systems that manage and improve ethical, human rights, social and environmental business practices.

 

Responsible Sourcing: Jan. 2021 - Dec. 2021

 Annual Report on Supply Chain Compliance

As part of our ongoing efforts to provide conflict-free metals and diamonds to our customers, DRS inc. ensures our sources are providing conflict-free products. DRS will not do business with any suppliers that do not supply the proper documentation we require. We include an independent lab test with all of our invoiced deliveries to confirm there are only mined diamonds and no lab-created products in our parcels. Both our diamond and metal suppliers are required to provide the documentation necessary to ensure their products are conflict-free. As a rule, we only deal with US-based, large manufacturers and we access all of our precious metal and diamond sources as zero to extremely low risk. We review this information regularly. If anyone needs to raise any issues regarding our supply chain sourcing, you may email us at:

grievances_drs@yahoo.com or

info@drsjewelry.com

 

Robert Galiardo

VP

Compliance Officer

DRS, Inc.

DRS, Inc. believe in responsible corporate citizenship and understand the positive impact these values have for our customers, suppliers, employees and community.   We also believe that upholding these principles is fundamental to achieving the long term goals of our company. Our goal is to ensure that only conflict-free materials are used in our products, and we only source from suppliers who share these values. 

 

Dodd Frank Act

We fully support Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the goal of ending the funding of violence in “Conflict Regions” that include the Democratic Republic and surrounding countries.  We require all entities in our supply chain to provide certification and documentation about the origins of "Conflict Minerals". These "Conflict Minerals" include gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum (the "3Ts"). We will not knowingly accept product that contains “Conflict Minerals” originating from “Conflict Regions”, and in such, will continue to work with our supply chain to maintain this commitment.  In support of our responsible sourcing policy, DRS, Inc will:

• Only accept gold from refiners on the LBMA good deliver list, EICC/GeSi conflict – free compliant smelter list, certified members of the Responsible Jewelry Council or refiners which certify and independently audit that all gold supplies are conflict free, in accordance with one of the following standards: RJC chain of custody standard, OECD Responsible Supply Chain of Minerals from Conflict-Affect and High Risk Areas Supplement or the World Gold Council Conflict-Free Standard.
• Only accept gold from Banks which certify and independently audit that all gold is supplied from Refineries which adhere to the refinery compliance requirements listed above.
• Only accept gold from Precious Metals Trading Companies which certify and independently audit that all gold from Refineries and / or Banks which adhere to the Refinery & Bank compliance requirements listed above.
• Only accept scrap and / or recycled gold from customers or suppliers which certify and independently audit that all scrap and recycled gold is identifiable as its own production and supply, i.e. scrap gold is returned product from customers, faulty inventory or scrap generated during the production process.

 

Burmese JADE Act of 2008

DRS, Inc. require that all suppliers of Ruby and/or Jadeite gemstones comply with the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act of 2008.  We require these suppliers to provide a certification with each shipment that Ruby and/or Jadeite that are exported as loose stones or incorporated into finished jewelry are subject to a system to verify that Ruby and/or Jadeite gemstones were not mined in or extracted from Burma (Myanmar).

 

Kimberly Process

The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme went into effect in 2003 and requires participating nations to keep conflict diamonds out of legitimate channels of commerce.   DRS, Inc. require suppliers of loose diamonds and finished diamond jewelry to abide by the Kimberly Process, and to provide ongoing certification of compliance by providing us with the World Diamond Council warranty statement with all diamond transactions.  This statement is as follows:

“The diamonds herein invoiced have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict and in compliance with United Nations resolutions. The seller hereby guarantees that these diamonds are conflict free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the supplier of these diamonds.”