Effective Date: October 15, 2026 Version: 1.0 Applies to: All Company employees.
Article 1: Introduction and Scope
1.1 This document is the code of conduct for every Employee of the Company. This document states the standard of honesty, care, and respect the Company requires; the duties an Employee owes when recording time and work, handling information, and reporting incidents and misconduct; and the consequences of a violation. The remaining documents of the internal employee-policy set state the detailed rules for their subjects.
1.2 This document binds every Employee from the first day of employment, in every act taken in the course of employment, on Company premises, at a customer location, or through a Company System. This document is a statement of Company policy: it does not create a contract of employment, does not promise employment for a stated period, and does not alter an offer letter or a written employment agreement signed by the Company.
1.3 If a provision of this document conflicts with the Terms of Use, this document controls for the subject it governs. If a provision conflicts with the terms of a program in which the Employee participates, the program terms control for that program. Help pages explain this document; they do not amend it.
1.4 The Employee shall comply with the documents of the internal employee-policy set that govern the Employee's role, including the Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Policy, the Data Access and Least Privilege Policy, the Authentication Controls Policy, the Acceptable Use of Admin Tools Policy, the Incident Response Policy, the Record Keeping and Audit Policy, the Whistleblower and Internal Reporting Policy, the Training and Certification Policy, and the Termination and Offboarding Policy. A violation of such a document is a violation of this document. On or before the first day of work, the Employee shall acknowledge this document in the manner the Company provides; a failure to acknowledge does not remove a duty this document states.
Article 2: Definitions
2.1 Company: All About Pawz, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company.
2.2 Company Property: premises, equipment, devices, vehicles, inventory, funds, and records owned, leased, or held by the Company.
2.3 Company System: the Platform, the employee portal, the admin portal, the time clock, the support desk, and every other application or service the Company provides for work.
2.4 Employee: a person employed by the Company, in any role, at any location, on a full-time, part-time, or temporary basis.
2.5 Manager: the Employee to whom an Employee reports, and, where this document so states, that Manager's manager and any person the Company designates to act in that role.
2.6 Platform: the websites, applications, and services the Company operates under the name All About Pawz, including aapawz.com.
Article 3: General Standard of Conduct
3.1 The Employee shall perform the duties of the Employee's role competently, promptly, and with care, and shall follow the lawful instructions of the Employee's Manager.
3.2 The Employee shall act honestly in every dealing with the Company, customers, Sellers, and coworkers. The Employee shall not make a false statement, omit a fact the Employee is required to state, or create or alter a record to state what the Employee knows is not true.
3.3 The Employee shall treat customers, coworkers, and every other person with respect and courtesy. The Employee shall not discriminate against, harass, threaten, intimidate, or retaliate against another person, whether in person, in writing, or through a Company System.
3.4 The Employee shall comply with applicable law in the course of employment, shall present for work fit to work safely, and shall not perform work while impaired by alcohol or another substance in a manner that affects the ability to work safely or to care for an animal or a customer.
3.5 The Employee shall perform every duty involving an animal in accordance with the Pet Safety and Handling and shall put the safety of the animal and of persons ahead of the completion of any task. Where an animal is in medical distress or a person is injured, the Employee shall stop the work, secure the animal and the area, and obtain assistance before completing any record.
Article 4: Honesty in Timekeeping
4.1 The Employee shall record time worked accurately and at the time the work occurs: the Employee shall clock in when work starts, shall clock out when work ends, and shall record breaks in accordance with the convention of the Employee's location.
4.2 The Employee shall record only the Employee's own time. The Employee shall not clock in or clock out for another Employee, shall not ask another person to record time for the Employee, and shall not alter or reconstruct a time entry to state hours the Employee did not work.
4.3 The Employee shall not repair a time record by a series of entries made to conceal an error. Where the Employee forgets to clock in or clock out, or discovers an error, the Employee shall report the correct time to the Manager promptly; a correction is made by the Manager and recorded as a correction. Time entries are Company records, kept and audited under the Record Keeping and Audit Policy.
Article 5: Records and Work Product
5.1 The Employee shall make every record the Employee's duties require, at the time of the work the record describes, completely and accurately.
5.2 A record the Employee makes shall state facts: what occurred, what the Employee observed, and what the Employee did. A record shall not state a diagnosis, a conclusion outside the Employee's role and qualifications, or a complaint about a customer or a coworker. The boundary between observation and diagnosis is stated in the Pet Safety and Handling.
5.3 The Employee shall not falsify, backdate, delete, or conceal a Company record, and shall not direct or permit another person to do so. Where a record is wrong, the Employee shall correct the record in the manner the Record Keeping and Audit Policy provides, so that the original entry and the correction both remain visible.
Article 6: Duty to Report
6.1 The Employee shall report promptly to the Manager every incident the Employee experiences or observes that involves an injury to a person, an injury or medical distress of an animal, property damage, a confrontation with a customer, or a near-miss. Where the incident system provides a report form, the Employee shall file the report as well as inform the Manager: the report creates the record, and the conversation directs the immediate response. The Company's response is governed by the Incident Response Policy.
6.2 The Employee shall report suspected misconduct, fraud, violation of law, and violation of a Company policy through the channel the Whistleblower and Internal Reporting Policy provides; such a report is not made by support ticket. A Manager who receives a complaint of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation shall report the complaint promptly under that policy.
6.3 The Employee shall report a suspected compromise of a credential, suspected unauthorized access, and suspected disclosure of confidential information immediately, in accordance with the Incident Response Policy and the Authentication Controls Policy. An Employee who reports in good faith is protected against retaliation as the Whistleblower and Internal Reporting Policy states; an Employee who knowingly makes a false report violates this document.
Article 7: Conflicts of Interest
7.1 The Employee shall disclose to the Manager, in writing, every interest, relationship, or outside activity that conflicts, or could reasonably appear to conflict, with the Employee's duties, including a financial interest in a Seller, supplier, or competing business, and a close personal relationship with a person the Employee supervises or evaluates.
7.2 The Employee shall not accept a gift, payment, discount, or other benefit from a customer, a Seller, a supplier, or another business that deals with the Company where the benefit is offered to influence the Employee's duties, and shall report any such offer to the Manager.
7.3 The Employee shall not use Company Property, a Company System, or information obtained in the course of employment for personal gain or for another business, and shall not divert a customer or an opportunity of the Company to a competing business. Outside employment violates this article only where it interferes with the Employee's duties or uses Company Property, Company time, or confidential information.
Article 8: Company Property, Systems, and Shared Devices
8.1 The Employee shall use Company Property and Company Systems only for Company business, except for incidental personal use that does not interfere with work and complies with the Acceptable Use of Admin Tools Policy. The Employee shall take reasonable care of Company Property in the Employee's custody and shall report loss, damage, or theft promptly to the Manager.
8.2 On a shared register, terminal, or back-office computer, the Employee shall sign out of every Company System at the end of the Employee's shift and whenever the device is left unattended, so that no session remains open for the next user. The Employee shall not act under another person's session and shall not permit another person to act under the Employee's session. Credential and session duties are stated in the Authentication Controls Policy.
8.3 The Employee has no expectation of privacy in the use of a Company System or Company Property to the extent permitted by applicable law, and the Company may monitor and audit such use as the Acceptable Use of Admin Tools Policy states.
Article 9: Confidentiality and Pay Information
9.1 The Employee shall hold confidential information in accordance with the Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Policy, which governs. The Employee shall treat compensation information as confidential. The Employee shall not photograph, copy, or remove a pay screen or pay record; shall not disclose another Employee's compensation or pay details; and shall not disclose compensation information obtained from Company records or Systems. The Employee shall not disclose customer information, pet records, or another Employee's personnel information, except as the Employee's duties require and the Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Policy permits.
9.2 Nothing in this article limits an Employee's discussion of the Employee's own wages, hours, or working conditions where applicable law protects that discussion, or a disclosure protected by the Whistleblower and Internal Reporting Policy or by law.
Article 10: Liability
10.1 The Employee is responsible for the Employee's own conduct and shall bear the loss that the Employee's violation of this document causes, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Nothing in this document makes the Company responsible for a loss caused by an act taken in violation of this document or outside the scope of employment.
10.2 To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither party is liable to the other for indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, or loss of goodwill, arising out of or relating to this document, even if the party has been advised of the possibility of those damages.
10.3 To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company's total liability arising out of or relating to this document shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100). This clause does not limit (a) wages, commissions, benefits, or other compensation owed to the Employee under applicable law or a written agreement; (b) indemnification obligations under this document; (c) liability for fraud or willful misconduct; or (d) liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.
10.4 The parties agree that this article allocates risk between them, that it is an essential part of the basis of their bargain, and that it applies even if a limited remedy fails of its essential purpose.
Article 11: Indemnification
11.1 The Company shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Employee from and against a claim, demand, action, loss, liability, judgment, settlement, cost, and expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) brought by a third party and arising out of an act the Employee took within the scope of employment and in compliance with this document and applicable law.
11.2 The Company does not indemnify an Employee for the Employee's own unlawful acts. No indemnification is owed under this article for a claim arising out of (a) the Employee's willful misconduct or fraud; (b) an act outside the scope of employment; or (c) an act taken in violation of this document.
11.3 The Employee shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Company and its members, managers, employees, and agents from and against every claim, loss, liability, judgment, settlement, cost, and expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of (a) the Employee's breach of this document; (b) the Employee's violation of any law or of the rights of any person; and (c) an act outside the scope of employment.
11.4 The party seeking indemnification shall give prompt written notice of a claim under this article. The indemnifying party shall control the defense with counsel reasonably acceptable to the other party; the indemnified party may participate at its own expense. The indemnifying party shall not settle a claim in a manner that imposes an obligation on the other party, or that does not release the other party fully, without the other party's prior written consent. This article survives the end of employment.
Article 12: Enforcement and Appeals
12.1 The Company may investigate any suspected violation of this document. The Employee shall cooperate with an investigation and shall produce the records this document requires the Employee to keep.
12.2 If the Company determines that the Employee has violated this document, the Company shall give written notice stating the provision violated and the facts relied on, except where notice would compromise an investigation of fraud, a safety risk, or a legal obligation. The Employee may submit a written response within ten (10) business days, and the person deciding the matter shall consider the response before a measure is imposed. Where a violation is capable of cure, the Employee has ten (10) business days from notice to cure it and to confirm the cure in writing; no cure period applies to fraud, a safety risk, unlawful conduct, or a violation that cannot be cured.
12.3 If a violation is established, the Company may, proportionate to the violation: (a) issue a written warning; (b) require retraining; (c) restrict or withdraw access or a module grant; (d) place the Employee on a written improvement plan; (e) suspend the Employee's employment; (f) terminate the Employee's employment; and (g) exercise any other right or remedy available at law.
12.4 The Employee may appeal a measure under this article by written notice to the Employee's Manager within thirty (30) days of the measure, stating the grounds and attaching the records relied on. Where the Manager made the decision appealed from, the appeal is made to the Manager's manager. The appeal is decided by a person who did not make the original decision, and the Company's decision on appeal is final. A measure remains in effect during an appeal unless the Company directs otherwise in writing.
12.5 No measure under this article may be imposed in retaliation for a report made in good faith under the Whistleblower and Internal Reporting Policy or for the exercise of a right protected by applicable law. The Company's delay in acting on a violation is not a waiver of the violation or of any later violation of the same kind.
Article 13: Term and Termination
13.1 This document applies from the commencement of employment until the employment ends for any reason.
13.2 On the end of employment, this document ceases to apply as a statement of workplace duties, and the duties that by their terms survive continue in force, including the confidentiality duties in the Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Policy and Articles 10, 11, 12 (for measures taken before the employment ended), 14, and 15. The end of employment and of access is governed by the Termination and Offboarding Policy.
Article 14: Dispute Resolution
14.1 Any dispute arising out of or relating to this document, or to the relationship it governs, is governed by the Dispute Resolution Policy, which is incorporated into this document by reference.
14.2 Nothing in this document limits an Employee's right to file a charge or complaint with a government agency, to participate in an agency proceeding, or to engage in concerted activity protected by applicable law, and no provision of this document requires the Employee to give notice of, or to obtain consent to, the exercise of such a right.
Article 15: General Provisions
15.1 The Company may amend this document by posting the amended document in the Document Center and giving notice to the Employee at the email address in the Employee's employment record. An amendment that materially increases the Employee's obligations takes effect thirty (30) days after notice; other amendments take effect on posting.
15.2 Legal notices under this document shall be sent to legal@aapawz.com; operational notices and all other communications shall be sent to support@aapawz.com. A notice to the Company is effective when the Company acknowledges receipt or, for email, one business day after sending, whichever is earlier. Notices to the Employee are effective when sent to the email address in the Employee's employment record or posted in the employee portal, whichever occurs first. The Employee shall keep that email address current. Notices under the DMCA and Copyright Policy are given as provided in that policy, to the designated agent at legal@aapawz.com.
15.3 This document is governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to the Dispute Resolution Policy, any proceeding arising out of this document shall be brought in the state or federal courts located in Shelby County, Tennessee, and the parties consent to personal jurisdiction there.
15.4 If any provision of this document is held unenforceable, the provision shall be enforced to the fullest extent permitted, and the remaining provisions continue in full effect.
15.5 This document, together with the documents it incorporates by reference, is the entire agreement between the Company and the Employee for the subject it governs and supersedes every prior statement or agreement on that subject. This clause does not supersede an offer letter or a written employment agreement signed by the Company.
15.6 The Employee shall not assign this document or any right or obligation under it, and an assignment without the Company's prior written consent is void. The Company may assign this document to an affiliate or in connection with a sale of its business, on notice to the Employee. A waiver of any provision of this document is effective only in writing and only for the instance stated; no waiver is a waiver of any other provision or instance.
15.7 Headings are for convenience only. "Including" means "including without limitation." This document shall not be construed against a party on the ground that the party prepared this document. The English-language text controls over any translation.
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