Code of Ethics

Adopted by the General Membership on February 5, 2009

Members of the Minnesota Electronic Security and Technology Association (MNESTA) are committed to serving the public with high quality products and services that help to protect lives and property. The MNESTA Code of Ethics is intended to assist MNESTA members and their employees to provide these products and services in a highly ethical manner. This Code is binding on all members of MNESTA.

In providing products and services, MNESTA member’s impact: their customers; public emergency response agencies; their employees; their competitors and the general public. MNESTA members shall take all appropriate steps to adhere to the following principals as they apply to each of the impacted groups.

1. Customers
MNESTA members shall give due respect to customers by complying with the following:

Shall advertise in a non-deceptive manner and in accordance with applicable laws.
Shall not misrepresent the capabilities of their products or services; and not quote statistics or provide other information which is known to be false or which the member has not made a reasonable effort to objectively verify.
In contracting with customers, members shall use printed documents that clearly and conspicuously set forth both the member’s and customer’s rights and obligations.
Shall provide and keep updated a phone number for customers to call to obtain service or assistance.

2. Emergency Response Agencies
MNESTA members shall reduce the rate at which emergency response agencies respond to alarm signals caused by non-emergency occurrences by the following:

Comply with applicable alarm ordinances.
Encourage customers to comply with applicable alarm ordinances.
Train customers in the proper use of the member’s products and services and provide the customer with written instruction material.
Provide reasonable cooperation to customers and emergency response agencies in remedying an alarm system or equipment identified as creating excessive false alarm signals.
Encourage participation in, or cooperate with, MNESTA programs designed to reduce false alarms.

3. Employees
MNESTA Members employees deliver products and services to customers thereby creating, sustaining and developing their businesses.

Shall comply with all applicable licensing laws.
Develop and utilize training, equipment, policies and procedures that promote on the job safety for all employees.
Members shall provide training to all employees to allow them to perform their duties in a high quality manner.
Shall comply with all equal opportunity employment laws
Shall comply with the background check requirement as outlined in Article III of the MNESTA Constitution and By-Laws.

4. Competitors
MNESTA Members shall be ethical in their relationships with competitive companies.

Shall comply with all anti-trust laws.
Shall conduct all Association meetings and functions in accordance with MNESTA’s anti-trust statement.
Shall not make any negative statement regarding a competitor that it knows to be false or unverified.
Shall not illegally “raid” a competitor by targeting the competitor to hire away its employees for the purpose of harming the competitor.
Shall not misrepresent themselves as a competitor for the purpose of obtaining competitors customers.

5. General Public MNESTA members shall act as responsible citizens in the communities in which they operate.

Anti-Trust Statement

The Minnesota Electronic Security and Technology Association (MNESTA) is committed to compliance with the letter and spirit of the anti-trust laws. Topics which present anti-trust implications should not be discussed.

Meetings conducted under the auspices of MNESTA are designed solely to provide a forum for expressing various view points on topics described in the program or agenda for such meetings.

Under no circumstances shall MNESTA meetings or activities be used as a means for competing companies or firms to reach any understanding, expressed or implied, which restricts competition, or even engage in communications thereon.

Board members and Committee chairs, facilitators, moderators and speakers have been instructed to stop any conversation or discussion related to restraint of trade, price fixing, compensation, marketing strategies and any other topics that could be considered anti-competitive.

This statement will be posted on the web site and referred to at the Board Meetings and General Membership meetings. MNESTA would appreciate its members, speakers and guests to conduct themselves accordingly.