BBB Torch Award for Ethics Guidelines

The Torch Awards for Ethics (Torch Award) honors companies whose leaders demonstrate a high level of personal character and ensure that the organization's practices meet the highest standards of ethics and consequently generate trust. These companies generate a high level of trust among their employees, customers and their communities.

Does your company have what it takes to be awarded the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics?

ELIGIBILITY:

• The BBB Torch Awards for Ethics is open to for-profit companies physically located within the Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania's 28 county service area.
• BBB Accreditation is not required; but at the time of submission, the company must meet all BBB Accreditation Standards and have no significant outstanding concerns that would prevent the company from meeting all BBB Accreditation Standards.
• Organizations must have been in business for three years.
• Previous Torch Award winners are not eligible to re-apply until after three years from the date they were selected winners. For example, a winner of the Torch Awards in 2020 will not be eligible to apply again until Summer 2024. Any runners-up/finalists are eligible to apply the next year.
• A local subsidiary or division of a multi-office organization OR a multi-office HQ itself is eligible to apply for the local Torch Awards for Ethics; but ONLY a locally winning HQ office is then eligible to go on and subsequently enter the International Torch Awards for Ethics.
• All financial obligations must be met.
• Government agencies are not eligible to submit an application.

DIRECTIONS/INSTRUCTIONS:

• Submit a nomination by the end of day Friday, August 9, 2024.
• Once your nomination has been accepted by BBB, submit an entry here by the end of day Friday, September 13, 2024. Please note that all submitted entries become the property of BBB and candidates that do not provide the required information and materials will be disqualified.
• Companies entering the 2024 Torch Award for Ethics will be judged in one of five categories based on the number of employees: (1-10), (11-49), (50-99), (100-499) and (500+). In the event of a tie, additional awards may be given in each category. For the number of employees, an applicant is required to use the total number of employees for all corporate locations, recognizing that two part-time employees equal one full-time employee.
• Competition is free to all entrants and winners of our local competition may choose to enter the BBB International Torch Awards for Ethics (ITAE), which is only open to winners of local BBB business awards programs.
• Winners/finalists will be notified by the end of November 2024. Finalists may be asked for evidence of financial integrity such as a current credit report, bank reference, vendor reference or a Dunn & Bradstreet report. Please remove personal account numbers, Social Security numbers and other sensitive information from all documentation before submitting to BBB.
• Presentations for BBB Torch Award recipients in each category will be done in the last quarter of the year.
• To protect the reputation and integrity of BBB, the award itself and all past, present and future awardees: this award, by board action, may be formally and publicly revoked unilaterally by BBB without notice, for any cause at any time.

JUDGING PROCESS:

• Entries are evaluated by an independent panel of judges comprised of business and academic volunteers. Your written submission, including examples, stories and documents should provide a robust and accurate depiction of your organization's focus on character, culture, customers and community. Supporting documents and attachments can range from handbooks, internal documentation or photos from events.
• All applications received by BBB are reviewed to ensure that all criteria have been met and that the applicants have provided all materials. Applications received after the deadline or that do not meet all criteria are disqualified. Judges make a final determination as to the recipient in each category and may, if they so determine, award a runner-up/finalist. The decision of the judges is final and may not be altered by BBB.
• Winners and runners-up/finalists will be notified by the end of November 2024 and presentations for recipients in each category will be held in the last quarter of the year. Competition is free to all entrants and winners of our local competition may choose to enter the BBB International Torch Awards for Ethics (ITAE) competition, which is only open to winners of local BBB Torch Awards for Ethics programs.
• By submitting this application, all companies certify their compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations governing their business or industry. Applicants agree to abide by BBB guidelines for referencing the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics in any advertising or public announcements and acknowledge that all submitted entries become the property of the Better Business Bureau.

**Legal Actions: If your company has been involved in major lawsuits, class actions or government action in the past three years, please provide a summary of the nature of the legal/government action. Recent independent auditor reports may be submitted in place of such a summary. For large size or publicly-traded companies, copies of the two most recent Annual Reports will suffice.