Transparency & Integrity Policy

1. Introduction

The VR Awards values its reputation and the impact that has on the industry, therefore the VR Awards is committed to maintaining the highest standards of honesty and virtue in the day to day conduct of our business affairs.

The VR Awards operates a zero tolerance approach to this policy. The actions of our nominees, judges, sponsors, partners and staff, as well as others acting on our behalf, are imperative to maintaining these high standards.

2. Policy details

The VR Awards does not under any circumstances disclose information related to nominees, finalists or winners. Additionally, this information is prohibited from being shared with nominees, members of the judging panel, sponsors, partners and the VR Awards sales and marketing team.

Information on nominees, finalists and winners is segregated and kept confidential, so as to avoid bias and prejudice prior to, during and after the judging process, thus maintaining integrity throughout the VR Awards.

The VR Awards’ sponsors and partners who are working in conjunction with the VR Awards do not have any influence on the judging process nor do they have an impact on the decisions of the VR Awards’ judges. Commercial activities including sponsorship and ticket sales are handled solely by the VR Awards’ marketing and sales team who do not have knowledge of finalists’ status until the announcement is made on the ceremony night.

Voting data of judges is confidential. This confidentiality policy is in place to prevent third parties from attempting to altering data once disclosed and to discourage public peer pressure in decision making.

This policy is also predicated upon UK government legislation, specifically the Bribery Act of 2010.

3. Penalties

If any individuals and/or companies are believed to be acting in bad faith or involved with impropriety, whether that be soliciting or accepting an information exchange with or without a monetary exchange, the VR Awards reserves the right without prejudice to bar them from future nominations and/or involvement in the celebrations.

4. Conflicts of interest

Conflicts of interest that arise during the judging process are logged for transparency and depending on the nature of the conflict, judging chairs are notified. If conflicts are escalated to the judging chair of the particular category, they will have an influencing decision on whether or not a judge must withdraw.

5. Monitoring transparency and integrity

For transparency and integrity, all phone calls inbound and outbound are recorded and electronic communication stored for a minimum of 3 years. Additionally, a specific log is made of all incidents that may infringe on this policy.

If a VR Awards employee becomes aware or suspects that an activity or conduct which is proposed or has taken place is a bribe, corrupt or infringes on this policy, then they have a duty to report this. Any such incidents will be reported immediately to the Executive Producer of the VR Awards.

5. Regular Review & Enforcement

This policy is indefinitely enforced from 2nd February 2018 onwards.

The VR Awards reserves the right to change this policy as deemed necessary from time to time. Any changes will be immediately updated online and shared with the necessary parties via electronic communication.

To discuss this policy or provide suggestions, you can contact the VR Awards team directly via by email at [email protected].