American Express Services Europe Ltd
We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.
The Armed Forces Covenant
An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families
The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.
Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.
Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant
1.1 We American Express Services Europe Ltd will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment
2.1 American Express Services Europe Ltd recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
We also pledge the following:
Practically ensuring that our employees, customers and business partners understand our support for the Armed Forces and their families. Developing our internal Veterans Employee Network (VET) for employees with service history or an affiliation to the Armed Forces, focusing on the leadership and career development and promoting positive links with the Armed Forces. Supporting our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve Forces. Accommodating Reservist’s annual training requirements by offering flexible working hours and up to five das of additional paid leave per year. Endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before during and after a partner’s deployment. Striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners. Partnering with and offering support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools where possible. Developing and Enhancing links to Armed Forces units in our region. Striving to develop our work on supporting employees with disabilities to include wounded, injured and sick veterans. Developing our ability to advertise vacancies via the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and investigate developing a recruiting framework to improve our ability to recruit military talent leaving the Services. Providing a range of free services and benefits to Armed Forces employees and their families, which includes free financial advice and a range of confidential mental wellbeing counselling services. Support the development of our employees and increasing their awareness of the Armed Forces by leveraging the VET network and exposing them to training and education from the team and its associations. The VET network will lead internal and enable regional Remembrance activities.
2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.