Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Introduction

Good engineering comes from people who think differently, question each other respectfully and feel safe enough to disagree. Epcotec is a senior, remote-first studio of 57 specialists working across Australia and Canada, and the range of our people's backgrounds, cultures, disciplines and perspectives is part of why our work is strong. This policy sets out how we protect and build on that.

Our value of Care sets the tone: every person here is treated fairly and with respect, and we extend the same expectation to everyone we work with.

We aim for a workplace where diversity is present, inclusion is practised and difference is treated as a professional asset. We build our culture on teamwork, creativity, quality, innovation and respect, drawing on the diversity of our people's thought, qualifications, experience, beliefs, backgrounds, cultures and skills.

Scope

This policy applies to all Epcotec employees and to independent contractors and labour-hire contractors engaged by Epcotec ("contractors") in Australia and Canada.

Policy

A person's gender, marital status, parental or family responsibilities, race, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, political or religious beliefs, cultural or social background, trade union affiliation, disability or physical appearance will not form the basis of our decisions. Nor will any other attribute protected by the employment and human rights legislation of the jurisdictions where we operate.

We apply this commitment across the whole working relationship, so that people are engaged, advanced and treated on merit, according to their skills and abilities, through:

• recruitment, selection, transfers and promotions;
• performance reviews, training and development, and supervision;
• counselling, disciplinary and performance management procedures;
• termination of employment; and
• remuneration, reward and benefits.

We conduct our business so that employees, contractors and other stakeholders, including clients, consultants, suppliers and members of the community, are treated fairly and with respect. We expect clients, consultants, contractors, suppliers and members of the community to treat Epcotec, its employees and contractors with the same fairness and respect.

What this means in a distributed studio

Because we work remotely across two countries and many time zones, inclusion has a practical everyday meaning for us:

• meetings, documents and decisions are accessible to people in every location and time zone, and no one is systematically excluded by scheduling;
• written communication is clear and inclusive, and we make room for people whose first language is not English;
• reasonable adjustments are made for disability, health and caring responsibilities; and
• dissenting technical views are welcomed and judged on their merits.

Breaches

Breaches of this policy are treated seriously. An employee or contractor who considers that an action or decision by Epcotec is inconsistent with this policy can raise the matter with their manager or the People & Compliance lead, or under our grievance procedure, and may also report it under our Whistleblower Policy. We investigate and take all appropriate action.

A client or member of the community with a concern about a potential breach of this policy may raise it directly with an Epcotec representative or make a report under our Whistleblower Policy.

---

Approved: Eugene Pivnev, Founder & Managing Director, Epcotec

Version 1.2, 2 October 2026