Effective Date: October 15, 2026 Version: 1.0 Applies to: All Company employees.
Article 1: Introduction and Scope
1.1 This document states the rules for working inside the Company's admin tools: the admin portal and its Modules, the support desk, the registers and back-office systems, and every other shared system through which the business is run. Access to a tool is granted under the Data Access and Least Privilege Policy; this document governs the use of the access granted.
1.2 This document binds every Employee who uses an admin tool, whether the Employee is a Manager administering the business or an Employee working a granted Module from the employee portal. The platform rules for users generally are stated in the Acceptable Use Policy; this document states the additional duties that attach to tools that can move money, change records, and reach customer data.
1.3 If a provision of this document conflicts with the Terms of Use, this document controls for the subject it governs. If a provision conflicts with the terms of a program in which the Employee participates, the program terms control for that program. Help pages explain this document; they do not amend it.
Article 2: Definitions
2.1 The definitions in the Employee Code of Conduct are incorporated into this document by reference, as are Grant, Access Level, and Module as defined in the Data Access and Least Privilege Policy. This article defines only the additional term used in this document.
2.2 Admin Tool: the admin portal and each Module in it, the support desk and its shared queues, point-of-sale and register systems, reporting and export functions, and every other Company System through which an Employee administers the business, changes a business record, or communicates with customers in the Company's name.
Article 3: General Rules of Use
3.1 The Employee shall use an Admin Tool only for Company business within the Employee's Grant and duties, and only through the Employee's own Session, as the Authentication Controls Policy requires. Incidental personal use of a general Company System is governed by the Employee Code of Conduct; no personal use of an Admin Tool that changes a business record, moves money, or reaches customer data is permitted.
3.2 The Employee shall act in an Admin Tool only to the extent the Employee's Access Level permits and the task requires. A level that permits an act does not authorize the act: Write access to Refunds and Disputes permits the Employee to work refunds the Employee is assigned; the access does not authorize a refund the business has not approved, a change to a record of the Employee's own transaction, or an approval of the Employee's own request. An Employee shall not approve, release, or alter a transaction in which the Employee has a personal interest, and shall refer such a transaction to the Manager.
3.3 The Employee shall not use an Admin Tool to defeat a control: the Employee shall not alter a record to conceal an error or a loss, split a transaction to avoid an approval limit, use a function for a purpose other than the purpose the function serves, or continue an act through another route after the route the Employee first used refused it. A refusal by a tool is a control operating as intended, and the Employee shall raise the underlying need with the Manager rather than work around the refusal.
3.4 Every act in an Admin Tool is recorded in the audit log against the Employee's identity. The Employee shall take each act as the record the Employee intends to stand behind, and shall record the reason for an act wherever the tool provides for a reason, a note, or an approval reference.
Article 4: Records, Money, and Customer-Facing Acts
4.1 The Employee shall make each entry in an Admin Tool completely and accurately at the time of the act, in accordance with the Record Keeping and Audit Policy. Status changes, price changes, inventory adjustments, refunds, credits, and payment acts are business records from the moment they are made, and an Employee shall not leave such an act half-recorded or record it from memory at a later time where the act could have been recorded at the time.
4.2 The Employee shall verify the record an act affects before confirming a consequential act: a refund, a release of a deposit, a gift card or credit issuance, a price change, an inventory write-off, or a change to a customer's or an Employee's record. An act confirmed on the wrong record is corrected in accordance with the Record Keeping and Audit Policy, which preserves the original entry; the Employee shall not attempt to erase the act.
4.3 Communications sent through an Admin Tool, including messages to customers and replies in the support desk, are communications of the Company. The Employee shall write each such communication accurately, professionally, and on the facts of the record, and shall not promise a customer an outcome the Employee has no authority to give. Internal notes in a shared queue are work records: the Employee shall write an internal note as a factual record of the work, on the understanding that notes are kept, audited, and may be produced as the Record Keeping and Audit Policy states.
4.4 A support ticket, whether filed by an Employee or worked by one, shall state the problem with the specifics the reader needs to act: the record affected, the date and time, what occurred, and what was attempted. The Employee shall work a shared queue in the order and priority the queue presents, shall not close a ticket the Employee has not resolved or referred, and shall not use a ticket for a matter another document routes elsewhere: an incident is filed under the Incident Response Policy, and misconduct is reported under the Whistleblower and Internal Reporting Policy, not by ticket.
Article 5: Prohibited Uses
5.1 Each of the following is prohibited in an Admin Tool (a) accessing or altering a record without a Grant that permits it, or for a personal, curious, or third-party purpose;
(b) exporting, copying, or disclosing customer, payment, or personnel data except as the Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Policy permits;
(c) granting, widening, or restoring access, including the Employee's own access, except by a person authorized to grant access under the Data Access and Least Privilege Policy;
(d) installing, connecting, or using an unapproved application, integration, script, or automated process against a Company System, and using an approved tool to extract data at a volume or for a purpose the approval does not cover;
(e) deleting, overwriting, or altering an audit record, a status history, or any record in a manner that conceals the original entry; and
(f) using an Admin Tool to harass, monitor without authority, or disadvantage a customer, a Seller, or a coworker, or to benefit a competing business.
5.2 The Employee shall report a prohibited use the Employee observes, and a weakness in a tool that permits an act no Grant authorizes, in accordance with the Incident Response Policy.
Article 6: Monitoring
6.1 The Company may monitor, record, and audit the use of every Admin Tool, including the audit log, sign-in records, and the contents of work communications, to the extent permitted by applicable law. The Employee has no expectation of privacy in such use. Monitoring under this article is exercised for the protection of customers, of the business, and of Employees, and the records it creates are kept under the Record Keeping and Audit Policy.
Article 7: Liability
7.1 The Employee is responsible for the Employee's own conduct and shall bear the loss that the Employee's violation of this document causes, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Nothing in this document makes the Company responsible for a loss caused by an act taken in violation of this document or outside the scope of employment.
7.2 To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither party is liable to the other for indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, or loss of goodwill, arising out of or relating to this document, even if the party has been advised of the possibility of those damages.
7.3 To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company's total liability arising out of or relating to this document shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100). This clause does not limit (a) wages, commissions, benefits, or other compensation owed under applicable law or a written agreement; (b) indemnification obligations under this document; (c) liability for fraud or willful misconduct; or (d) liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.
7.4 The parties agree that this article allocates risk between them, that it is an essential part of the basis of their bargain, and that it applies even if a limited remedy fails of its essential purpose.
Article 8: Indemnification
8.1 The Company shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Employee from and against a claim, loss, liability, judgment, settlement, cost, and expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) brought by a third party and arising out of an act the Employee took within the scope of employment and in compliance with this document and applicable law.
8.2 The Company does not indemnify an Employee for the Employee's own unlawful acts. No indemnification is owed under this article for a claim arising out of (a) the Employee's willful misconduct or fraud; (b) an act outside the scope of employment; or (c) an act taken in violation of this document, including an act a Grant did not permit.
8.3 The Employee shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Company and its members, managers, employees, and agents from and against every claim, loss, liability, judgment, settlement, cost, and expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of (a) the Employee's breach of this document; (b) the Employee's violation of any law or of the rights of any person; and (c) an act outside the scope of employment.
8.4 The party seeking indemnification shall give prompt written notice of a claim under this article. The indemnifying party shall control the defense with counsel reasonably acceptable to the other party; the indemnified party may participate at its own expense. The indemnifying party shall not settle a claim in a manner that imposes an obligation on the other party, or that does not release the other party fully, without the other party's prior written consent. This article survives the end of employment.
Article 9: Enforcement and Appeals
9.1 The Company may investigate any suspected violation of this document, including by review of the audit log. The Employee shall cooperate with an investigation and shall produce the records this document requires the Employee to keep.
9.2 If the Company determines that the Employee has violated this document, the Company shall give written notice stating the provision violated and the facts relied on, except where notice would compromise an investigation of fraud, a safety risk, or a legal obligation. The Employee may submit a written response within ten (10) business days, and the person deciding the matter shall consider the response before a measure is imposed. Where a violation is capable of cure, the Employee has ten (10) business days from notice to cure it and to confirm the cure in writing; no cure period applies to fraud, a safety risk, unlawful conduct, or a violation that cannot be cured.
9.3 If a violation is established, the Company may, proportionate to the violation: (a) issue a written warning; (b) require retraining; (c) restrict or withdraw access or a Grant; (d) place the Employee on a written improvement plan; (e) suspend the Employee's employment; (f) terminate the Employee's employment; and (g) exercise any other right or remedy available at law. A prohibited use under Article 5 that moves money, alters a record to conceal an act, or discloses data is a serious violation for the purposes of this article.
9.4 The Employee may appeal a measure under this article by written notice to the Employee's Manager within thirty (30) days of the measure, stating the grounds and attaching the records relied on. Where the Manager made the decision appealed from, the appeal is made to the Manager's manager. The appeal is decided by a person who did not make the original decision, and the Company's decision on appeal is final. A measure remains in effect during an appeal unless the Company directs otherwise in writing.
9.5 No measure under this article may be imposed in retaliation for a report made in good faith under the Whistleblower and Internal Reporting Policy or for the exercise of a right protected by applicable law. The Company's delay in acting on a violation is not a waiver of the violation or of any later violation of the same kind.
Article 10: Term and Termination
10.1 This document applies from the commencement of employment until the employment ends for any reason. Use of an Admin Tool ends with the employment and with the withdrawal of the Grant the use depends on, whichever occurs first.
10.2 On the end of employment, Articles 7, 8, 9 (for measures taken before the employment ended), 11, and 12 survive. The end of employment and of access is governed by the Termination and Offboarding Policy.
Article 11: Dispute Resolution
11.1 Any dispute arising out of or relating to this document, or to the relationship it governs, is governed by the Dispute Resolution Policy, which is incorporated into this document by reference.
11.2 Nothing in this document limits an Employee's right to file a charge or complaint with a government agency, to participate in an agency proceeding, or to engage in concerted activity protected by applicable law, and no provision of this document requires the Employee to give notice of, or to obtain consent to, the exercise of such a right.
Article 12: General Provisions
12.1 The Company may amend this document by posting the amended document in the Document Center and giving notice to the Employee at the email address in the Employee's employment record. An amendment that materially increases the Employee's obligations takes effect thirty (30) days after notice; other amendments take effect on posting.
12.2 Legal notices under this document shall be sent to legal@aapawz.com; operational notices and all other communications shall be sent to support@aapawz.com. A notice to the Company is effective when the Company acknowledges receipt or, for email, one business day after sending, whichever is earlier. Notices to the Employee are effective when sent to the email address in the Employee's employment record or posted in the employee portal, whichever occurs first. The Employee shall keep that email address current. Notices under the DMCA and Copyright Policy are given as provided in that policy, to the designated agent at legal@aapawz.com.
12.3 This document is governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to the Dispute Resolution Policy, any proceeding arising out of this document shall be brought in the state or federal courts located in Shelby County, Tennessee, and the parties consent to personal jurisdiction there.
12.4 If any provision of this document is held unenforceable, the provision shall be enforced to the fullest extent permitted, and the remaining provisions continue in full effect.
12.5 This document, together with the documents it incorporates by reference, is the entire agreement between the Company and the Employee for the subject it governs and supersedes every prior statement or agreement on that subject. This clause does not supersede an offer letter or a written employment agreement signed by the Company.
12.6 The Employee shall not assign this document or any right or obligation under it, and an assignment without the Company's prior written consent is void. The Company may assign this document to an affiliate or in connection with a sale of all or part of its business, on notice to the Employee. A waiver of any provision of this document is effective only in writing and only for the instance stated; no waiver is a waiver of any other provision or instance.
12.7 Headings are for convenience only. "Including" means "including without limitation." This document shall not be construed against a party on the ground that the party prepared this document. The English-language text controls over any translation.
Related articles