Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Principles
All Kontoor Brands employees are governed by the Kontoor Code of Business Conduct, which forbids the use of forced or involuntary labor in any of our locations or in the operations of facilities that produce goods for us.
We evaluate potential contracted factories against our rigorous standards and require them to agree to Kontoor's Terms of Engagement & Global Compliance Principles prior to entering our supply chain. This document provide clear guidance on Kontoor's expectations and address topics such as child labor, forced labor, legal wages, discrimination, and harassment-free workplace policies. They also prohibit contracted factories from engaging subcontractors to produce Kontoor products without the written permission of Kontoor.
Kontoor will not knowingly work with factories that use forced labor. We use our own trained factory compliance auditors as well as accredited third-party auditors to ensure compliance with our Terms of Engagement and Global Compliance Principles. We also have signed various public pledges demonstrating our firm opposition to the use of forced child and adult labor.
Risk Assessment and Due Diligence
At Kontoor, the issue of where potential slavery and human trafficking risks may lie in our operations and supply chain and how Kontoor assesses and manages those risks are addressed through our due diligence and audit processes. Before conducting business with Kontoor, each contracted factory must undergo a rigorous Factory Compliance Audit. Our on-site audit process includes scheduled and unannounced audits by our trained factory compliance auditors and third-party audit companies. We inspect for evidence of health and safety concerns, wage and social compliance, forced labor, child labor issues, harassment-free workplace policies, and environmental issues. To receive a “Green" rating, a factory must not have any serious health, safety or labor issues in its facility. A factory receiving an accepted rating is authorized to produce our products for eighteen months, at which time it must undergo an annual review. A factory receiving a "Blue” rating may still produce our products, but will be audited again every nine months and must show continuous improvement in health, safety, and labor issues. A factory with persistent safety, health, or labor issues that fails to remediate issues within 180 days will be rejected as our supplier and unauthorized to supply product for Kontoor.
Training
Kontoor employees receive assignments to complete online and facilitator-led training on our Code of Business Conduct during their first thirty days and sign an agreement to abide by its principles, including those related to human trafficking and forced labor. For our associates and management who have direct responsibility for monitoring, auditing and enforcing our Global Compliance Principles, we provide additional training conducted by our staff or a third party. Training includes topics such as identifying child labor, involuntary or forced labor and preventing human trafficking.
Enforcement
All Kontoor employees must comply with our Code of Business Conduct, which includes principles relating to human trafficking and forced labor. Violation of our Code of Business Conduct by one of our associates can result in disciplinary action, including termination of employment. Consistent with internationally recognized labor standards, our Global Compliance Principles specify minimum working conditions for employees of our suppliers, helping to support the principle that our values are reflected in our products. A contracted factory's breach of the Terms of Engagement can result in Kontoor taking corrective action, including termination as an approved contracted factory.
All Kontoor-owned and operated factories also undergo independent certification by a non-profit organization that promotes global ethics in manufacturing.
Effectiveness
The Kontoor Code of Business Conduct, our Ethics Helpline and the compliance principles listed in this statement aim to help ensure that the use of forced or involuntary labor in our supply chain is prevented. Our Terms of Engagement, Global Compliance Principles, along with our actions through due diligence, risk assessment, audits and training seek to ensure that our contracted factories are free of known labor or employment supplied by or through slavery, forced or compulsory labor or the product of human trafficking