Social Supply Chain Management
Sourcing products responsibly requires the collaboration of internal and external business partners.
Our Global Sourcing, Production & Product Services, and Merchant departments identify product categories for only-at-Kohl’s brands, develop individual product styles, and negotiate the purchase transaction with our business partners. The Factory Compliance team works closely with agents, vendor partners, and facilities to assess working conditions and ensure workers are treated fairly and ethically and provided with a safe and healthy work environment.
Terms of Engagement
We are committed to respecting human rights across our supply chain and operations. We hold ourselves to high ethical standards to create a positive social impact, and we expect the same from our business partners. We require our vendors and facility partners to adhere to our Terms of Engagement. Our Terms of Engagement, reflect our high standards and seek to protect the human rights and safety of the workers who manufacture products procured for sale in our stores and online.
Our Terms of Engagement align with internationally recognized human rights principles developed by the United Nations, Core Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and other respected international organizations to promote and maintain fair business practices and put ethics and safety at the forefront of our business decisions. At Kohl’s, responsible sourcing begins with the business partners we choose to produce only-at-Kohl’s brands.
Our vendor and facility partners are strictly held to our Terms of Engagement, which outline our requirements and expectations of social compliance regarding wages and benefits, working hours, prohibited use of child or forced labor (which includes, without limitation, prison, slave or bonded labor or human trafficking), discrimination, disciplinary practices, women’s rights, legally protected rights of workers to free association, health and safety issues, environmental requirements, and more.
Zero-Tolerance Policy
In an effort to eliminate human rights risks in our supply chain and ensure our goods are responsibly sourced, we communicate our zero-tolerance policy for certain violations of our Terms of Engagement to our vendor and facility partners during meetings and through business correspondence to ensure awareness and understanding of these critical issues.
For more information, please see our Kohl’s Cares Report.