Human Rights and Labor Compliance Standards

NIKE, Inc. focuses on building relationships with suppliers that respect human rights and invest in their workforce. Our expectations for suppliers start with our Code of Conduct and Code Leadership Standards. Our Code of Conduct is aligned with international standards and contains the foundational requirements all suppliers must meet in producing NIKE, Inc. products. The Code Leadership Standards contain more detailed requirements on how the Code of Conduct must be implemented. They also include specifications on the development of robust management systems which are essential to consistently maintaining compliance with local laws and our standards.

Transparency has long been a cornerstone of NIKE, Inc.'s responsible supply chain approach. In 2005, NIKE, Inc. became the first company in the footwear and apparel industry to voluntarily disclose its contract manufacturing base, publishing the names and locations of factories that manufacture NIKE, Inc. products. Today, that transparency continues through the Nike Manufacturing Map, which is updated quarterly and provides information about the independent factories and material suppliers that manufacture NIKE, Inc. products.

For more information on NIKE, Inc.'s current suppliers, see our Manufacturing Map.

NIKE, Inc. specifically and directly forbids the use of child labor in facilities contracted to make our products. The NIKE, Inc. Code of Conduct requires that workers be at least 16 years of age, or past the national legal age of compulsory schooling and minimum working age, whichever is higher. The requirements also specify that workers between the ages of 16 and 18 cannot be employed in positions which may be hazardous such as working with chemicals or heavy machinery*, nor can they work at night. Our Code of Conduct age requirements exceed those of the International Labour Organization (15 years of age, and 14 years of age in some developing countries).

Our Code Leadership Standards include specific requirements on how suppliers must verify workers’ ages prior to starting employment. They also contain specific requirements for actions the facility must take to remediate a situation where the supplier violates NIKE, Inc.'s Code of Conduct that focus on protecting the rights and wellbeing of the worker. Those requirements include:

• Removing the underage employee from the workplace;
• Providing support to enable the underage employee to attend and remain in school or a vocational training until the age of 16 or the minimum legal working age, whichever is higher; and
• Agreement to rehire the underage employee when they reach the age of 16 or legal working age if the worker wishes.

*Hazardous conditions are those defined as working with hazardous chemicals, working with dangerous machinery, night work or as otherwise identified by country law.

NIKE, Inc. has strict requirements in our Code of Conduct prohibiting any type of forced, bonded or indentured labor at supplier facilities. We know such prohibitions by themselves are not enough; we must also address key risks that can contribute to forced labor, especially for groups at higher risk.

One example is workers paying recruitment-related fees to obtain a job, which is a particularly common risk for foreign migrant workers. In 2008, NIKE, Inc. was one of the first companies to establish a supply chain policy with explicit requirements on the employment of foreign migrant workers, including the prohibition on workers paying recruitment fees for their employment.

Since then, we have continued to learn and evolve our approach to better address the risks foreign migrant workers can face during recruitment and employment. This includes strengthening the specificity of our standards, expanding our ability to identify forced labor indicators and supporting suppliers with training, practical tools and remediation guidance. The Code Leadership Standards also contain additional requirements to address key risks of forced labor, such as requiring worker freedom of movement and prohibiting requirements to post bonds or make deposits as a condition of employment. The Code Leadership Standards also include specific provisions related to the management of workers with unique vulnerabilities to forced labor risks, such as migrant workers and interns.

Many recruitment-related risks are systemic and require collaboration beyond any single company. Through industry partnerships and multi-stakeholder initiatives, NIKE, Inc. works with other brands and stakeholders to support shared tools, common approaches and broader adoption of responsible recruitment practices.

To further this work to eliminate recruitment-related fees, we were a founding signatory to the American Apparel and Footwear Association & Fair Labor Association’s Apparel & Footwear Commitment on Responsible Recruitment. The principles of the Commitment, centered on addressing forced labor risks, are aligned with NIKE, Inc.'s Code of Conduct and the work we have been doing with our suppliers for more than a decade. This coalition builds on efforts across sectors to drive change in how workers are recruited for cross-border employment.

We believe pre-competitive collaboration within our industry, as well as with leading organizations in other sectors, is essential to driving the changes needed to respect workers’ rights at every stage of employment. To support our work with suppliers on implementing our standards for the ethical recruitment and employment of migrant workers, NIKE, Inc. works with a number of civil society organizations (CSOs) and forms strategic partnerships with select CSOs as appropriate.

For more information on our work to address risks of forced labor please see NIKE, Inc.’s Statement on Forced Labor. 

We believe all workers have the right to freely associate and collectively bargain. Where freedom of association and collective bargaining are restricted under law, NIKE, Inc. requires suppliers to allow for parallel means for independent and free association and bargaining.

Our Code Leadership Standards contain detailed requirements on how suppliers must respect the rights of workers to freely associate. Those requirements include prohibitions on interference with workers seeking to organize or carry out union activities, as well as on any sort of activity which seeks to intimidate, harass or retaliate against workers for participation in a union or other representative organization or for attempting to organize or form a union.

We expect our suppliers to enable fair opportunities for workers at their facilities. NIKE, Inc.’s Code of Conduct and Code Leadership Standards have detailed prohibitions on discrimination in hiring, compensation, promotion, discipline or any other aspect of employment.

The majority of workers involved in the global production of apparel and footwear are women. Many of those women have unique vulnerabilities relative to their male peers and can therefore be at risk for exploitation and abuse. NIKE, Inc. has long recognized these risks and has specific standards to protect women workers. Our requirements for suppliers include equal pay for equal work, safe work in connection to pregnancy, childbirth and nursing, prohibitions on discriminatory pregnancy testing or forced use of contraception and provision of maternity benefits.

Learn more about our Gender Strategy.

Our Code of Conduct requires our suppliers to pay their employees at least the local minimum wage or prevailing wage (whichever is higher), including premiums for overtime worked, legally mandated benefits and compliance with social insurance regulations required by country law. Our Code Leadership Standards also contain requirements for suppliers to work on the progressive realization of a fair wage, defined as meeting employees’ basic needs, including some discretionary income.

Learn more about our Strategic Compensation approach.

International standards and local laws restricting working hours are designed to protect the safety and long-term health of workers as well as to recognize everyone has a right to rest and free time. NIKE, Inc.’s Code of Conduct and Code Leadership Standards require suppliers to adhere to the stricter of local law or international standards. We require suppliers to maintain timekeeping systems that accurately record all working time. Our Code Leadership Standards also require that any overtime must be paid at a premium rate of either 125 percent of base rate, or higher per local law.

Enforcing policies that require workers consistently work below local and international caps on working hours remains a persistent challenge in many countries, both in our industry and beyond. It is one of the most common audit findings in many countries where our suppliers operate due in part to lack of effective management systems, as well as weak enforcement of local labor law. NIKE, Inc. measures compliance with our working hour standard through our audit program and closely tracks progress toward the consistent elimination of excessive working hours in supplier facilities.

We believe the protection of health and safety in the workplace is a fundamental right. Our vision is that all workers at our suppliers’ facilities are provided a safe, hygienic and healthy workplace, with robust safety management systems which foster a strong culture of safety.

We require suppliers producing NIKE, Inc. products to properly inform their workers about potential hazards of their job as well as adequately train them on how to perform their work safely. Through our Code of Conduct and Code Leadership Standards, we have detailed requirements aligned with international standards and best practice for evaluating and minimizing a wide range of risks to workers and to the facility.

In particular, fire safety, building safety and occupational health concerns are some of the highest risk health and safety concerns in the footwear and apparel manufacturing industry. We require our suppliers to have fire prevention and emergency action plans in place to protect workers during normal working operations and emergency situations. Buildings must be constructed or retrofitted according to the laws of the manufacturing country, international standards if local laws do not exist, or certified structural engineering construction approvals. Additionally, we require our suppliers to anticipate, recognize, evaluate and control occupational health and hygiene hazards in the workplace; use routine monitoring and analytical methods to determine the potential health effects of hazards that are present in the workplace; and control worker exposure to these health hazards.

Learn more about our approach to Occupational Health and Safety.

NIKE, Inc. monitors supplier performance against our Code of Conduct and Code Leadership Standards through a combination of industry-converged assessment tools, targeted audits and ongoing engagement with suppliers. We increasingly utilize recognized industry assessments such as verified Social and Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) assessments, Better Work assessments and verified Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) assessments to evaluate labor, health and safety and environmental performance. By leveraging shared industry tools, we help reduce audit fatigue, improve consistency across the industry and allow resources to be directed toward improving working conditions and supplier capability.

We complement these assessments with targeted announced and unannounced audits, allegation investigations and other due diligence activities, particularly in areas where elevated risks are identified. When concerns are found, we work with suppliers on corrective action and remediation plans designed to address root causes, strengthen management systems and support sustainable improvement over time.

Suppliers that do not make satisfactory progress toward remediation may be subject to review and sanctions, including potential termination of the business relationship.

Our approach is designed not only to identify non-compliance, but also to help suppliers build resilient management systems that support worker wellbeing, operational excellence and long-term business sustainability.

Having trusted, effective grievance mechanisms for workers to use to raise concerns about working conditions and conditions of employment are an essential element in protecting the rights of workers and building an engaged workforce. Our Code Leadership Standards require our suppliers to have effective grievance processes which include the ability to raise grievances anonymously and confidentially without fear of retaliation. The standards require training of workers on the facility’s grievance system as well as a process to both track grievances and respond to workers in a timely manner. Suppliers are encouraged to involve worker representatives in the resolution of grievances.

In addition to formal grievance processes, NIKE, Inc. believes that effective two-way communication between management and workers is key to creating strong and growing businesses. Some of our suppliers’ facilities have one or more formal unions where their elected representatives serve a critical function in representing and negotiating on behalf of workers and as an important partner in broader communications.

Many suppliers’ facilities also have worker committees through which management can get direct input on how to continually improve operations and working conditions. One such area is health and safety. NIKE, Inc. recognizes the critical role workers play in identifying risks and opportunities to improve the health and safety conditions of the facility. Therefore, through the Code Leadership Standards, NIKE, Inc. requires supplier facilities to have a specific health, safety and environment committee composed of at least equal numbers of workers and managers. Our suppliers’ facilities have other committees to directly engage workers and continually improve working conditions and worker satisfaction and engagement.

Given the emergence of new technologies over the past several years, NIKE, Inc. has also been working with our suppliers to identify and implement ways to improve grievance mechanisms and two-way communication between workers and management

Learn more about our Sourcing and Supplier Standards.

German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act

(Lieferkettensorgfaltpflichtengesetz -“LkSG”)

NIKE, Inc.’s approach to human rights and environmental due diligence is in accordance with the LkSG’s requirement to identify, address and report on human rights and environmental risks in its supply chain.

Complaint Procedure for Human Rights & Environmental Grievances