Social Compliance

Supplier Social Compliance Standards

We believe that shared values and commitments must serve as the foundation for our supplier relationships. Our Supplier Social Compliance Standards outline expectations for suppliers to demonstrate a fair, safe and healthy workplace, as well as safeguard business integrity. Centered on our values, these standards are an extension of our expectations of our own people and are aligned with principles such as the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

The Supplier Social Compliance Standards are driven by the belief that good corporate citizenship is essential to our long-term business success and must be reflected in our relationships and actions in our workplaces and the workplaces of those who are authorized to directly supply our business.

Suppliers to Kimberly-Clark are expected to review these standards, develop and implement appropriate actions to ensure compliance to these standards, and implement similar requirements for suppliers in their own supply chains.

To promote compliance with our standards for social and environmental performance by our manufacturing facilities and key suppliers, we engage third-party auditors to conduct production site assessments. These assessments measure compliance across key issue areas including child labor, forced labor, discrimination, workplace health and safety, and business integrity.

Supplier Social Compliance Standards:

More information is available regarding Kimberly-Clark’s approach to social compliance and human rights in both our Global Sustainability Report and Our Annual Modern Slavery Disclosures.

Conflict Minerals Compliance

Kimberly-Clark is committed to ensuring that products and materials we purchase to not contain minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold) that may provide funding to sustain armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjacent countries.

To ensure conflict minerals compliance, all Kimberly-Clark suppliers are required to assist Kimberly-Clark in complying with government regulatory requirements on conflict minerals use and reporting in all regions. This includes not sourcing tin, tungsten, tantalum or gold from non-conformant smelters in the conflict region, which consists of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjacent countries.

We expect our suppliers who source minerals for products and materials we purchase to implement a system to trace the origin of tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold and provide an annual disclosure of these sources where applicable. Annual disclosure utilizing the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT) developed by the Responsible Minerals Initiative is encouraged.