Nike, Inc. was founded on a handshake.
Implicit in that act was the determination that we would build our business with all of our partners based on trust, teamwork, honesty and mutual respect. We expect all of our business partners to operate on the same principles.
At the core of the NIKE corporate ethic is the belief that we are a company comprised of many different kinds of people, appreciating individual diversity, and dedicated to equal opportunity for each individual.
NIKE designs, manufactures and markets products for sports and fitness consumers. At every step in that process, we are driven to do not only what is required, but what is expected of a leader. We expect our business partners to do the same. Specifically, NIKE seeks partners that share our commitment to the promotion of best practices and continuous improvement in:
1. Occupational health and safety, compensation, hours of work and benefits.
2. Minimizing our impact on the environment.
3. Management practices that recognize the dignity of the individual, the rights of free association and collective bargaining, and the right to a workplace free of harassment, abuse or corporal punishment.
4. The principal that decisions on hiring, salary, benefits, advancement, termination or retirement are based solely on the ability of an individual to do the job.
Wherever NIKE operates around the globe, we are guided by this Code of Conduct. We bind our business partners to these principles. While these principles establish the spirit of our partnerships, we also bind these partners to specific standards of conduct. These are set forth below:
1. Forced Labor. (Contractor) certifies that it does not use any forced labor - prison, indentured, bonded or otherwise.
2. Child Labor. (Contractor) certifies it does not employ any person under the age of 15 (or 14 where the law of the country of manufacturing allows), or the age at which compulsory schooling has ended, whichever is greater.
3. Compensation. (Contractor) certifies that it pays at least the minimum wage, or the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher.
4. Benefits. (Contractor) certifies that it complies with all provisions for legally mandated benefits, including but not limited to housing; meals; transportation and other allowances; health care; child care; sick leave; emergency leave; pregnancy and menstrual leave; vacation, religious, bereavement and holiday leave; and contributions for social security, life, health, worker's compensation and other insurance.
5. Hours of Work/Overtime. (Contractor) certifies that it complies with legally mandated work hours; uses overtime only when employees are fully compensated according to local law; informs the employee at the time of hiring if mandatory overtime is a condition of employment; and, on a regularly scheduled basis, provides one day off in seven, and requires no more than 60 hours of work per week, or complies with local limits if they are lower.
6. Health and Safety. (Contractor) certifies that it has written health and safety guidelines, including those applying to employee residential facilities, where applicable; and that it has agreed in writing to comply with NIKE's factory/vendor health and safety standards.
7. Environment. (Contractor) certifies that it complies with applicable country environmental regulations; and that it has agreed in writing to comply with NIKE's specific vendor/factory environmental policies and procedures, which are based on the concept of continuous improvement in processes and programs to reduce the impact on the environment.
8. Documentation and Inspection. (Contractor) agrees to maintain on file such documentation as may be needed to demonstrate compliance with this Code of Conduct, and further agrees to make these documents available for NIKE or its designated auditor's inspection upon request.
January 15, 1997
Mr. Andrew Young
GoodWorks International, LLC
Suite 4800, Sun Trust Plaza
303 Peachtree Street, N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30303
Dear Andy,
All of us here at NIKE appreciate your willingness and that of your firm, GoodWorks International, LLC, to undertake an independent study of the NIKE code of Conduct and its application in those factories where our products are manufactured. It is very important to our company, to our customers and to me personally to have someone with your unique perspective and integrity to look at this issue with all of the facts and with absolute independence.
In response to my request to undertake this project, you presented understandable and reasonable requests as to your access to information, to people and to those factories that manufacture our products as a condition for this evaluation.
Simply put, you should consider this letter as blanket authority from me to go anywhere, see anything and talk with anybody in the NIKE family about this issue. Your goal is to seek the truth. Our obligation to you is to help you in every way possible to find the truth.
My commitment to you is to seriously consider your final report and any criticisms or recommendations that you make. I also agree, as we discussed, that your report should be made public.
We will look forward to seeing your final report and are confident that NIKE as a company will learn, grow and benefit from your good work.
Sincerely,
Philip H. Knight
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