PROGRAM OVERSIGHT
As our Global Social Compliance Program is part of our ongoing enterprise risk assessment, our Senior
Vice President (SVP), Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, has responsibility for social compliance
across our global operations. The SVP periodically reports to our Board of Directors on various
aspects of our Program, which may include training efforts, audit results, and other compliance-related
topics. Program management is overseen by the Assistant Vice President (AVP), Global Social Compliance,
who works closely with representatives of our merchandise and purchasing functions across all
of TJX’s businesses and with the Global Social Compliance Committee.
This Committee is comprised of senior leadership from the U.S., Canada, and Europe and from relevant
disciplines within TJX, including Merchandising, Sourcing, Imports, Compliance, Enterprise Risk
Management, Legal, and Global Communications. The Committee meets on a regular basis, oversees
compliance of TJX’s ethical sourcing initiatives, and serves in an advisory capacity, helping
to guide the strategy and execution of the program. Our international buying offices and merchants
also play key roles in achieving our goals.
External Stakeholder Engagement
As we continue to develop and evolve our Global Social Compliance Program, we engage with various
audiences and consider their guidance. We have reviewed and incorporated many of the international
human rights standards enunciated by international bodies, such as the United Nations and the
International Labour Organization, and have received and at times, incorporated insights and
suggestions from socially responsible investors. To conduct our audits, we have retained and
engage with several organizations that have extensive experience and expertise in the field of
ethical sourcing – UL LLC (UL), Intertek Group PLC (Intertek), and Omega Compliance Ltd.
(Omega). Additionally, these groups assist us with program development, education and training,
and compliance monitoring.
We are members of the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Ethisphere’s
Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, and the
Ethics & Compliance Officer Association. We also participate in industry conferences and
stay current on the latest developments in social compliance and ethical sourcing. Finally, we
benchmark ourselves against the programs of companies whose business models more closely relate
to our own, as well as vertically-integrated retailers whose business models differ significantly.
Continuous Improvement
The driving tenet of our Global Social Compliance Program is continuous improvement, as we believe
this is in the best interest of the workers in the facilities that we audit. While we expect
each of our vendors and agents to adhere to the expectations set forth in our Vendor Code of
Conduct, we also encourage them to make improvements throughout their operations. To advance
these objectives, we do more than simply audit factories to test compliance; we also provide
education and training to our agents, vendors, and factory management, so that they understand
our expectations and can develop meaningful processes to meet and exceed these expectations.