New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc.

"This Code of Conduct sets forth the basic requirements that suppliers must meet in order to do business with New Balance. This Code is based upon internationally accepted standards, including the International Labor Organisation (ILO)'s core conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [...] No person shall be employed under the age of 16 [...] there shall be no use of forced labor [...] no person shall be subject to any discrimination in employment [...] suppliers shall respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining."

"Women make up over 80% of the workforce at our footwear supplier factories [...] In 2019 New Balance launched the P.A.C.E. program at two supplier footwear factories in Vietnam employing more than 15,000 women [...] The P.A.C.E. program has demonstrated that investing in women's education not only brings benefits to workers, but also benefits businesses through higher retention and productivity levels. Participating workers take courses in effective communication, problem solving, time and stress management, financial and legal literacy, and general and reproductive health, among other topics. After the initial launch, we plan to grow training and education activities for the women workers in the supply chain each year."

"New Balance considers forced labor and child labor violations zero-tolerance issues, which require immediate and thorough remediation to continue doing business with the company. In early 2021, we updated our Supplier Standards Manual to provide our suppliers with additional clarity on our requirements to protect against forced labor, including elevating recruitment fees to a zero tolerance issue to ensure that workers in our supply chain do not pay any fees, expenses or deposits in exchange for employment."

 Code of Conduct states that "Suppliers shall operate in full compliance with the laws of their respective countries and with all other applicable international, national, and local laws, rules and regulations." "Suppliers seeking to do business with New Balance must sign a supply agreement that includes the obligation to abide by our Code of Conduct [...] Approved suppliers undergo a compliance assessment at least annually."

In addition to our supplier monitoring program, New Balance has expanded workers’ access to confidential grievance mechanisms. We have implemented third-party operated worker hotlines in our strategic sourcing countries of China, Vietnam and Indonesia. In addition, any worker or third party can contact our corporate office directly through the New Balance email address listed on the supplier Code of Conduct." New Balance Code of Conduct sets out social and environmental requirements for its suppliers - "To report any violations of this Code of Conduct or related concerns, please contact CSR@newbalance.com". It reports that "In 2020, New Balance did not receive any third-party complaints through worker hotlines or grievance mechanisms involving allegations of forced labor." 

"Suppliers seeking to do business with New Balance must sign a supply agreement that includes the obligation to abide by our Code of Conduct. Suppliers must also pass a social and environmental compliance audit before production orders can be placed. Approved suppliers undergo a compliance assessment at least annually." 

New Balance pubishes its annual list of Tier 1 Suppliers which include owned facilities, contract suppliers and suppliers sourced through agents with information including country, supplier name, supplier group, product type, address, number of workers, percent of female workers, employing foreign migrant workers. 

 "Suppliers must ensure all materials, components, and packaging materials used for NB products meet the Restricted Substances List (RSL) requirements.The materials must be tested according to the RSM to ensure compliance [...] The supplier shall also allow or, as the case may be, obtain permission for an authorized representative of NB to inspect, at any time during normal businesshours, any premises of the factory, supplier, and/or any subcontractor where any NB product or material or components thereof are developed,manufactured or stored. The authorized representative may request samples of products or materials during such inspection."

"In the event of failure to comply with the Restricted Substances Manual requirements, NBreserves the right to terminate all outstanding orders without any further payments and cease doing future business with the supplier." [...] "In the event of an RSL failure, a Corrective Action Request (CAR) form (Appendix 3) must be completed by the supplier [...] Any failures will be discussed with suppliers in an attempt to discover and correct the cause using the CAR form [...] Corrective action requests (CAR) are designed to assist suppliers in determining the root cause of testing failures. The outcome of a supplier’s CAR process will ultimately determine if NB will approve a previously failed material."

"When suppliers fall short of New Balance standards, our team works with them to remediate issues and improve workplace practices [...] However, we can and do occasionally terminate our business relationships due to serious or persistent compliance violations. In 2017, New Balance ended one business relationship with a supplier due to that supplier's falsification of records."

"This Code of Conduct sets forth the basic requirements that suppliers must meet in order to do business with New Balance. This Code is based upon internationally accepted standards, including the International Labor Organisation (ILO)'s core conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [...] No person shall be employed under the age of 16 [...] there shall be no use of forced labor [...] no person shall be subject to any discrimination in employment [...] suppliers shall respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining."

"Women make up over 80% of the workforce at our footwear supplier factories [...] In 2019 New Balance launched the P.A.C.E. program at two supplier footwear factories in Vietnam employing more than 15,000 women [...] The P.A.C.E. program has demonstrated that investing in women's education not only brings benefits to workers, but also benefits businesses through higher retention and productivity levels. Participating workers take courses in effective communication, problem solving, time and stress management, financial and legal literacy, and general and reproductive health, among other topics. After the initial launch, we plan to grow training and education activities for the women workers in the supply chain each year."

"New Balance considers forced labor and child labor violations zero-tolerance issues, which require immediate and thorough remediation to continue doing business with the company. In early 2021, we updated our Supplier Standards Manual to provide our suppliers with additional clarity on our requirements to protect against forced labor, including elevating recruitment fees to a zero tolerance issue to ensure that workers in our supply chain do not pay any fees, expenses or deposits in exchange for employment."

Code of Conduct states that "Suppliers shall operate in full compliance with the laws of their respective countries and with all other applicable international, national, and local laws, rules and regulations." "Suppliers seeking to do business with New Balance must sign a supply agreement that includes the obligation to abide by our Code of Conduct [...] Approved suppliers undergo a compliance assessment at least annually."

New Balance Code of Conduct sets out social and environmental requirements for its suppliers - "To report any violations of this Code of Conduct or related concerns, please contact CSR@newbalance.com"

"Suppliers seeking to do business with New Balance must sign a supply agreement that includes the obligation to abide by our Code of Conduct. Suppliers must also pass a social and environmental compliance audit before production orders can be placed. Approved suppliers undergo a compliance assessment at least annually."