Standards for Suppliers

Established in 1992, the Standards for Suppliers detail Wal-Mart's expectations for labor and environmental practices in the production of merchandise for sale by Wal-Mart. Every supplier must sign an agreement that they, their contractors, and subcontractors will abide by the Standards for Suppliers. As part of Wal-Mart's agreement with suppliers, a poster of the Standards for Suppliers, signed by the factory management, must be displayed in a location visible to all workers at all facilities that manufacture merchandise for sale by Wal-Mart. The poster is available in 25 languages, and must be displayed in the primary language(s) spoken by the workers and in English.

The Ethical Standards team is entrusted with verifying that suppliers comply with the Standards for Suppliers. The standards include provisions for the following: health and safety, environment, compensation, hours of labor, seventh day of rest, forced or prison labor, underage labor, discrimination, compliance with applicable local laws and regulations, freedom of association and collective bargaining, rights concerning foreign contract workers, and the right of audit by Wal-Mart. The full text of Wal-Mart's Standards for Suppliers can be found in Downloads.