Ford's Commitment to Human Rights

Ford has been a leader in addressing human rights and working conditions in the auto industry. We are committed to respecting human rights everywhere we operate, because it's the right thing to do and it strengthens our business in the long run.

We believe people are most likely to excel in an environment that aims for excellence. A safe workplace in which people are treated with respect promotes increased quality, productivity, employee retention and morale. It can also decrease quality problems and health care costs. This is true in our own facilities and in those of our suppliers. Indeed, we believe a supplier company's efforts to address working conditions, environmental challenges and other sustainability issues are good indicators of its management's leadership capabilities.

Like other automakers, we are expanding our presence in emerging markets, where most of the growth in automobile sales is expected to occur. Respect for human rights is essential to maintaining the trust and respect of residents in the communities around our facilities and other stakeholders, including customers. That trust is critical to our ability to operate and sell our products in an intensely competitive global marketplace.

The legal structures governing working conditions, and the level of enforcement, vary widely across the countries in which we operate. Ensuring sound working conditions in the supply chain is ultimately suppliers' responsibility, and we would like governments to play the lead role in enforcing compliance with laws. While many of our suppliers routinely provide outstanding working conditions, we recognize the need to help suppliers build capability and assess compliance in order to have confidence that they meet our standards.

Ford's commitment to human rights is embodied in our Code of Basic Working Conditions, which forms the foundation of our work in our own operations and supply chain and our collaboration with others in the industry. The CBWC articulates our commitments on key human and labor rights issues. In effect since 2003, it was formally adopted as a Policy Letter in 2007. The CBWC is based on fundamental elements of internationally recognized labor standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Labour Organization Covenants, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the United Nations' Global Compact Principles, the Global Sullivan Principles, and standards of the Fair Labor Association and International Metalworkers' Federation. Ford encourages businesses throughout our supply chain to adopt and enforce similar policies, and seeks to identify and do business with organizations that conduct their businesses to standards that are consistent with the CBWC.

The CBWC covers workplace issues such as working hours, child labor and forced labor. It also reflects our increasingly integrated approach to managing human rights and community issues by articulating our commitments on several key issues that extend beyond the fencelines of our facilities, including community engagement and indigenous populations, bribery and corruption, and environment and sustainability.

We encourage employees who have a good-faith belief that there may have been a violation of this Code to report it through established channels, which vary by region, or to the Office of the General Counsel.

These reports are then forwarded to the Manager of Human Rights, who takes action to clarify, validate and correct the situation, if necessary. No retaliatory actions are taken against employees who report concerns about violations of the CBWC.