California Transparency in Supply Chains Act

Five Below, Inc. and Five Below Merchandising Inc. support the goals of the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 and strive to be examples of good human rights and labor practices throughout our business activities. Our partners around the globe make it possible for us to develop and create trend right, WOW product for our customers. As we do not own our manufacturing facilities, we take care in the selection of our vendors, and our process intends to screen out any that don't share our values.

Human Rights in our Business Activities

Our business practices have been governed by integrity, honesty, fair dealing and full compliance with all applicable laws.

International Labor Organization research shows that there are at least 20million victims of forced labour across different industries worldwide and that women and children are particularly vulnerable. This disclosure for the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (SB-657) outlines the steps we’re taking to prevent human trafficking and modern day slavery in our supply chain, ensuring our vendors meet internationally recognized standards and our vendor requirements.

Although the issue is not new, legislation in California has provided the opportunity for an industry-wide conversation about the steps brands are taking to eliminate human rights violations in their supply chains.

Our stand

We are committed to upholding ethical sourcing practices globally, to protect the lives, freedom and well-being of all individuals who take part in manufacturing our products. Our vendor requirements outline zero tolerance policies, including forced and bonded labour. We require that all work must be completed on a voluntary and legal basis. This means that employees must be free to move and/or resign from their role, be free to leave at the end of their shift or under extenuating circumstances, and employers must not engage in illegal practices that restrict their employees’ freedom of movement.

Verification

We work with industry organizations, stakeholder groups and other brands to evaluate and address risks of human trafficking and slavery. Compliance with our vendor requirements is a pre-condition to start and maintain a business relationship with us. All manufacturing partners are required to uphold our vendor requirements. Facility audits are done by our third party auditing partners.

Supplier Audits

To ensure that our vendors uphold our requirements, we have the right to conduct announced and unannounced audits, as well as follow-up visits and verification. Visits and audits are an opportunity for us to strengthen our relationship, enhance transparency, and work together on preventive actions.

During an audit and any follow up visit, auditors meet with management; tour the site, review documents and interview employees.

Supplier Certification

Our vendor requirements apply to every vendor partnership that we form, and vendors must sign a certificate of compliance before beginning a relationship with us. In our vendor requirements, we also have a zero tolerance policy toward unapproved subcontractors, facilities and homework, and vendors who are not open, transparent and cooperative; this allows us to know who is producing our product, and how it’s being produced. All of our manufacturing partners must abide by the laws of the country in which they are doing business.

Internal Accountability

If forced or bonded labour are found during a facility audit, we will not conduct business with the vendor and we require that they correct the problem immediately. If one of our existing vendors were found to be complicit in any form of forced or bonded labour, we would require the vendor to address and correct the problem immediately, and we would launch an investigation into the issue. Our approach to manufacturing is to establish and maintain long-term partners that share our values and, where applicable, help develop preventive action plans to address and correct issues that arise. In extreme cases of systemic non-compliance or violation of our zero tolerance policies, we reserve the right terminate the business partnership.

Training

We work to protect the integrity of our supply chain by educating our vendors, auditors, and our internal teams about human trafficking and slavery. We engage with industry organizations and other brands to stay abreast of the latest developments, issues and regulations.

We welcome your feedback on our disclosure and our efforts to prevent human trafficking and slavery; please email us at customer.relations@fivebelow.com.