Human Rights

Policies and Governance

Establishing policies and governance structures for salient human rights issues, informed by our Human Rights Statement and focused on salient issues.

• Walmart's Board-approved Human Rights Statement is informed by international frameworks, including the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Statement identifies Walmart's salient human rights issues and is supported by enterprise-wide policies, including the Code of Conduct, Standards for Suppliers, Global Responsible Sourcing Compliance Policy, and issue-specific policies.
• Governance begins with Walmart's CEO and executive leadership and is overseen by the Board and its committees. The Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee oversees Walmart's overall human rights approach and receives updates from the Chief Sustainability Officer. In FY2026, Board committees reviewed topics including the associate belonging strategies, responsible sourcing, and enterprise risk management.

Identification and Prioritization of Issues

Identifying and prioritizing human rights issues based on severity and likelihood of potential impacts on people, including scale, scope, and irremediability.

• Walmart's human rights due diligence approach follows the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and focuses on identifying potential impacts across our operations, supply chains, and business relationships.
• Risk identification draws on multiple sources, including associate Open Door and Ethics data, supplier audits and Responsible Sourcing program information, external research and government sources, stakeholder engagement, and third-party human rights impact assessments. Walmart evaluates these inputs using factors such as severity, scope, proximity to affected people, and opportunities to apply business leverage to address priority risks.

Actions to Address Risks and Opportunities

Taking action to address priority risks and expand opportunity by embedding human rights in business practices, engaging suppliers, enabling worker voice, supporting multi-stakeholder solutions, and engaging with governments.

• Walmart embeds human rights considerations into business processes. Operational examples include standardized hiring practices, pay structures, safety training, and privacy-by-design controls. Supply chain examples include supplier contract requirements, third-party certifications, factory capability assessments, and supplier support programs.
• Walmart requires suppliers to comply with our Standards for Suppliers, disclose facilities within the scope of our Responsible Sourcing program, participate in risk-based audits, and address identified findings. Walmart also supports supplier capability-building through initiatives including Nirapon, LABS, the Seafood Task Force, the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices, and Project Gigaton.
• Walmart engages suppliers to reinforce expectations, identify and address risks, and encourage adoption of stronger human rights-related practices through Responsible Sourcing expectations and supplier support to strengthen implementation of standards. 
• Walmart seeks to enhance associate and worker voice as part of how we identify concerns, understand workplace experience and inform follow-up actions related to salient human rights issues. In our operations, we nurture a culture of listening and engagement. We provide multiple channels for associates to provide feedback and raise concerns and seek to promote the ability of workers in the supply chain to raise issues.
• We engage in coalitions to develop and share best practices, and Walmart and the Walmart Foundation support multistakeholder initiatives that build capacity for responsible labor practices in industry value chains.    
• We engage with governments to advocate for laws, regulations, and enforcement practices that support the protection of human rights.

Monitoring and Improvement

Monitoring results, identifying issues, and making improvements as needed.

• Walmart monitors human rights risks through grievance mechanisms, compliance processes, pay analyses, safety reporting, Responsible Sourcing audits, and supplier assessments. 
• When issues are identified, suppliers are expected to remediate findings and may undergo re-audits. Serious violations may result in investigations, removal of a facility’s approval to produce product for Walmart, or termination of supplier relationships.

Supporting Grievance and Remedy

Supporting remediation and grievance mechanisms for rightsholders.

• Walmart provides associates, supply chain workers, and other stakeholders with multiple confidential reporting channels to raise concerns. Reports are reviewed through Walmart's compliance processes
• When potential human rights impacts are identified, Walmart works with suppliers and other parties to support appropriate responsive actions. Examples include facilitating repayment of worker recruitment fees consistent with the Employer Pays Principle and helping workers regain direct control of personal identification documents.

Reporting

Reporting on practices, progress, outcomes, and challenges.

Walmart reports on its human rights policies, practices, progress, outcomes, and challenges through its annual ESG Report, annual Belonging Report, and topic-specific reports.