At Salesforce, we are committed to respecting human rights throughout our entire business and value chain. In upholding this commitment, we work with governments, industry peers, partners within our ecosystem, civil society groups, shareholders, and our customers to promote the realization, enjoyment, and fulfillment of human rights.
Salesforce is committed to respecting human rights and our approach is informed by the International Bill of Human Rights (consisting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
), as well as the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
. Salesforce is also committed to a human rights program based on the actions set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
(UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct
. These are the core references that inform our approach to conducting human rights due diligence across our own operations and business relationships.
In line with established and evolving practices, standards and regulations, we are committed to: (a) establishing policy commitment and management systems; (b) assessing actual and potential human rights impacts; (c) avoiding, preventing, and mitigating adverse impacts; (d) tracking implementation and results; (e) communicating how impacts are addressed; and (f) providing for or cooperating in remediation when appropriate. Through this ongoing process, we seek to appropriately understand and address evolving risks. Furthermore, we pursue meaningful engagement with affected stakeholders to inform our human rights approach and due diligence.
To ensure we set up suitable human rights due diligence, we embed our commitment to respect human rights within our business processes. For that we work to identify the most salient human rights risks connected to our business activities and business relationships (which are captured below in “Embedding our commitment across our business processes”), and we regularly review our human rights risk analysis. Additionally, to secure adequate oversight and accountability across the business and to ensure that human rights issues are directed to the most relevant internal decision-makers, we have established an internal governance structure.
We acknowledge that remedy is an integral part of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. Therefore, we provide grievance mechanisms and work to provide access to remedy in circumstances where our business practices may have caused or contributed to an adverse human rights impact. We also recognize the importance of monitoring and reporting, and regularly communicate on how we implement and perform.
Salesforce’s company values embody a long-standing respect for human rights. It is these values — trust, customer success, innovation, equality, and sustainability — that guide everything we do.
This policy applies to all Salesforce business areas and subsidiaries – including all locations where we operate and all of our employees. We take great care to inform our employees about our commitment to respecting human rights through this policy and our Code of Conduct. We also expect our suppliers and business partners to respect human rights in their own operations and supply chains, as outlined in our Global Supplier Code of Conduct.
Privacy: We recognize that privacy is a fundamental human right, and as a cloud service provider, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our customers’ data in all jurisdictions through policy and technology. With trust as our number one value, we regularly refine our comprehensive privacy program that accounts for the ever-evolving landscape of global data protection laws. In the context of this program, we publicly communicate data collection and processing practices related to individuals’ data and the rights associated with processing, and we educate our customers on the use and protection of information in our products and services. Additionally, we are actively working with governments and civil society organizations to ensure the free flow of data and to protect privacy and data security in the cloud. In collaboration with different stakeholders, we engage in key initiatives to advance privacy as a company and in society, including the Trusted Cloud Principles.
Ethical and Inclusive Products: At Salesforce, we believe the ethical and inclusive design, development, and use of technology are integral to preventing harm and supporting the realization, enjoyment, and fulfillment of human rights. As we and our stakeholders develop and engage with technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), our core business imperative is to understand how our products are used as well as the direct impacts of our technologies in the world. In this context, we have defined areas of focus such as: (a) responsible AI and technology — empowering innovators to embed ethics into tech products design (especially AI) by considering the intended and unintended consequences of our technology, creatively mitigating risks, and minimizing product misuse; (b) accurate, principled use of AI and technology — setting and adhering to benchmarks and standards for AI models and applications, including evolving industry practices or standards for accuracy, data leakage risk management, bias, and toxicity; (c) ethical use policy — guiding the responsible deployment and use of our products and services with principles and processes; and (d) product accessibility and inclusive design — designing for and alongside users to unleash innovation for everyone. These focus areas are guided by our policies and principles such as our Acceptable Use and External-Facing Services Policy, our Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use Policy, and our Ethical and Humane Use Guiding Principles. Salesforce is a member of the UNESCO Business Council for Ethics of AI, and has committed to integrate the values and principles of UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Salesforce also references the OECD AI Principles to inform a human-centric approach to trusted, ethical AI.
Health and Safety: We are committed to providing a healthy and safe work environment to our employees, contractors, interns, volunteers, and guests in line with our Health and Safety Policy. We achieve this goal through the implementation of our health and safety management system, which promotes open communication and consultation with employees and company leadership, proactive identification and management of health and safety risks, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We are committed to preventing incidents and continually improving by setting health and safety performance targets and program improvement objectives. We monitor our performance through data driven metrics and measure management system conformance and legal compliance via regular audits. Every employee is responsible for complying with the requirements documented in our health and safety management system. People leaders have the additional responsibility for managing health and safety performance on a daily basis, setting a good example at all times, and providing the necessary resources for the implementation of the management system.
Equality: Bringing inclusiveness and diversity into our daily workplace is a commitment we live by; therefore equality is one of our core values. At Salesforce, we advocate for equal treatment and opportunity throughout all levels of our organization and the communities where we operate. Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of nondiscrimination for employment decisions such that hiring, firing, and promoting shall never be based on personal characteristics, such as race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. We are committed to providing equal pay for equal work, therefore we monitor our pay practices carefully and have systems in place to address unexplained differences in pay between genders, as well as between race and ethnicity. As established in our Code of Conduct, all persons should be treated with dignity and respect, and harassment and bullying are not tolerated. In collaboration with different stakeholders, we continually engage in various initiatives to increase equality representation as a company and in society, including the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles.
Wages, Benefits, and Working Hours: We are committed to developing and supporting an active, thriving workforce. At Salesforce, we invest in the health and wellbeing of our employees by combining traditional benefits with educational wellbeing content. We comply with all applicable wage and hour laws and regulations — including those relating to minimum wages, overtime hours, piece rates, and other elements of compensation — and provide at least the legally mandated benefits. We are committed to fairly compensating our employees for the hours they work, allow sufficient rest, and provide generous benefits that often go beyond statutory minimums. We respect the legal rights of our employees to associate freely, bargain collectively, join or not join trade unions, seek representation, and join workers’ councils in accordance with local laws — without fear of reprisal, intimidation, harassment, or retaliation.
Forced Labor, Modern Slavery, and Child Labor: We only use voluntary labor and have processes designed to verify that new hires have the right to work in the country location where they’ve been hired, or are currently working (such as in the United Kingdom and Australia). We do not use forced or involuntary labor of any type (e.g., forced, bonded, indentured, or involuntary prison labor) or any form of human trafficking. This includes transporting, harboring, recruiting, transferring, or receiving any person by means of threat, force, coercion, abduction, or fraud for the purpose of exploitation. All employees, including interns, are free to leave work at any time or terminate their employment without reprisal. Employees are not required to surrender any government-issued identification, passports, or work permits as a condition of employment. There are no unreasonable restrictions on employees’ freedom of movement in our workplace or unreasonable restrictions on entering or exiting company-provided facilities. We do not use child labor and we support the use of legitimate workplace apprenticeship programs, which comply with all the laws and regulations applicable to such apprenticeship programs.
Our suppliers are a critical part of our value chain, and we acknowledge that human rights impacts might take place in supply chains. We communicate our human rights requirements to suppliers through our Global Supplier Code of Conduct, through which we require suppliers to establish policies, procedures, and reasonable documentation to demonstrate compliance with the Supplier Code of Conduct. Our suppliers are required to monitor their own operations and those of next-tier suppliers. Human rights criteria are increasingly embedded within our suppliers’ onboarding processes and performance reviews. Suppliers deemed highest risk on human rights are audited or reviewed on a periodic basis with the help of a third-party evaluation service. In order to address potential or actual impacts, we work closely with suppliers to develop corrective action plans that lead to prevention, mitigation, or remediation accordingly. In addition, we proactively take steps to diversify our supply chain through our Supplier Diversity & Inclusion Program.
We recognize the importance of engaging with affected stakeholders. We cannot do this work alone, so we rely on partner organizations (including grantees and subgrantees) and other stakeholders to help us identify human rights risks, prevent abuses, and mitigate harm when it occurs in our communities. We expect third parties that work with us to abide by the aforementioned policies and principles.
Environmental Sustainability: We support the human right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. We understand that climate change and nature loss are pressing issues for humanity, with negative impacts weighing heaviest on the world’s most vulnerable communities, amplifying global inequality. We acknowledge the urgency of climate action – decarbonization in particular – and the importance of halting and reversing nature loss. In light of these global challenges, we are committed to addressing the impacts of our business on people and the planet and be a positive force. We advocate for policies that advance equitable investments to defend vulnerable communities against the impacts of climate change and nature loss, ensure equitable access to critical resources, and enhance sustainable livelihoods. This position is demonstrated by our Global Climate Policy Principles, Nature Policy Priorities, Ocean-Climate Policy Priorities, Climate Justice Policy Priorities, and our Climate Action Plan.
Indigenous Peoples: We support and recognize local communities and Indigenous peoples as leaders for conservation and restoration. In line with our Nature Policy Priorities, we support the right of local communities and Indigenous people to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), and their right to decision-making and leadership roles concerning the design and benefit allocation of nature-based solutions.
Human Rights Defenders: Human rights defenders provide valuable insights into human rights issues. We recognize the heightened vulnerability of human rights defenders due to their exposure to threats, intimidation, or criminalization. We foster open dialogues and constructive collaborations, and oppose actions that threaten, intimidate, or otherwise unduly restrict the work of human rights defenders.
Salesforce functional leads and subject matter experts integrate our human rights approach across the business. The Human Rights Steering Committee includes team members such as Legal, Ethical and Humane Use, Privacy, Employee Success, Equality, Sustainability, Procurement, and Government Affairs. They oversee our efforts to monitor and identify salient human rights risks, and to escalate to relevant stakeholders including to senior management and the Board of Directors, as appropriate.
We aspire to continually improve the implementation of our human rights commitments.
Our Board, including through its committees, and informed by regular engagement with senior management, ultimately oversees Salesforce’s business operations and our environmental, social, and governance initiatives, including human rights matters.
We publicly encourage reporting of misconduct in good faith. The reporter, internal or external, is free to confidentially express any concerns, including concerns relating to actual or potential violations of law or any of our policies (including our business conduct principles or this policy) or any concerns relating to situations or conduct that may be unethical or cause harm. We provide details of the reporting process in our Code of Conduct. Through a secure reporting line
, we provide an accessible, reliable, and confidential reporting process, with explicit non-retaliation commitments, and through which reporters can remain anonymous, where permitted by law.
We took a collaborative approach to develop this policy. We worked closely with external human rights experts and engaged internal business partners to inform its creation. Our ongoing engagement with leading collaborative efforts such as UN Global Compact and the UN Human Rights B-Tech Project
also inform our management approach.
We will continue to review our position on human rights and ensure the measures implemented remain effective, and are designed to be in compliance with international standards and local regulations.
We recognize the key to effective policy implementation is ongoing tracking, monitoring, and reporting on progress and management of concerns related to human rights. As a global company, we continually work to find the best solutions to track, document, and communicate how we implement and perform on human rights due diligence across our diverse geographies and businesses. We embed human rights reporting within our annual ESG reporting processes, and we tailor our approach according to local legal requirements.
This policy will be reviewed annually and on an ad-hoc basis, in the event of a significant change or expanded risk situation. Last policy review date: August 2024