Kroger 2014 Annual Report Download - page 59

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 59 of the 2014 Kroger annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 142

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142

57
PricewaterhouseCoopers฀LLP฀has฀advised฀the฀Audit฀Committee฀that฀neither฀the฀firm,฀nor฀any฀member฀of฀
the฀firm,฀has฀any฀financial฀interest,฀direct฀or฀indirect,฀in฀any฀capacity฀in฀Kroger฀or฀its฀subsidiaries.
SH A R E H O L D E R P R O P O S A L
( I T E M N O. 4 )
We฀have฀been฀notified฀by฀eleven฀shareholders,฀the฀names฀and฀shareholdings฀of฀which฀will฀be฀furnished฀
promptly฀to฀any฀shareholder฀upon฀written฀or฀oral฀request฀to฀Kroger’s฀Secretary฀at฀our฀executive฀offices,฀that฀
they฀intend฀to฀propose฀the฀following฀resolution฀at฀the฀annual฀meeting:
“ T H E K R O G E R C O M P A N Y
HU M A N R I G H T S R I S K A S S E S S M E N T - 2 0 15
RESOLVED,฀that฀shareholders฀of฀The฀Kroger฀Company฀(“Kroger”)฀urge฀the฀Board฀to฀report฀to฀shareholders,฀
at฀reasonable฀cost฀and฀omitting฀proprietary฀information,฀on฀Kroger’s฀process฀for฀identifying฀and฀analyzing฀
potential฀ and฀ actual฀ human฀ rights฀ risks฀ of฀ Kroger’s฀ operations฀ and฀ supply฀ chain฀ (referred฀ to฀ herein฀ as฀ a฀
“human฀rights฀risk฀assessment”)฀addressing฀the฀following:
•฀ Human฀rights฀principles฀used฀to฀frame฀the฀assessment฀
•฀ Frequency฀of฀assessment
•฀ Methodology฀used฀to฀track฀and฀measure฀performance฀
•฀ Nature฀and฀extent฀of฀consultation฀with฀relevant฀stakeholders฀in฀connection฀with฀the฀assessment฀
•฀ How฀the฀results฀of฀the฀assessment฀are฀incorporated฀into฀company฀policies฀and฀decision฀making
The฀report฀should฀be฀made฀available฀to฀shareholders฀on฀Kroger’s฀website฀no฀later฀than฀October฀31,฀2015.
SU P P O R T I N G S T A T E M E N T
As฀long-term฀shareholders,฀we฀favor฀policies฀and฀practices฀that฀protect฀and฀enhance฀the฀value฀of฀our฀
investments.฀There฀is฀increasing฀recognition฀that฀company฀risks฀related฀to฀human฀rights฀violations,฀such฀as฀
litigation,฀reputational฀damage,฀and฀project฀delays฀and฀disruptions,฀can฀adversely฀affect฀shareholder฀value.
Kroger,฀like฀many฀other฀companies,฀has฀adopted฀a฀supplier฀code฀of฀conduct฀(See฀The฀Kroger฀Company฀
Standard฀Vendor฀Agreement)฀but฀has฀yet฀to฀publish฀a฀company-wide฀Human฀Rights฀Policy,฀addressing฀human฀
rights issues and a separate human rights code that applies to its suppliers. Adoption of these principles would
be฀an฀important฀first฀step฀in฀effectively฀managing฀human฀rights฀risks.฀Companies฀must฀then฀assess฀risks฀to฀
shareholder value of human rights practices in their operations and supply chains to translate principles into
protective practices.
The฀importance฀of฀human฀rights฀risk฀assessment฀is฀reflected฀in฀the฀United฀Nations฀Guiding฀Principles฀
on฀Business฀and฀Human฀Rights฀(the฀“Ruggie฀Principles”)฀approved฀by฀the฀UN฀Human฀Rights฀Council฀in฀2011.฀
The฀Ruggie฀Principles฀urge฀that฀“business฀enterprises฀should฀carry฀out฀human฀rights฀due฀diligence…accessing฀
actual฀ and฀ potential฀ human฀ rights฀ impacts,฀ integrating฀ and฀ acting฀ upon฀ the฀ findings,฀ tracking฀ responses,฀
and฀communicating฀how฀impacts฀are฀addressed.”฀(http://www.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/
ruggie/ruggie-guiding-principles-21-mar-201l.pdf)
Kroger’s฀business฀exposes฀it฀to฀significant฀human฀rights฀risks.฀As฀of฀year-end฀2012,฀Kroger฀operations,฀
including฀ supermarkets,฀ convenience฀ and฀ jewelry฀ stores,฀ are฀ located฀ in฀ over฀ 40฀ states,฀ with฀ suppliers฀ in฀
countries฀around฀the฀world,฀including฀Iran,฀China฀and฀Malaysia.฀The฀company’s฀supply฀chain฀is฀complex฀and฀
global฀and฀unsuccessful฀labor฀negotiations,฀supply฀chain฀interruptions฀and฀civil฀unrest฀could฀adversely฀affect฀
the฀company’s฀ability฀to฀execute฀its฀strategic฀plan.
We฀urge฀shareholders฀to฀vote฀for฀this฀proposal.”