Management and Oversight

As part of its oversight role, our Board reviews ESG matters, and directly and through its Committees, considers information relating to our corporate responsibility programs. In Fiscal 2023, the Board had regular sessions with management to receive updates on our ESG efforts, including in the areas of environmental sustainability, inclusion and diversity, social compliance, and human capital management topics. Board committees support the Board’s oversight of a range of ESG matters. For example, the Audit Committee supports risk assessment; the Corporate Governance Committee supports director education and oversight of strategies concerning significant environmental and social matters; and the Compensation Committee supports oversight of broad-based compensation and benefits matters.

In Fiscal 2023, a Senior Executive Vice President, Group President (SEVP) added strategic oversight of TJX’s Global Corporate Responsibility program to their business function. This SEVP, along with global, cross-functional leaders, oversees the development of corporate responsibility strategies across a range of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters that align with TJX business priorities.

Further, leaders across the business have oversight of corporate responsibility efforts that fall within their functions. The Senior Vice President, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer oversees many of the efforts within our Environmental Sustainability and Responsible Business pillars, in partnership with the Vice President of Sustainability and Assistant Vice President of Global Social Compliance. Similarly, the Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer oversees many of the efforts within our Workplace and Communities pillars, including Inclusion and Diversity, in conjunction with leaders responsible for these key areas of focus. Regional leaders are responsible for driving programs as appropriate for the region’s business in support of TJX’s broader, global corporate responsibility program.

Lastly, to support program evolution and execution, in addition to driving collaboration across regions and business functions, we have working teams and committees, such as the Global Social Compliance Committee and the Global Carbon and Energy Management Group. These committees bring together subject matter experts from across the globe and across different functions to collaborate, monitor key issues and trends, review strategies and best practices, and help guide the strategy and execution of the program.

Stakeholder Engagement

We strongly believe that for our policies and practices to be effective, they must evolve and be informed by the perspectives of our many global stakeholders, including our Associates, customers, shareholders, and others. We view engaging with these various stakeholders, in addition to industry associations and partners, as an opportunity to hear insights and learn. We take into account a variety of perspectives as well as our off-price business model as we consider our programs and reporting.

Engaging With Our Associates

We believe Associate engagement, relationship building, and our open-door philosophy are some of the factors that are key to maintaining our culture, whether in our stores, distribution centers, or offices around the world. We want our Associates to be informed about our businesses and encouraged to learn and grow through both formal and informal interactions. We believe these efforts help strengthen our inclusive culture so Associates feel welcome, valued, and engaged. As such, we have many different ways to communicate with and engage with our Associates.

As our office Associates migrated from working remotely in Fiscal 2023 to hybrid work schedules, we were pleased to be able to continue engaging our Associates through Town Hall meetings, State of the Company meetings, and CEO updates, both virtually and in-person. Additionally, we continued to publish The Thread, our global intranet, and The Loop, a weekly e-newsletter, which disseminate announcements and facilitate information and policy sharing; TJX geographic-specific publications, such as TJXtra in Europe; and weekly bulletins in various regions around the globe. We also continued to use Yammer, a social media tool, to foster relationship building.

In our stores, we share important company information with and receive feedback from our Associates through team huddles. Our in-store bulletin boards are another important tool in sharing company information and also feature store news, like volunteer events, fundraising successes, new processes, and more. We also have programs for Associates to share ideas, including thoughts on how to further improve the customer experience, as well as several in-store programs designed to motivate and reward our Associates, stores, and districts.

As our programs continue to evolve, so do our efforts to engage with our Associates regularly so that they may have an impact on our inclusion and diversity (I&D) work. Our global Inclusion and Diversity Advisory Boards include Associates representing a variety of functions, levels, and backgrounds across our stores, distribution and processing centers, and corporate offices. These Advisory Boards help to guide and shape our I&D work, helping to align our programming with the needs of various Associate populations.

To help foster engagement with our environmental sustainability strategy and program, teams throughout our business have been coming together to collaborate. For example, our Green IT committee is focused on managing and leveraging technology to reduce the TJX Global IT team’s environmental footprint.

Additionally, Associates can get involved with Company’s community relations work. Associates in each of our regions are able to nominate organizations within their communities for the opportunity to receive a grant from one of the Company’s foundations. Over the years, donations have been made to a variety of organizations including children’s hospices, mental health charities, children’s cancer care centers, foodbanks, and homeless services. We are very proud to have Associates around the world who volunteer their time and who are committed to doing good in their communities.

Engaging With Our Customers

Our customers are very important to us, and engaging with them allows us to address their changing preferences, tastes, interests, and concerns. One way we measure our success is by asking customers to rate their experience using online customer satisfaction surveys. Based on what we hear from our customers, we regularly provide Store Operations management with feedback regarding store performance so they may identify opportunities and address issues quickly—and with the intent of ultimately improving the in-store experience. This input also allows us to develop clear customer experience training for store managers, team leaders, and Associates. The data has also helped drive broad improvements across many of our retail chains, including redesigning floor plans, creating small “shops,” and changing lighting to better highlight products. We have carefully tested each initiative for how it can drive excitement about our retail chains and products and continue to help deliver the experience we know our customers love and have come to expect.

Additionally, each retail chain has a website that highlights important information such as seasonal offerings, store locations, and contact information for Customer Service groups, and for some of our retail chains, the ability to shop online. Our chains also leverage a variety of social media channels for customer engagement and real-time feedback on shopping experiences. Our engagement efforts are all in place so that we can continue with our goal of providing an excellent experience for our customers.

Engaging With Our Shareholders

In addition to our public disclosures and corporate responsibility reporting, we speak regularly with shareholders throughout each year via meetings, conferences, phone calls, and written correspondence. These interactions allow us to engage with the shareholder community regarding our Company’s financial performance and on ESG matters. We listen to our shareholders’ insights and perspectives thoughtfully, considering what is best for our many stakeholders and what is feasible for our off-price business model.

Engaging with External Organizations

We believe that developing partnerships with various organizations and industry groups can help educate us, guide and benchmark our programs, and strengthen our initiatives across our corporate responsibility focus areas.

We are affiliated with, or members of committees of, a number of organizations focused on environmental protection and sustainability, including: : American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) Environmental and Social Responsibility Committees; British Retail Consortium Climate Action Roadmap; Closed Loop Partnership—Beyond the Bag initiative; EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership; Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3); National Retail Federation (NRF); Responsible Business Alliance’s Responsible Labor Initiative; Retail Council of Canada; Retail Industry Leadership Association’s (RILA) Responsible Sourcing Committee, Sustainability Committee and Zero-Waste Committee; Sustainable Packaging Coalition; Textile Exchange; The Microfibre Consortium.

In addition, we are affiliated with the joint AAFA/NRF/RILA/USFIA (United States Fashion Industry Association) Forced Labor Working Group. These organizations are either focused on environmental protection and sustainability or have committees dedicated to such topics.

To help support us in our Global Social Compliance efforts, we collaborate with various industry groups such as the Joint Forced Labor Working Group, RILA’s Responsible Sourcing Committee, AAFA’s Social Responsibility Committee, and Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Responsible Labor Initiative.

We also are members of Ethisphere’s Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, and the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association.

Information Security and Privacy

Information security and privacy are very important to TJX. We have many protocols in place that are designed to help protect the security of our customers’ personal information. The Privacy statements on our retail brand websites describe our practices pertaining to the personal information we collect about our customers.

For many years, we have maintained an Information Management Program, led by our Chief Risk and Compliance Officer (CRO). This program is overseen by TJX’s Information Management Steering Committee, which meets regularly and includes a number of senior leaders, including the Data Protection Officer, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), and Director of Internal Audit. This Committee is responsible for developing and overseeing strategies to help TJX’s Information Management Program enhance the overall privacy, information security, and records management posture of TJX. Our CRO and CISO regularly report to the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.

Our Information Management Program incorporates several components, including:

Privacy: Our privacy statements address the types of personal information we collect from customers, how we may use that information, with whom we share that information, how we protect that information, and how individuals can exercise their rights with regard to personal information. We don’t generate revenue by selling personal information.

Information Security: While the cybersecurity threat landscape is constantly evolving, we utilize a variety of strategies and techniques designed to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to the personal information we collect from customers. This approach includes encrypting certain types of personal information and controlling access to TJX facility systems, among other threat- and risk-based safeguards.

Records Management: Our records management program consists of policies, guidelines, and practices designed to promote both the retention of company records to meet legal and business requirements and the timely deletion of records and other documents, with particular emphasis on minimizing the retention of personal information where appropriate.

In addition to these components, we perform selected audits and make training available to appropriate TJX Associates.

Audits: Our Internal Audit team performs audits that address compliance with TJX information security policies and, along with other teams, reviews certain third-party service providers with respect to their security practices concerning personal information.

Associate Training: Privacy and Information Security training is made available to appropriate TJX Associates and is tailored to their job functions. This training is often supplemented with other education, communications, and an internal Information Management website, all designed to help our Associates understand our expectations in this important area.

About This Report

For more than 10 years, we have formally reported on our global corporate responsibility efforts. The data presented throughout this report denotes TJX’s Fiscal 2023, which ended January 28, 2023, unless otherwise noted. It also covers certain subsequent events and initiatives that occurred after the end of Fiscal 2023 and prior to publication, which we have endeavored to note as such. Our global corporate responsibility efforts—including, but not limited to, the priorities, initiatives, programs, and practices disclosed here—may not be considered material for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reporting purposes.

Data and information in this report is part of our voluntary corporate responsibility disclosure. As part of this, we include select voluntary reporting frameworks, such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB, now part of the IFRS Foundation) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). In addition, we have completed the CDP Climate Change Questionnaire annually since 2010. The Reporting and Disclosures section of this website includes relevant data from our Global Corporate Responsibility Report, as well as an index for information that most closely aligns to a particular global reporting framework. However, these comparisons are not meant to imply TJX’s full alignment with any of these frameworks.

We think of our corporate responsibility reporting as ever evolving and continue to evaluate the changing landscape of reporting frameworks and consider what is appropriate for our off-price business and disclosures.

We also seek third-party assurance with respect to certain emissions information reported in this report. More information can be found on the Climate and Energy page, or in our GHG Inventory index.