2019 Key Facts and Figures

>4,550

frontline supervisors trained through our People First Program

>12,370

hours of training provided through our People First Program

DART

rates and TRIR below industry average

The success of our company starts with the success of our people. For the past seven decades, we have focused on providing a safe and well-managed workplace that enables our team members to thrive and have better futures. We are humbled by our committed and dedicated workforce of more than 58,000 team members – 31,900 of whom are based in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 11,000 in Mexico and 15,600 in Europe. Ninety-nine percent of our team members work in production facilities and approximately one percent work at Pilgrim’s corporate offices around the world.

To view our enterprise-wide Human Rights policy please click here. 

Our Management Approach

Our managers reinforce Pilgrim’s culture of respect by being available to team members who want to discuss issues. All management policies and programs are annually reviewed by management teams, and specific team member issues are reviewed weekly or as frequently as necessary to address issues.

To ensure our policies and programs are functioning correctly, Pilgrim’s measures and evaluates health and safety, turnover, absenteeism and overtime indicators each week. This allows us to make immediate adjustments if necessary and ensure team member health, safety and working conditions are upheld according to Pilgrim’s standards across all facilities.

We operate all our facilities in compliance with labor and human rights laws. We also adhere to strict internal policies and programs that provide additional guidance to best serve our team members. The company has a zero-tolerance policy on child and forced labor. Additionally, in the U.S. we do not use prison labor at our facilities. Our background check policy does support re-entry into the workforce, of persons with a criminal record, dependent on several factors including the assessment of potential risks and liabilities, the “nature and gravity” of the individual’s criminal offense or conduct and the nature of the duties and essential function of the position sought. Pilgrim’s does not permit degrading conditions in the workplace that could put our team members’ health or lives at risk. We uphold applicable wage and hour laws, such as minimum wage and overtime compensation, and legally mandated benefits. In the U.S., for our hourly team members, we do a competitive wage analysis two times per year and for salaried team members we do a competitive wage analysis one time per year to ensure we are paying competitively for where they work and live. Salaries are adjusted as necessary based on these competitive wage analyses. We also respect our team members’ rights of association, of joining labor unions and of collective bargaining. In 2019, 62% of our team members working in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 75% in Mexico and 34% in Europe were covered by collective bargaining agreements.

Our Code of Conduct and Ethics

Pilgrim’s Code of Conduct and Ethics includes behavioral guidelines and standards to ensure appropriate workplace conduct, efficient and safe operations and the well-being of our team members. All Pilgrim’s team members receive annual in-person, online or video-based training on the Code of Conduct and Ethics.

The Pilgrim’s Code of Conduct and Ethics applies to all team members. The Code has policies for each of the company’s major risk areas, including team member safety, food safety, environmental compliance, animal welfare, corporate ethics, workplace conduct and taxation and finance. All Pilgrim’s managers are responsible for enforcing the Code of Conduct and Ethics in their divisions.

In addition to Code of Conduct and Ethics training, new team members also receive an ethics handbook during orientation and are expected to abide by our policies regardless of their position in the company. Corrective actions for violating the Code or company policies include coaching, written warnings, final written warnings and, if necessary, termination of employment. Serious violations such as theft can result in immediate termination.

Additionally, Pilgrim’s provides all employees of all levels with harassment training annually. Harassment of employees by supervisors or co-workers is a violation of federal law and company policy. Pilgrim’s has in place a policy concerning all forms of harassment, including, but no limited to sex-based harassment, harassment and retaliation against individuals who report any form of harassment in our workplace.

Our Open Door Policy and Ethics Line

Each Pilgrim’s facility has anonymous and non-anonymous ways to report grievances. Team members can bring their concerns directly to management without retaliation or fear of retaliation. With our open door policy, full- and part-time team members are encouraged to bring issues they feel are impacting their performance or environment to supervisors or the Human Resources department. Team members are also encouraged to talk with their supervisor about situations if they feel they have not been treated fairly.

The Pilgrim’s Ethics Line is available to every team member in every country where the company operates, and is provided in 11 languages to accommodate our diverse workforce. Through the Ethics Line, all Pilgrim’s team members have access to a toll-free phone number and an online platform to securely and confidentially report concerns, unethical behavior or policy violations. Reporting can be done anonymously. In 2019, 1,187 Ethics Line reports were filed, investigated and closed with appropriate personnel or other administrative action taken when warranted.

All team members are introduced to the open door policy and Ethics Line during new-hire orientation, and all new managers discuss the policy and related procedures with senior management when they assume their roles. Using data from open door policy discussions and Ethics Line reports, we monitor overall team member perceptions.

Town Hall Meetings Keep Our Open Door Policy Top of Mind

To maintain a culture of trust and respect, we offer opportunities for our team members to provide and receive feedback during roundtable or town hall meetings or other engagement situations. Team members from each department are invited to meet with management and ask questions, express concerns and present solutions. Team members are reminded of our open door policy at meetings. Minutes are taken during each meeting and follow-up plans are made for any identified action items. We address action items within a reasonable time frame and provide feedback to any team members who raised concerns.

Our 2019 Stories

See how we’re building a culture of health, safety, diversity and leadership with team members.

2020 NAMI Worker Safety Awards

Pilgrim's USA

Each year, the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) Worker Safety Awards recognize production facilities that have achieved a high level of performance in the team member health and safety area. Four award levels may be earned based on an evaluation of the facility’s actual safety performance, as well as its implementation of an effective safety…

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RoSPA Health & Safety Awards

Pilgrim's Moy Park

In 2019, Pilgrim’s Moy Park achieved a Gold and a Gold Fleet Safety in the internationally-renowned RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, the longest-running industry awards scheme in the U.K. The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries from organizations around the world, recognizes achievement in health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and…

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2019 Joint Poultry Industry Safety Awards

Pilgrim's USA

Each year, the Joint Poultry Safety & Health Council sponsors the Joint Poultry Industry Safety Recognition Program for National Chicken Council (NCC), National Turkey Federation (NTF) and U.S. Poultry and Egg Association (USPOULTRY) members. The program seeks to motivate employers to continuously improve their safety performance through the establishment of sound safety and health programs…

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Apprenticeship Levy Fund

Pilgrim's Tulip

Tulip has a rich history of supporting the next generation through apprenticeships, graduate programs and training schemes. In 2017, the U.K. government announced the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy. Every U.K. organization with a payroll of £2 million or more is automatically enrolled into the scheme. Tulip’s apprenticeship levy has over £1 million available, and…

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