Human Rights and Workforce

Our 7,000 employees are the driving force behind our mission to Connect What Matters to solve the world’s greatest challenges. We are committed to providing an environment that supports employees and helps each member of the team be at their best. This starts with our mantra of “Winning the Right Way.” We conduct our business following the highest of ethical standards. We also commit to win together, as a team, and to not place the gains of any individual above those of the team. This creates an environment where employees are not placed in situations that compromise their values and where they support one another as we strive for the greater good.

We believe in the power of collaboration. We are stronger when we work together and leverage the abilities of all team members. Our employees are in over 50 countries and come from many different backgrounds. This diversity nurtures our winning spirit and entrepreneurial culture. Our global business structure facilitates connections around the world to drive innovation, solve problems for our customers, and strengthen the skills of our employees.

Employees can count on competitive pay and benefits, but it takes much more than this to create engagement. We promote powerful internal communities through our Employee Networking Groups (ENGs). Job and career growth are important pillars in our organization, and are supported through a variety of programs, such as our recently launched global mentoring program and our global scholarship program for children of H.B. Fuller employees. We also help our surrounding communities through volunteerism and our company foundation. In this section, you’ll learn more about what we are doing to support our valued employees.

Nathan Weaver
Senior Vice President, Human Resources & Communications, ESG

Caring for our people

Employees are the glue that holds H.B. Fuller together. While our benefits vary by market, they are designed to attract top talent and build long-term relationships with our people. In 2022, we launched several market-competitive programs and extended benefits to ensure our employees feel supported and recognized.

Examples of extended benefits:

• Paid Parental Leave - U.S. program that began in 2022 and provides 100% paid time off for up to six weeks for employees (birthing and non-birthing parents), in addition to other benefits.
• Global Employee Assistance Program - a program that provides employees and their families with confidential support, resources, and information for personal work-life issues.
• HBF Recognize - a service anniversary which celebrates and rewards employees for their years of service to the company.

“Talent Up”: Building manufacturing bench strength

In 2022, we launched a new “Talent Up Program” in the U.S. to grow and develop our operations team and build manufacturing bench strength. The four-month development experience includes classroom training, hands-on practice, job shadowing and stretch project work. To date, 60% of program participants have been promoted, 20% of whom are women and 10% of whom include underrepresented minorities (URMs). The second annual edition of the program will take place in 2023; it is open to all operations employees with aspirations to become people managers, take on new challenges, and have a more significant impact on H.B. Fuller’s business.

"Thank you so much for putting this program together. I have already benefited so much in terms of increasing my leadership skills and effectiveness as a communicator, and helping to make my site a better and more enjoyable place to work. Being given the opportunity to see other plants across the country has been memorable and something I am very grateful to have experienced. This makes me excited to continue to grow with H.B. Fuller."
– Joseph Hart, process engineer, South Bend plant, Ind., U.S.

H.B. Fuller Recognition Program

H.B. Fuller’s employee recognition program is designed to reward teams and individuals who go above and beyond their day-to-day responsibilities and demonstrate our core values: the Spirit of Winning, the Power of Collaboration, and the Essence of Courage.

With our Spirit and Power Awards, all employees can nominate individuals or teams who go above and beyond their day-to-day responsibilities to make a difference and drive growth. Members of our leadership team are also eligible to receive H.B. Fuller’s annual “Best of” Awards, which are given to our leaders who have make significant, meaningful contributions to the company several categories. 

The Essence Award is H.B. Fuller’s highest level of employee recognition, and rewards leaders who achieve exceptional leadership and game-changing results. In 2022, we honored Scott Walker (left), senior principal engineer in Engineering Adhesives, and Ron Vollmer (right), vice president, commercial roofing, in Construction Adhesives for their achievements. Scott was recognized for his work as the integration manager of an important acquisition, and Ron was honored for his contributions to growing H.B. Fuller’s roofing business.

Our commitment to our people and to accelerating equality for all has never been more relevant than it is today. Diversity and Inclusion is explicitly one of our priority Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) material issues and an intentional part of who we are, our culture, our code of conduct and how we do business.

At H.B. Fuller, we have built our reputation on a foundation of dependability and trust. We earn that trust by ensuring our actions and behaviors are always in line with our company’s values: The Essence of Courage, the Power of Collaboration, and the Spirit of Winning. We also incorporate the principles of empowerment and leadership into our culture while fostering innovation and the development of outstanding global talent.

Women in Leadership

H.B. Fuller has a long history of developing women leaders across our organization and in our senior ranks. Currently, more than 40 percent of our board of directors comprises women leaders, and in 2022, we appointed our first female CEO in the company’s more than 135-year history.

Inclusive and diverse culture

H.B. Fuller’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is essential to accessing talent and unleashing game-changing innovation. With this in mind, H.B. Fuller Employee Network Groups (ENGs) were formally launched in 2021.

There are currently three ENGs active in the U.S.:

• Black Employee Network (BEN) - A network of Black employees in the U.S. and Canada.
• Next Generation Professionals (NextGen Pros) - A network of employees early in their career in the U.S. and Canada with gradual expansion globally.
• Women at Fuller(W@F) - A network of employees who identify as women in the U.S. and Canada with gradual expansion globally.

In 2022, we expanded our W@F and NextGen Pros program in Latin America, and we continue to explore further expansion. Together, these groups have grown to involve nearly 1,000 employees across North America and Latin America as of 2022.

Some of these groups include professional and personal development workshops, live and virtual networking activities, discussions with company leaders, participation in university recruiting and new hire onboarding, and engagement in community service projects. To date, more than 500 employees have joined one or more of the ENGs. Each group has plans to grow its membership and expand geographically.

Community Affairs Councils

H.B. Fuller empowers its people to invest in their local communities through our network of 38 Community Affairs Councils (CACs), composed of dedicated groups of employees who respond to local needs through volunteerism and financial donations. Based on employee feedback, CACs guide their work to local nonprofit organizations and are empowered to respond quickly and at the request of their colleagues. In 2022, CACs held supply drives for school supplies, shoes, holiday gifts, blankets, hygiene items, and much more, along with more than $75,000 donated to organizations in their local communities.

Making a Difference in the World

H.B. Fuller continues to invest in strengthening communities, supporting employee volunteerism, and connecting employees with causes they value. For the 14th consecutive year, groups from more than 20 countries volunteered their time to make a difference in their communities through service as a part of our Make a Difference initiative.

Examples of the meaningful volunteerism recently made:

• Building compost systems with school groups
• Cleaning garbage from parks and waterways
• Donating food, hygiene products, weather-appropriate clothing, and other essential goods to people in need
• Updating a water system to benefit a school

International Response

H.B. Fuller is very much a global company with a stake in building healthy, safe communities for all. In 2022, several events created a humanitarian crisis for the people of Afghanistan and Ukraine. When a war broke out in Ukraine, our employees responded in many ways:

• A matching fund was set up by the H.B. Fuller Company Foundation.
• Employees around the world connected with Ukrainian friends and family to provide housing and employment.
• Make a Difference projects were organized in support of children impacted by the war.

In 2022, refugees from Afghanistan also relocated to many of the regions and cities where H.B. Fuller does business, and local employees addressed their needs by donating household items and volunteering to set up house for displaced individuals and families.

Learn more about how we support our community by following #HBFullerCares on social media and by reading our Sustainability Report.

H.B. Fuller Company does not knowingly purchase goods or services produced using forced labor, child labor or in violation of any applicable local labor laws. Our standard purchase order requires that our suppliers comply with all applicable Federal, State or Local Laws, Rules, Regulations, Ordinances and Executive Orders. Employees are required to abide by H.B. Fuller’s Code of Business Conduct.

Supplier Expectations Letter

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 directed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to adopt a rule requiring public companies with conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold) that are necessary to the functionality or production of products manufactured or contracted to be manufactured by such companies to disclose annually whether any of those conflict minerals originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) or an adjoining country. The rule is intended to further the humanitarian goal of ending the extremely violent conflict in the DRC which has been financed in part by the exploitation and trade of conflict minerals originating in the DRC. H.B. Fuller Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries (“H.B. Fuller”) are committed to ethical business practices, with respect for human rights and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. We are committed to complying with the SEC’s rule on conflict minerals and the responsible sourcing of minerals through our global supply chain. We are actively and diligently working with our global supply chain partners to determine the origin of any conflict minerals they may supply to us, and will continue to work with them towards the goal of providing greater supply chain transparency and responsible sourcing. Our due diligence measures follow the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Due Diligence Guidance for the Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High Risk Areas in all material respects. Suppliers who are materially non-compliant with the SEC’s rule on conflict minerals will be reviewed by our sourcing managers for future business. In the event H.B. Fuller determines that a supplier’s efforts to comply with this policy have been deficient and the supplier fails to cooperate in developing and implementing reasonable remedial steps, H.B. Fuller reserves the right to take appropriate actions up to and including discontinuing purchases from the supplier.

Last revised: July 2021

H.B. Fuller Company is opposed to all forms of exploitation and forced labour and is committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chain or in any part of our business. Our Code of Business Conduct, which includes our Fair Treatment Core Policy, reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships. As part of this commitment, and bearing in mind the changing landscape globally (cultural shifts and enhanced expectations, as well as developing regulations around the world), we review, update and implement systems and controls to counter the risk of facilitating modern slavery or human trafficking.

Within our Conditions of Purchase, through which we do business with the majority of our suppliers, we make clear our position on modern slavery and human trafficking and other ethical/compliance requirements. We further emphasize this stance within a Supplier Expectations letter, which specifically forms part of new supplier contracts. To promote and to allow suppliers easier access to these expectations, we have set up a ‘Supplier page’ on our publicly available website: https://www.hbfuller.com/suppliers.

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chain and our business, we provide training to our employees and will continue to do so in the future. We regularly refresh and refine our training to ensure its effectiveness. Our HBF Path Helpline is a channel through which we aim to protect and support reporting by our employees and third parties.

Looking forward, our goal is to continue to deliver improvements on our ongoing assessment of risk areas in our supply chain, including regular supplier assessments. We will be ensuring that the H.B. Fuller group around the world, including more recently acquired businesses, is consistent in its approach and our work with the Sourcing group will be a key part of this drive towards delivering improvements.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes H.B. Fuller Company’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending December 2, 2023.

Nathan Weaver
Senior Vice President, Human Resources

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