For TI, protecting human rights is not about preserving our corporate reputation. It is the only responsible – and ethical – thing to do. Preserving human rights enables the dignity, freedom, respect and acceptance that each of us deserve.

We work diligently to ensure that our employees are treated fairly and ethically regardless of the law, and that our suppliers treat their own workers with equal respect and dignity.

Our equal employment opportunity policies prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, creed, disability, national origin, gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, marital status, or veteran status. In addition, our supplier contracts contain language to ensure that our suppliers are ethical, non-discriminatory and humane.

Because of the variety of social, cultural and political climates in the countries where TI operates, all of our sites are required to build awareness of human rights among employees and contractors, identify human rights risks, and put processes in place to manage them.

TI provides training about ethics to employees and security personnel worldwide to create a respectful and non-discriminatory workplace. We offer training programs on cross-cultural awareness, bullying, security and human rights risks, and an introduction to human rights at new-hire orientations and in other ongoing forums.

We make it easy and safe for TIers to report allegations of human rights abuse, discrimination or other related complaints through their direct supervisor, the human resources team, TI's ethics director, or anonymously by calling our compliance hotlines at (800) 33-ETHIC or (972) 917-5360.

TI's Diversity Network is another comprehensive resource that we use to initiate an open and constructive dialogue on issues, myths and perceptions of various cultures.

When TI becomes aware of alleged human rights issues, we immediately launch an investigation and work to address them. To our knowledge, TI had no formal allegations of human rights abuses lodged against us in 2007.

In 2008, TI plans to survey our 150 critical suppliers, asking them to self-audit their programs and commitment to human rights.