Human Rights
Management Approach
One of our long-established core values – respect for people – guides us to maintain and uphold an environment built on mutual respect, openness and individual integrity. This includes our concern for all people who interact with Lilly – patients, customers, employees, shareholders, partners, suppliers and communities. Our purpose of making life better guides our commitment to ensure employees, partners and suppliers uphold our values and respect human rights as we work together to improve lives.
Integrating Respect for Human Rights
We strive to embed respect for human rights throughout our business activities and relationships. Lilly signed on to the United Nations Global Compact in 2009 and is committed to the UNGC’s Ten Principles on respecting internationally proclaimed human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. Each year we review and reaffirm our commitment to the 10 principles outlined by the UNGC and we provide an index of where to find information about our integration of the UNGC principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations.
Human Rights in Business Conduct
Lilly is committed to upholding high standards of corporate conduct. We earn the trust and respect of our customers, regulators and the general public through the manner in which we conduct our business and their resulting experiences. We believe in supporting the inherent rights of all people, regardless of where they were born, where they live, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
Our code of business conduct – called The Red Book – and our policies, compliance management systems, HR performance and promotion systems, training programs and communications initiatives are designed to work together to reinforce a culture of integrity and ethical behavior. This commitment to act legally and ethically, following both the letter and the spirit of the laws, regulations, policies and procedures that govern our business, includes various aspects of human rights.
Learn more in Business Ethics.
Human Rights Affecting the Workplace
Making life better starts with everyday acts of respect and inclusion for all people. We work together to create an environment where people feel valued and where they can use their diverse backgrounds, experiences, skills and perspectives in support of our purpose.
Across our own operations, we support human rights by:
Offering fair and competitive employment practices, including wages and benefits
Promoting a safe and healthy workplace
Fostering a more diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment, where discrimination, harassment and retaliation are not tolerated
Cultivating a diverse workforce of people with wide-ranging backgrounds and experiences through recruitment, learning and development, advancement and retention processes, and programs
Learn more in Employee Experience and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Human Rights in Our Supply Chain
Our suppliers help us earn and maintain trust and respect. We also expect our suppliers to uphold Lilly values and standards as outlined in our Supplier Code of Business Conduct. In 2011, we revised our global standards and procedures to include specific language about human rights, including our expectation that our vendors abide by Lilly’s human rights standards.
We rely on our suppliers and contract manufacturing operations to ensure the ongoing availability of our medicines. As our manufacturing base has grown, we’ve taken significant steps designed to reduce our exposure to risks inherent in managing a global supply chain.
We continue to strengthen efforts to monitor our supply chain for quality and health, safety and environmental (HSE) risks. We have taken steps to educate and engage our suppliers directly on HSE issues and to help them build expertise around HSE topics. This includes our ongoing work as part of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI), which helps outline what the pharmaceutical industry expects from its supply chain. Lilly was an inaugural member of PSCI, which created and maintains the Pharmaceutical Industry Principles for Responsible Supply Chain Management. These principles address five areas of supplier performance standards: ethics, labor, health and safety, environment and management systems. Lilly’s Supplier Code of Business Conduct reflects the PSCI principles.
We require that our suppliers source materials responsibly and abstain from procuring materials from conflict areas or sources including the Democratic Republic of Congo.
See Supply Chain Management to learn more.
Human Rights in Health
From early discovery through drug development, as well as while a product is on the market, Lilly works to ensure the safety and effectiveness of our medicines. Our R&D efforts and clinical trials are developed and administered in ways that support our commitment to human rights.
Protecting People’s Privacy
Lilly is committed to the ethical management of all personal information whether it is that of a customer, an employee or any other individual. Our privacy program reflects our commitment to being open and honest about how we collect, manage, use and disclose personal information, and we’re intentional about protecting it. We take reasonable precautions to protect personal information against loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.
Learn more about how Lilly respects privacy.
Speaking Up
We don’t compromise on issues of integrity. Lilly policy encourages all employees and our suppliers to report known or suspected issues, concerns or behavior that could harm Lilly or those we serve. We foster a culture where all individuals are empowered to speak up and engage with management to identify and implement appropriate continuous improvement.
We recognize that speaking up, even if anonymously, is our right and our responsibility, and that taking no action when action is warranted can have serious consequences. We encourage employees and suppliers to share concerns openly and honestly – including on issues of human rights – knowing that Lilly will not tolerate acts of retaliation for reporting inappropriate conduct, preventing unlawful practices or participating in an investigation.
Learn more about our approach to Business Ethics.
Explore our Social Goals and Progress
See important information about our Sustainability report.