Is TK Maxx ethical?
Our research highlights several ethical issues with TK Maxx and its owner TJX Companies, including failure to address its carbon emissions, inadequate animal welfare policies, and a poor approach to addressing forced labour risks in its supply chain.
Below we outline some of these issues. To see the full detailed stories, and TK Maxx's overall ethical rating, please sign in or subscribe.
People
TK Maxx’s owner, TJX Companies, performs poorly when it comes to workers’ rights.
While TJX Companies has a supplier code of conduct, laying out its expectations for the treatment of workers in its supply chain, the policy omits key criteria such as the payment of living wages and a commitment to provide workers’ with regular employment.
It does not appear to have published a list of its suppliers, a vital step in terms of transparency and ensuring that workers’ unions and civil society organisations can hold it to account. It does not provide any concrete details of how it is ensuring fair purchasing practices. Steps like paying suppliers on time, providing stable contracts and committing to not cancelling orders at short notice are vital for enabling decent workers’ rights.
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said that it found evidence that TJX Companies Inc was “exposing workers to fire, entrapment and struck-by hazards”. The company was said to be facing $239K in penalties for workers' rights violations.
In 2021, TJX Companies was rated by the research and benchmarking organisation Know the Chain on its approach to forced labour. The company scored just 19/100 for its approach to purchasing practices, worker voice, traceability and risk assessment and remedial action. The report found that it had not disclosed any steps that it had taken to address the risks of alleged Uyghur forced labour in its supply chain. Uyghur Muslims face state-sanctioned forced labour in the cotton industry in China, where they produce the fibre used by global fashion companies.
Environment
TJX Companies and its brands score very poorly in Ethical Consumer’s climate rating.
The company does not discuss efforts to reduce emissions in crucial areas of its supply chain. For example, much of its clothing is made from plastic fibres produced from fossil fuels, like polyester. However, the company only discussed work to cut plastic packaging for products and its support for cleanup efforts – rather than the plastic within its products, a much more significant source of emissions.
TJX Companies also did not report on its full supply chain emissions, even though this is where the majority of emissions arise. It did not have a target in line with vital international agreements, which have been signed by leaders worldwide to set goals for limiting warming.
The company does not appear to be switching to more sustainable fabrics, or taking meaningful steps to reduce or recycle water use or tackle water pollution from fabric production.
Animals
Despite selling multiple products containing animal products such as wool, leather, down and suede, TJX Companies has weak policies on animal rights and animal welfare. For example, it did not have a policy on leather, and its policy on wool was vague and only covered ‘select’ European TK Maxx stores.
Following a campaign by animal rights group PETA, TJX Companies stopped selling fur in 2020. The company was contacted over 10,000 times by activists prior to changing its policy.
Politics and finances
TK Maxx also performs poorly when it comes to political and financial ethics.
For example, the company paid its CEO over $20 million (£60 million) in 2023 - an amount that Ethical Consumer considered to be excessive. The company also owns two subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Vietnam, both tax havens, and does not have a clear public commitment prohibiting tax avoidance.
The text above was written in October 2024, and most research was conducted in December 2023.