Perdue has a standard, company-wide safety program that encourages active associate participation and input. Associates take part in safety committees, which meet regularly to discuss safety issues, as well as perform safety inspections before the start of each work shift. Associates have the authority to stop production or prevent start-up if any unsafe conditions exist. In addition, associates attend safety awareness training and are encouraged to look for and report any potential hazard.
In 2023, the Joint Industry Safety and Health Council recognized 32 Perdue Foods’ facilities across 14 states for leadership in implementing innovative and effective workplace safety health processes and systems.
The Perdue facilities received the Award of Distinction, the Council’s highest award to include food producing facilities in Cromwell, Kentucky, and Schulenburg, Texas, and a feed mill in Nashville, North Carolina. Nineteen Perdue operations earned the Award of Honor, the Council’s second highest award, while nine facilities received the Award of Merit.
Perdue truck drivers are some of the safest on the road and among our company’s most visible and valuable ambassadors. In FY24, 10 Perdue drivers achieved safe driving milestones of one million miles or more without a Department of Transportation recordable incident. We salute their commitment to safety!
We are committed to involving our associates in creating a safe, secure, inclusive, productive and healthy work environment with competitive wages and benefits that comply with all applicable laws and regulations. This includes:
We offer competitive wages and a comprehensive benefits package, including options for medical, dental and vision coverage, a 401(k) savings plan with dollar-for-dollar match up to 5 percent of pay, and bonuses. Regular checks of local market wages through publicly available information and the use of compensation surveys ensure we remain competitive in each area in which we operate our business.
Underage labor has no place in our industry or business, and we have zero tolerance for it. Perdue Farms prohibits the employment of individuals under the age of 18, and we make every effort to ensure all partners we do business with comply with child labor laws.
We have strengthened our efforts to hold suppliers accountable for child labor compliance by implementing age verification audits, tightening facility access procedures, and launching an internal reporting campaign.
We also remain committed to collaborative partnerships with local schools to detect and address underage labor in the communities we are actively present in. We are committed to working with key stakeholders to eliminate child labor from any part of the supply chain.
Our safety programs create a culture of safety at our operations and position our workplaces as among the safest in the manufacturing sector, with key OSHA metrics better than the manufacturing sector as a whole, and among the best among poultry companies.
Most of Perdue’s on-site Wellness Centers include fully equipped “doctor’s offices” staffed by healthcare providers from the community, providing associates and their dependents convenient access to primary care. As of January 1, 2018, we eliminated the co-pay for associates participating in our health plan to use the Wellness Center, including doctor and other health care provider appointments. Associates can make appointments during work hours and “stay on the clock” during their appointments.
Perdue is committed to treating all associates with dignity and respect and has a strong policy against any form of discrimination, harassment or abuse. This includes discrimination or harassment based on race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or religious beliefs. Any individual found guilty of this type of conduct would be dealt with severely, up to and including termination of employment.
We take pride in the diversity of our workforce and the manner in which our facilities attract and bring together people from different racial, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds.
In 2014, we committed to move beyond diversity by taking a more active role in creating an inclusionary workplace. Perdue Farms is signatory to CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion. We now have our Inclusion Councils, composed of diverse associates representing different areas of the company, providing direct input to the senior management team. We also have a number of Associate Resource Groups designed to help us build a diverse, inclusive and engaged workforce and workplace. We designated a Vice President of Talent Management and Chief Diversity Officer to help guide our path forward.
As part of our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy, we reaffirm our commitment to recruit, hire, train, promote and administer all personnel actions without regard to color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, status as a qualified individual with a disability or any other characteristic protected by law.
Further, as a government contractor/subcontractor, we annually write Affirmative Action Plans for each unit within the company and as part of that exercise, we thoroughly analyze all company practices to ensure discrimination does not exist. Perdue encourages diversity through targeted recruiting strategies.
Our Diversity and Inclusion Video
We prefer to take a team approach to management, and the Perdue Continuous Improvement Process encourages associate involvement and engagement by seeking their input, experience and insights to help us improve our processes, increase efficiencies and reduce waste. Committees such as Safety Teams, Diversity and Inclusion Teams, Green Teams, and teams focused on food safety and quality include both hourly and salaried associates working together.
We hold associate roundtables on a regular basis, in which associates can bring up any topic they wish to discuss. A rotating schedule ensures we include almost all of our hourly associates during the year.
We provide all associates mechanisms to address any concerns they may have, such as:
We strive for an environment in which a union would have nothing to offer our associates. We believe that when and if problems arise, they are best worked out with honest and frank discussions in an atmosphere of mutual trust, respect and cooperation directly between management and associates.
We have a number of Associate Resource Groups (ARGs) designed to help us build a diverse, inclusive and engaged workforce and workplace. Our associates are the backbone of our company and our success, so it’s important that we attract, develop and retain a workforce that reflects the diversity of our stakeholders and our communities.
Learn about the steps we're taking to reach our goal of becoming the most trusted name in food and agricultural products.
