Labor & Immigration

Developing Our Workforce

Pilgrim's provides good jobs with competitive wages and benefits to 42,000 people in the U.S. and Mexico. We treat our employees with dignity and respect, and we are committed to ensuring the development and success of all of our employees.

We provide our employees with fair compensation, meaningful work, positive working conditions and a safe work environment. Recognizing the potential within each person, we empower employees at all levels with the authority necessary to perform their jobs to the highest standard.

We work hard to attract, develop and retain a world-class workforce through many different means including workforce planning, recruiting, selection and hiring; special orientation programs and initiatives; performance management; training, development and team building; and succession planning and leadership development.

Immigration

Pilgrim's recognizes that immigration issues are deeply important to many Americans. Immigration is a complex topic, and there are no simple solutions. Our company believes that all stakeholders – our employees, our industry and America's business and political leaders – must work together to find a solution to the challenges posed by an estimated 11 million undocumented workers in this country. We believe that any solution must recognize the important role that immigrants play in our nation's economic growth, while also making sure that employers have access to accurate hiring information.

Pilgrim's shares the government's goal of eliminating the hiring or employment of unauthorized workers. We have stringent workplace verification programs in place. All of our U.S. locations participate in E-Verify, which determines employment eligibility for all new hires. This voluntary program, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, verifies the authenticity of the applicant's Social Security number and personal information using an automated system that includes verification checks of Social Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services databases.

Pilgrim's has relied on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Best Hiring Practices in designing our immigration compliance program. These practices include participation in E-Verify, prompt attention to Social Security No-Match letters and retention of outside experts in immigration compliance to ensure that the company is doing all it can to verify that our employees have work authorization. These practices also require that Pilgrim's be sensitive to all applicable anti-discrimination laws.

As a company, we continually audit and review our processes and procedures to assure continuing compliance with best hiring practices and existing employment law. We provide our managers with education and training on proper hiring procedures, fraudulent document detection, use of the E-Verify/Employment Verification Program and anti-discrimination procedures. We also conduct internal and third-party audits of I-9 forms and hiring practices on an ongoing basis, and we fully investigate any reports of alleged identity theft.

As we continue to adopt and implement best practices in employment verification, we go above and beyond to ensure continuing compliance with both the letter and the spirit of the law.