Fortinet engages in a continuous improvement approach to corporate governance policies and practices by monitoring trends and reviewing inputs from our stockholders and other stakeholders. This process allows Fortinet's Governance Committee to evaluate best governance practices for our company and make recommendations to the Board of Directors.
Our approach to responsible business is based on a strong corporate governance structure and high ethical standards promoted throughout our value chain.
Governance
Our strong governance starts with our Board of Directors. They are committed to meeting their social responsibilities while promoting long-term value for our stakeholders. These efforts begin with shareholders and include customers, partners, suppliers, employees, and society in general.
- Board of Directors: The majority of Fortinet's Board of Directors are independent directors. Our Board is more diverse than most of our peers' Boards. This includes over 50% diversity in under-represented groups, and a third of our directors are female.
- Board compensation is aligned with business performance and built on the principles of transparency and accountability.
- On their initiative, Fortinet's Board of Directors de-staggered the Board. Instead of three-year terms, each director has a one-year term and regularly comes up for assessment as to performance and election.
- Fortinet’s Board of Directors formed its own Social Responsibility Committee to bring corporate social responsibility to the highest level of governance. Responsibilities include the oversight of the company’s sustainability programs, including ESG matters, and the review and assessment of management performance, risks, controls, and procedures related to corporate social responsibility and sustainability.
- Board of Directors Charters
- Shareholder consultation: In July 2020, the Board amended its Bylaws to allow shareholders to call special meetings of shareholders for inputs as to how to improve its governance.
Business Ethics
Fortinet is committed to conducting business ethically and in compliance with all laws and respecting human rights. We have set organizational standards, principles, values, and norms that govern the actions and behavior of individuals and organizations within our value chain, including with our customers, partners, and suppliers.
We promote competitive behavior, comply with regulatory authorities, and work against corruption, extortion, and bribery while protecting our intellectual property. For more information, please consult our Codes of Conduct and Policies.
Driving Responsible Product Use
Fortinet is committed to ethically designing, developing, deploying, selling, and managing products and services in ways that respect human rights — particularly when it comes to artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. This means continuously reviewing the downstream ethical/human rights impacts of Fortinet's products and mitigating any risks. Fortinet includes human rights issues in product use policies and terms of service and provides a reporting mechanism for it in its codes of conduct.
Promoting a Sustainable Supply Chain
Fortinet is committed to upholding environmental and labor standards throughout a diverse supply chain.
Our suppliers and vendors comply with major standards outlined in the RBA Code of Conduct sections: Labor, Health & Safety, Environment, and Business Ethics. Fortinet is very selective with its primary Contract Manufacturers, and the vast majority of them are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified and have their own ESG policies and reporting standards in place.
Regarding compliance with Human Rights and Labor regulations, Fortinet requires that all its employees and suppliers comply with all applicable laws and regulations for all work they perform with the company. Our suppliers must observe and comply with international principles relating to human rights, including but not limited to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015. Violations of local minimum wage and maximum working hour requirements are unacceptable, as are forced labor scenarios and labor contracts that impose unreasonable legal or practical limitations on the workers’ ability to leave their employment. Child labor is not to be used. Finally, suppliers must never discriminate illegally based on race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, disability, union membership, marital status, or political affiliation.
Through our Global Supplier Code of Conduct and Contract Manufacturer agreement, we have continued to reach across our supply chain to communicate our expectations regarding human rights, labor standards, business practices and workplace health and safety conditions. We also exercise our due diligence following industry best practices to assess and screen prospective Fortinet vendors and suppliers for human rights violations through a risk-based screening compliance process.
Ensuring Product Accessibility
Fortinet is also committed to ensuring that our products and services are accessible for the diversity of customer needs and abilities. We are continually improving the user interfaces of our products for everyone and are incorporating many of the guidelines for Web Content Accessibility (WCAG).
Charitable Giving
At Fortinet, Responsible Business also means extending our reach with our community. We have a charitable matching program that helps our employees contribute to giving back. We enable social responsibility through donations and foster ways to positively impact the community through education and cybersecurity knowledge sharing. In addition, we provide further support to qualifying charities and events, such as providing additional matching funds for the recent COVID-19 crisis.