Costco Wholesale has established a confidential reporting procedure relating to concerns with or complaints about: Costco's accounting, auditing and internal controls; or anyone at Costco who has committed, is committing, or is about to engage in conduct that may be illegal.
This site is for reports regarding these issues or any other ethics or compliance concerns. It is for use by Costco employees and suppliers to Costco. Costco employees are encouraged to exercise the Company's "Open Door" policy before invoking this reporting mechanism.
Costco encourages the good-faith reporting of concerns regarding unlawful or other inappropriate activity. Costco employees are protected from retaliation or reprisal if you honestly make a report. If you believe that you have been subjected to retaliation for making a report, you may provide that information through this site as well.
Reports can be made anonymously if you prefer. Please include as much detail as possible to permit an investigation of the subject matter of your report. Reports will be reviewed by the office of Costco's General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, who will either investigate the matter themselves or forward to the appropriate person(s) for review/investigation.
In addition, you can make a report in writing and/or provide documentation for your concern/complaint. In order to help maintain confidentiality, please include the words “CONFIDENTIAL - ETHICS POINT COMPLAINT” at the bottom of each page of your submission. Then, mail your submission to: "Ethics Point Confidential Submission General Counsel, Legal Department, Costco Wholesale Corporation, 730 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA 98027.
Our telephonic or online reporting procedures are strongly preferred over mail.
If you are reporting under the protection of the European directive 2019/1937 of 23 October 2019 (the “Whistleblowing Directive”), please refer to the last paragraph below*.
Through this procedure, we seek to enhance our adherence to the Costco Code of Ethics:
- Obey the law
- Take care of our members.
- Take care of our employees.
- Respect our suppliers.
- Reward our shareholders.
* If you are reporting a matter under the protection of the European directive 2019/1937 of 23 October 2019 (the “Whistleblowing Directive”), we invite you to do so through the local reporting channel for each European country. The local reporting channel provides all requirements and protection under the Whistleblowing Directive and local laws transposing it. You can report through this channel any breach of European law or national law in a European country. The local reporting is open to individuals who acquire information on suspected breaches in a work-related context and have reasonable grounds to believe, given the circumstances and the information available to them at the time of reporting, that the matters they report are true. Local reports in the European countries will be investigated by Costco at a local level under the applicable policies of each country.”
Costco Reporting Process
When you share a concern with us, you have our commitment we will handle it discreetly, involving only those needed to review and/or remediate your concern. The graphic below provides a high-level overview of the reporting process, which may vary depending on the nature of the report.
Confidentiality & Anonymity
It is up to you to decide whether or not to make your report anonymously. Submitting an anonymous complaint may limit our ability to thoroughly investigate your concern.
If you choose to make your identity known to us, to the extent feasible within the limitations of law and the need to conduct an investigation into your complaint, we will endeavor to maintain the confidentiality of your identity. Be aware that Costco may be required to reveal certain details in your submission to investigate your complaint. That includes, but is not limited to, making involved parties aware of the complaint and details within it. The identity of complainants may become known through this investigative process, or for reasons outside our control.