Download the 2025 Report
2026 Carter’s, Inc. All rights reserved.
At Carter’s, we understand that supporting our employees extends beyond the workplace. We offer a robust benefits package designed to support employees at every life stage and career level. In response to evolving employee needs, we enhanced our benefits package in 2025 through several key initiatives that reflect our commitment to addressing workforce challenges.
financial support
- Absorbed medical premium increases to reduce financial burden of inflation on employees for the third time in five years.
- Increased new parent gift card value from $50 to $100 to celebrate births/adoptions.
health support
- Introduced a new Annual Physical healthy living credit as part of the medical plan to encourage individuals to monitor their health and identify any issues early.
For further information on Carter’s full suite of benefits, refer to the disclosure indexes.
401(k) matching
Over 92% of eligible U.S. employees participate in our retirement plan, with automatic enrollment for new employees. For 2025, we provided a 100% match for up to 4% of eligible 401(k) compensation, reporting a value of over $9M. Our company match has exceeded benchmark rates for 9 of the past 15 years. In late 2025, we announced that we will be transitioning to a per pay period guaranteed company match in 2026, which provides employees additional predictability as they plan for their future.
living wage
We carefully track Living Wage24 benchmarks against current wages for our GOTS-certified distribution centers, using industry-standard surveys and data to inform our analyses. While Living Wage targets continually evolve, we monitor and document our progress toward closing any gaps, such as through our merit increase program. This ensures we make informed decisions about wage adjustments that support our employees’ well-being.
pay equity
We assess pay equity across our corporate workforce through regular evaluations, upholding equitable compensation across comparable roles regardless of race, gender, or age. Reviews occur during annual and midyear assessments, reorganizations, hiring, promotion cycles, and upon request.
24
Living Wage is defined as the income needed for basic needs and reasonable living.
employee safety
The safety and well-being of our employees—from our retail stores, to our distribution centers, and to our corporate offices—are fundamental to our operations. We prioritize a proactive approach to workplace safety that is rooted in prevention first, rapid response, and continuous improvement. We target programs that address the unique needs and risks of each workplace environment.
prevention first
We conduct ongoing safety training and communications that allow us to emphasize injury prevention throughout our operations. Our distribution centers conduct daily briefings at the start of each shift, focused on safety awareness and injury prevention techniques, addressing acute and repetitive stress injuries. This consistent communication ensures safety remains a top priority in our daily operations.
rapid response & support
In the event that an injury does occur, we provide comprehensive support to employees so that they receive proper care and can safely return to work. When an injured employee needs time to recover, we offer a temporary light-duty program, which helps them maintain employment while recovering. This approach also has contributed to lower workers’ compensation costs.
emergency preparedness training
In 2025, we strengthened corporate and distribution center safety preparedness by completing active incident site assessments across all locations to identify vulnerabilities and enhance readiness, and we delivered practical, scenario-based active incident training designed to build employee confidence, decision-making, and real-time response capabilities.
safety metrics25
2023
2024
2025
distribution center TRIR26,28
10.3
9.5
7.3
retail TRIR27,28
4.3
3.6
1.8
distribution center DART29
8.5
7.8
6.2
retail DART29
2.9
2.5
1.2
fatalities
0
0
0
25
Data is for U.S. locations only.
26
Top injury types at distribution centers include struck by/against objects, slips/trips/falls, and lifting.
27
Top injury types at retail stores include slips/trips/falls and struck by/against objects.
28
Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) = (Number of recordable injuries and illnesses × 200,000) / employee hours worked.
29
Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART) rate = (Number of OSHA recordable injuries and illnesses that resulted in days away, restrictions, or transfers × 200,000) / employee hours worked.