As previously noted, most of our Sourcing Supply Chain Partners are in China across a wide number of regions, however, all are covered by an extensive centralised legal framework that gives all workers a range of rights and protections against exploitation and discrimination including:
Timely payment of a Living Wage (Local Governments in China are requested to update and adjust their minimum wages according to the regions level of development and cost of living. As a result, minimum wages are higher in Capital and Developed cities and lower for smaller cities and rural areas).
A formal employment contract.
Legally set working week hours with fixed overtime rates.
Social Security covering pensions, healthcare unemployment, injury and severance pay in case of termination.
Housing Fund.
Annual Leave.
The only official union recognised by the Government and allowed to practice is the ALL-CHINA FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS (ACFTU). All local, industry, or enterprise-level unions and associations must work under Worker Representatives/Committees and the National Law mandates Trade Unions and designated associations to protect the rights and interests of workers and to negotiate on their behalf.
As our journey in China has progressed, we have worked with our Supply Chain factories’ Management to identify how we could be assured that ours and their commitments to having all workers employed under rights, protection, and conditions as set out in the ETI Base Code which includes rights of Collective Bargaining, Safe and Hygienic Working Conditions and access to Grievance Reporting and Remediation etc.
Workers also have the right of individual bargaining with their employees/management.
Workers’ rights and labour relations in China | China Labour Bulletin (clb.org.hk)
Our ongoing work established that the most effective and successful pathway for Workers’ Grievance and Suggestions reporting, including Mitigation/Resolution was achieved through a functioning Workers’ Representative/Committee.
Our Hotsprings & Brands WE CARE: WE LISTEN Workers’ Grievance program was developed during 2023 in conjunction with a select trial group of factories in collaboration with our China based Compliance Team: Factory Management: Worker Representatives and Workers: The development and implementation of this program replaced our previous trial Workers’ Voice program which was operated and administered by an external international service provider which had to be discontinued due to the implementation of a mandatory data protection legal requirements in China where workers’ personal details and data access is strictly controlled.
Hotsprings & Brands QR blocked ETI poster
Our WE CARE: WE LISTEN program clearly includes assessment of Workers’ Grievances with Workers’ Representative/Committee and ourselves and will continue to be trialled through 2024 and through to the end 2025 where we will be working to extend this program into our recently acquired Bangladesh and India factories.
To enable resolution of reported grievances including instances of verbal and physical assault our China and Sydney based Compliance Team will work closely with both the Worker Representative/Committee and Factory Management to reach successful resolutions and implementation of ongoing improvement programs in a timely manner where the best interests and outcomes for the reporting workers are guaranteed.
The use and support of Workers’ Representative/Committee extends through to General Workers’ Grievance reporting and support for Collective Bargaining covers wages: Working Conditions: Health and Safety, and a wide range of other areas.
To facilitate the best possible outcomes for our Trial Programs we have joined with a China Team: Workers’ Representatives and Factory Management to develop and implement policies and procedures that support both successful operations and outcomes for Collective Bargaining including:
Standardised meeting minutes development Workers’ Representatives and Management.
Our programs also include the use of SEDEX SMETA 4 Pillar Audit Programs that report on audit findings section 2 Freedom of Association and Rights to Collective Bargaining are respected (ETI Base Code) as per ETI Base Code | Ethical Trading Initiative (ethicaltrade.org)
We recognise that annual formal audits such as SMETA need to be combined with our China Team factories’ audits and reviews to develop, implement and monitor ongoing improvement programs where needed as may be reported in audit findings.
During the last Qtr. of 2024 and thru 2025 our Sydney based Compliance team, and management will move forward to work with our Bangladesh and India Supply Chain Management together with “on the ground “ETI team resources to extend our programs as listed above and below into these factories where a summary of results will feature in our 2025 Website updates.
Use of SEDEX Risk Assessment and Analytic programs serve to further identify “At Risk” areas where follow up action and programs.
The SEDEX My Supply Chain Audits and findings include all Audit data from Feb 12, 2020, to Feb 2023 where the Category Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining findings indicate potential issues in two factories only. Our China and local Compliance teams continue the regular use and application of this SEDEX report across current and new onboarded factories where Management, Health and Safety, Living Wages, Excessive Working hours findings are shared with our Supply Chain Partner factories and their Worker Committees / Representatives where ongoing Corrective Action and Improvement programs together with progress monitoring and reporting programs are agreed and actioned.
A current extract from one of our Supply Chain Partners factories details SMETA Pillar 4 Audit findings covering “Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining are respected” where Current Systems and Evidence viewed by the Auditor are reported including Worker & Management interviews.
These findings are shared with our Supply Chain partners factories and their Workers’ Representative/Committees where appropriate Action plans and improvement programs are implemented.