Our Responsible Sourcing commitments and practises are based on The Joint Ethical and Trading Initiatives Guide to Buying responsibly.
Guide to buying responsibly | Ethical Trading Initiative (ethicaltrade.org)
Buying/Production Teams must review all updated reports available via our SEDEX membership https://www.sedex.com/
where updates will be provided of factories where;
1) Workers Human Rights Potential Risks will be assessed via:
a) Reviews of Country Risks.
b) Tier mapping of Supply Chain.
c) Identification of worker risks by sector, nature of work, type of worker and employment relationships.
d) Reviews of recruitment processes.
e) Workers access to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
2. Team job descriptions and responsibility agreements are under review and will incorporate responsible sourcing goals and KPI’S into all personal development plans.
a) Our relationships with Suppliers must not be based on Unequal Power in balances of successful and efficient suppliers and their operations are keystones to business success and environments where mutual respect always operates.
b) Inaccurate or poor production specifications together with improper production forecasting to be always controlled.
c) Aggressive and unrealistic price negotiation are not justified due to adverse impacts covering workers’ wages and health/safety conclusions.
d) Frequent and unwarranted changes to specifications must be avoided and controlled.
e) Unrealistic short lead times and placement of late orders must be controlled at all times. Factory capacity abilities can be reviewed via HSB Factories Capacity Assessment and reviews of previous factories’ performance ratings.
f) Excessive product sampling and re sampling request must be always controlled.
g) Shipping delays are to be mutually agreed with suppliers at all times and outstanding $ payments are to be actioned within agreed time frames.
h) Ongoing reviews of Factory Ethical Compliance Operations are required; in conjunction with HSB Ethical and Sustainability management.
i) No new factories or suppliers can be onboarded to the business unless all requirements under Core Mandatory Requirements have been successfully completed.
j) Buying/Purchasing team members must successfully complete all internal training and information skills training programs.
Our journey forward with our Supply Chain Partners to achieve a successful and ethically responsible environment that protects workers’ rights, entitlements, health, and safety and enables the recognition of their importance and contribution to our combined successes is supported by the commitments seen in this document. Features of our journey will see ongoing improvement projects where regular updates will be shared between workers and team members.