At Fruit of the Loom, we have made the commitment of increasing the social and economic strength of individuals and communities touched by the manufacture and use of our products. We strive to create an environment that foments empowerment by ensuring respect for human rights and the law, promoting healthy lifestyles and providing individuals with opportunities to maximize their potential through education and community support.
Our company has a long-standing commitment of conducting business in an ethical manner, ensuring respect for human rights and the law. We select business partners who share that commitment. As indicated in the Fruit of the Loom Code of Conduct, we strive to maintain consistent standards in all facilities involved in the manufacture and distribution of our products.
Therefore we adhere to a comprehensive Code of Conduct compliance program that includes third-party monitoring of our owned and operated facilities and those of our independent contractors to ensure that they meet all applicable laws and regulations regarding employment, labor, worker health and safety and the provision of services related to the manufacture of our apparel.
The FLA is a tripartite nonprofit organization formed by members of the business, academic and NGO communities dedicated to improving working conditions worldwide. In 2002, our Russell Brands, LLC subsidiary furthered its commitment to supply chain accountability by becoming an FLA affiliated company, subject to all FLA compliance criteria including annual unannounced assessments at manufacturing facilities. Russell Brands' labor compliance program has been accredited as being in substantial compliance with the FLA's Workplace Code of Conduct.
Better work is a partnership between the International Labor Office (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) that unites the expertise of the ILO in labor standards with the IFC private sector development experience. The goal of Better Work is to bring together local enterprises, international buyers, governments, workers' and employers' organizations to improve labor standards and competitiveness in global supply chains. Fruit of the Loom has engaged with Better Work to work with factories in Haiti and Vietnam.
FUNDAHRSE is a membership-based organization with the mission of promoting socially responsible enterprises in Honduras. Fruit of the Loom has been awarded the FUNDAHRSE RSE Seal in 2009 and 2010, recognizing our long-term commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility in the country.
Fundemas mission is to promote the economic and social development of El Salvador by strengthening the private sector's commitment to philanthropy and social responsibility and supporting entrepreneurial initiatives. As the largest private employer in the country, Fruit of the Loom is an active member and supporter of the organization.
Our Code of Conduct assessments follow a fact-finding process designed to help suppliers identify areas that could be improved to ensure compliance with Fruit of the Loom Inc standards. Fruit of the Loom performs all Code of Conduct compliance assessments through credible international third-party monitoring agencies. Each assessment consists of a physical inspection of the facility, private individual and group interviews with employees, and a review of relevant documents like licenses, payrolls and time records. Upon completion of the assessment, the monitor reviews all identified Code of Conduct violations, examines possible root causes and proposes a remediation plan to help our supplier’s management properly address areas of noncompliance.
Additionally, to streamline the audit process, Fruit of the Loom accepts the following Third Party industry Certifications as evidence of compliance with our Code of Conduct: Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), International Council Of Toy Industries, Inc (ICTI), Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) and Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000).
For all violations identified during a Code of Conduct Assessment we require our suppliers to present a corrective action plan describing the violation, its root cause, the recommended remediation plan and the actions to be taken by the supplier in order to sustainably address all the violations. Corrective action plans should include timelines or milestones for completion.
We track all corrective action plans with an expectation that all violations will be remediated within 90 days, but as quickly as possible. For suppliers receiving an “Unsatisfactory” ranking, we conduct follow up assessments to verify that violations to our Code of Conduct have been properly addressed. If we find that some violations have been inadequately corrected but the supplier has demonstrated significant improvements since the last assessment, we continue to work with our supplier, within a reasonable amount of time, on additional remediation measures. However where violations are numerous or severe, corrective actions are inadequate and the supplier is not making satisfactory efforts to improve working conditions, we terminate the business relationship.
Major violations of our Code of Conduct will result in an unsatisfactory compliance assessment. It is Fruit of the Loom’s intent to offer our suppliers a reasonable opportunity to demonstrate their willingness and commitment to correct critical violations and achieve a satisfactory Code of Conduct compliance level. In an effort to facilitate our suppliers’ compliance improvement process our Company has partnered with several organizations to develop a Continuous Improvement approach.
This new program has been designed to enable our suppliers to improve their understanding of the Fruit of the Loom Code of Conduct and local, national, and international law. Specifically, the focus of the Continuous Improvement Program is to identify root causes, develop management systems solutions, and manage implementation with the intended result of empowering managers and workers to take a proactive role in social compliance.
Suppliers’ participation in an improvement program is a strong demonstration of commitment and support toward social sustainability. A typical continuous improvement program involves an in-depth view of the supplier’s processes and management systems, to expose the origins of labor compliance problems and offer sustainable solutions.