Global Labor Practices
Eddie Bauer is committed to providing customers with the highest quality and value in our products. We believe this commitment is best met through strong relationships with our associates and by selecting business partners who share our commitment to ethical practices and agree to our standards of business conduct.
While we do not own or manage any factories, we do have a comprehensive Global Labor Practices Program to monitor for compliance and encourage best practices in all facilities that are producing for us. This program began in 1995 with the establishment of Eddie Bauer's Standards for Business Partnerships. Our current supplier code of conduct (below) includes standards in the areas of forced and child labor, harassment and abuse, discrimination, health and safety, freedom of association and collective bargaining, wages and benefits, hours of work, overtime compensation, and the environment. All of our vendors must agree to comply with these standards in writing before we will do business with them.
Our code is enforced in numerous ways: corporate education, vendor training and certification, announced and surprise factory audits, worker interviews, corrective action plans for any identified violations, termination for serious/repeated noncompliances, outreach to civil society groups knowledgeable about local working conditions, risk assessments, benchmarking with other companies to adopt best practices, and active participation in Business for Social Responsibility (www.bsr.org).
In addition, we are a participating company in the Fair Labor Association (FLA) with an Accredited Compliance Program. FLA is a collaboration of leading apparel and footwear companies, human rights and consumer groups, and colleges and universities dedicated to improving working conditions in factories around the world. Eddie Bauer's FLA participation includes the use of independent external auditors conducting unannounced factory audits and extensive third-party analysis of our compliance activities. FLA also provides the public with independent assessments of its participating companies, including Eddie Bauer. Click below to read more:
| Title | Date | Type | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLA Statement on Accrediation of Eddie Bauer's Compliance Program | May 12, 2005 |
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90.6 KB |
| Background on FLA Accreditation | May 12, 2005 |
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37.4 KB |
| Fair Labor Association Second Public Report |
|
N/A | |
| Fair Labor Association First Public Report |
|
1.4 MB |
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Eddie Bauer's Factory Workplace Code of Conduct
Eddie Bauer is committed to providing customers with the highest quality and value in our products. We believe this commitment is met in part through strong relationships with our associates and by selecting business partners who share our commitment to ethical practices and agree to our standards of business conduct. The following conditions are required for factories producing our products:
Forced Labor: There shall not be any use of forced labor, whether in the form of prison labor, indentured labor, bonded labor or otherwise.
Child Labor: No person shall be employed at an age younger than 15 (or 14 where the law of the country of manufacture allows) or younger than the age for completing compulsory education in the country of manufacture where such age is higher than 15.
Harassment or Abuse: Every employee shall be treated with respect and dignity. No employee shall be subject to any physical, sexual, psychological or verbal harassment or abuse.
Nondiscrimination: No person shall be subject to any discrimination in employment, including hiring, salary, benefits, advancement, discipline, termination or retirement, on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, political opinion, or social or ethnic origin.
Health and Safety: Employers shall provide a safe and healthy working environment to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, linked with, or occurring in the course of work or as a result of the operation of employer facilities.
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining: Employers shall recognize and respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Wages and Benefits: Employers recognize that wages are essential to meeting employees basic needs. Employers shall pay employees, as a floor, at least the minimum wage required by local law or the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher, and shall provide legally mandated benefits.
Hours of Work: Except in extraordinary business circumstances, employees shall (i) not be required to work more than the lesser of (a) 48 hours per week and 12 hours overtime or (b) the limits on regular and overtime hours allowed by the law of the country of manufacture or, where the laws of such country do not limit the hours of work, the regular work week in such country plus 12 hours overtime and (ii) be entitled to at least one day off in every seven day period.
Overtime Compensation: In addition to their compensation for regular hours of work, employees shall be compensated for overtime hours at such premium rate as is legally required in the country of manufacture or, in those countries where such laws do not exist, at a rate at least equal to their regular hourly compensation rate.
Environmental Standards: Business partners shall comply with the environmental laws and regulations of the local region or country in which they operate
Compliance with applicable local laws and with this Code are conditions for becoming, and remaining, a business partner of Eddie Bauer and will be agreed to, in writing, as a term of engagement. Eddie Bauer will take appropriate action, including termination of our relationship, with any business partner in violation of our standards.
To facilitate effective monitoring and enforcement, our business partners are expected to provide full access to their production facilities and to relevant records relating to employment practices. We will undertake affirmative measures, such as unannounced, on-site inspections of facilities, to implement and monitor these standards.
