Safe and Fair Workplaces

We are committed to creating safe and fair workplaces and work closely with our suppliers, industry peers and external partners to achieve this. We focus our initiatives on three pillars - Safety, Health and Wellbeing, Ending Modern Slavery, and Inclusion and Diversity.

Commitment to Human Rights

We uphold the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and use these principles to shape our policies and processes. We have zero-tolerance policies on modern slavery and human trafficking in our businesses and for the supply chain. We advance human rights in our supply chain through initiatives supporting social dialogue, gender equality, ending modern slavery and child labor, worker wellbeing and fair wages. We also acknowledge our responsibility to maintain a respectful workplace that is free of all forms of discrimination or harassment. You can follow these links to read our  anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy and Li & Fung’s  Disclosure Statement on Modern Slavery.

Supplier Code Of Conduct

Our companies have established Supplier Codes of Conduct that outline minimum standards for human and labor rights, safety, environment and security, as well as transparency and ethics. We ensure alignment with ILO’s Core Conventions, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, the UK Modern Slavery Act and local laws. All suppliers must accept these minimum standards as a condition of doing business with us.

You can learn more about the specific Supplier Codes of Conduct adopted by our companies on their websites:  Li & Fung and  Convenience Retail Asia.

Highlights of our activities include:

EMPOWERING AND EDUCATING WORKERS

We are longtime supporters of creating opportunities for factory workers to educate themselves to improve their wellbeing and professional prospects. Through the HERProject, we trained over 175,000 workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.  We also created the WorkerApp offering a range of educational materials and an effective way to train and engage workers.  Our aim is to improve productivity and collaboration while supporting workers to gain skills for the digital economy.

ENDING MODERN SLAVERY

In addition to compliance and remediation processes to address all forms of forced labor, we signed the American Apparel & Footwear Association and Fair Labor Association Pledge on Responsible Recruitment. We also developed a  new e-learning tool for suppliers, focusing on protecting migrant workers and selecting and monitoring recruitment agencies. We continue to partner with the Ethical Trading Initiative and Mekong Club to use digital technology to train workers on their rights.

SOCIAL DIALOGUE 2.0

Li & Fung partners with Just Solutions Network, a UK-based organization focused on strengthening worker and factory management relationships in Bangladesh through constructive dialogue. The project has shown a reduction in employee turnover, decline in absenteeism and improvement in efficiency.

OPEN LEARNING ON HEALTH, SAFETY AND SUSTAINABILITY

As part of our commitment to making life better and supporting working conditions that meet human and labor rights standards,  our Sustainability Resource Centre – provides useful information for factory workers and managers on fire safety and excellence in manufacturing, among others.

INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY

In 2017, Li & Fung launched its Inclusion and Diversity initiative to reinforce our culture of respect for all individuals and of valuing our differences and similarities. We aim to educate and raise awareness, creating a collaborative working and learning environment. As a global business, it’s critical to understand, embrace and operate in a multicultural world.