Hallmark: Fair Wear Foundation

What is Fair Wear Foundation? The Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) is a non-profit organization that works with clothing brands and other partners to improve working conditions for people working in garment factories. The label is not given to a single product or supplier, but to a clothing brand as a whole, looking at all production facilities in the chain.

The Fair Wear Foundation requires European member clothing brands to take new steps toward better working conditions every year.

The Fair Wear Foundation is not a certification, but a membership that requires a brand to meet an internationally recognized code of conduct. A clothing brand does not have to meet all the conditions at once, as the organization recognizes that this is virtually impossible in today's clothing industry. However, it is a requirement that the clothing brand continues to improve and at least 90% of their suppliers are under the control of the FWF. This is checked annually.

Fair production

When a clothing brand wants to become a member of the Fair Wear Foundation, it is checked for compliance with the code of conduct, which is based on the guidelines of the International Labor Organization (ILO). This code of conduct contains 8 internationally recognized labor standards, which must be implemented step by step in the factories.

The 8 internationally recognized labor standards are:

• There is no forced or prison labor.
• All workers have the right to form unions and bargain collectively.
• No discrimination at work when it comes to hiring, promotions, training, pension plans, etc.
• No child labor, which means no children under the age of 15, or younger than the minimum working age if it is higher than 15. People under 18 may not do dangerous work and must comply with compulsory education if there is one.
• A living wage must be paid for a standard work week. No money should be withheld from wages as punishment.
• There are "normal" working hours, meaning no more than 48 hours per week, one day off every seven days, and no more than 12 hours of overtime. Overtime should not be too frequent and workers should receive higher pay for it.
• Clean and safe working conditions, which means that corporal punishment, unusual punishment, sexual and other harassment by the employer is prohibited.
• There is a legally binding employment contract.

It is important to note that a clothing brand does not have to comply with all labor standards, but does have to comply with some of them and always keep improving. Clothing brands may only use the Fair Wear logo on their website if they have achieved a leader status , which equals good working conditions.

Check

The Fair Wear Foundation conducts a comprehensive audit every year to ensure that brands that bear its logo are actually complying. Garment brands must be able to demonstrate during the Performance Check that they have made significant steps towards better working conditions over the past year. If there are areas for improvement, a plan for improvement is made with the brand. In addition, Fair Wear also conducts extensive audits at headquarters and in the factories themselves.

Fair Wear is very transparent about these audits, and the reports of member brands are made public. These list all the points on which the brand scores well or badly, the reason for the score, and Fair Wear's advice for improving that point. All 129 member brands, including ARMEDANGELS, are listed with detailed information on the website of the Fair Wear Foundation.