Social responsibility

Quality, social standards and sustainability are the law for us - regardless of what the legislation around the globe says. Together with our suppliers, we are committed to the objectives and requirements set down by amfori, as our standards are set according to these principles. As a result, we shoulder our social responsibility concerning fair entrepreneurship, transparency, reporting and information. We carry out audits in the countries of our producers and suppliers in line with the amfori qualification and auditing programme.

If suppliers do not initially meet all the requirements, we provide them with active support and guidance to improve working conditions. Furthermore, we ensure continued adherence to amfori requirements through in-house and independent inspectors and their auditing procedures. These include: TÜV Rheinland Group, TÜV Nord/Süd Group, SGS, Bureau Veritas, ELEVATE, Intertek, UL VS Limited - Responsible Sourcing, ABS Quality Evaluation and ALGI.

amfori's aims and requirements include, amongst others: 

• Improving social standards in supplier countries
• Observing all valid national laws, industrial minimum standards, ILO and UN conventions as well as all other relevant legal provisions 
• Prohibiting child labour
• Prohibiting forced labour and disciplinary measures, such as the confiscation of passports or physical punishment
• Allowing the freedom of association and right to collective bargaining – otherwise facilitating parallel means of independent and free organisation
• Eliminating discrimination in employment, remuneration, access to training, promotion, termination of employment or retirement
• Payment of the statutory minimum wage for regular working hours, overtime hours and overtime differentials or payment of reasonable remuneration if the statutory minimum wage does not cover living expenses

• Compliance with guidelines for working hours 
• Guaranteeing health and safety in the workplace
• Compliance with legal minimum requirements in relation to environmental and safety issues
• Providing a management system to ensure compliance with the amfori requirements

For a complete overview of the amfori requirements and objectives and the more than 2,000 member companies, please visit www.amfori.org

We support extensive measures and carry out checks on our suppliers, for example in the areas of building safety, fire protection and electrical safety. This allows us to focus our attention on the health and safety of those working there.

In the textile sector, we are also currently joining the DETOX Initiative, which is committed to manufacturing non-toxic textiles by 2020. In manufacturing countries, the goal is to reduce the amount of toxic substances in wastewater to such a degree that the water flowing from factories is of drinking water quality.