Sustainability: Employment
The manufacture of clothing is fraught with employment issues. We aim to positively impact people through work and strive to avoid the potential for workers to be exploited in our supply chain. One of our core ambitions is to provide decent employment, this translates into the following minimum requirements:
- Employment freely chosen, No child labour, Working hours not excessive, Safe working environment, Social benefits, No discrimination, Freedom of Association
These are aligned with international standards (ILO) but our ambition is to go further. For example, ILO standards demand compliance with the local legal minimum wage, our ambition is to achieve living wages throughout our supply chain. Vaela is an accredited Living Wage employer, committed to ensuring that all employees aged 18 and over, including certain classes of contracted staff, are paid a Living Wage.
Our short term goals for 2023 are to,
- Be a Living Wage Employer
- Set goals for Living Wage in the supply chain
- Set goals for Decent Employment
- Increase the number of Living Wage Employers in our supply chain
- Report % Supply chain (by spend) are Living Wage employers
At the end of April 2023,
- We are a Living wage Employer with all four regular contractors paid more than the living wage for their location in the UK (London)
- Cotton fabrics used for Collection 001 garments and bag are GOTS certified organic, for which there are decent employment requirements
- We have Living Wage employers in our supply chain: Mailout (fulfilment), Elvis & Kresse (fire-hose belt) and Print.Work (Greetings cards and Postcards)
- The Candiani denim mill for 001 collection is certified SA 8000 for Social Accountability and ISO 45001 for Occupational Health and Safety of workers.
For more information on Employment, click here.