Social Compliance

We value the well-being of all internal and external staff related to our business and recognize that their fair treatment is critical to the success of the company. We strive to provide an inclusive and motivating work environment which fosters the dignity and rights of all individuals, while encouraging their development through training opportunities.

 We work to always bein observance of human rights and labor laws regarding the environment, health and safety in all countries in which we operate, while banning both child labor and forced labor.

 Our business partners must:

 1)    Prevent discrimination in employment in any form; this includes situations regarding hiring, compensation, advancement, discipline, termination and retirement, whether on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, political opinion, social class or ethnic origin.

 We work to ensure that all practices are based solely on a person’s ability to perform the job effectively, in compliance with law regarding designated categories of employees.

 Methods for voicing grievances regarding discrimination include a statement that no employee will be punished or retaliated against for reporting discriminatory treatment or behavior.

 2)    Reject forced labor, whether in the form of prison labor, indentured labor, bonded labor or otherwise. Mental and physical coercion, slavery and human trafficking are prohibited throughout our supply chain. 

 Overtime imposed through threat of punishment, penalty or force will not be tolerated.

 3)    Recognize the right of their employees to pursue freedom of association and collective bargaining to join organizations of their choice. Employees should not be subjected to intimidation or harassment in the exercise of their right to join or to refrain from joining any organization.

 4)    Provide a safe and healthy workplace designed and maintained to prevent accidents, illness and injury attributable to the work performed or the operation of the facility and machinery in doing so. Our business partners must provide all required and appropriate workers compensation coverage in the event of injury or fatality.

 5)    Compensate every worker at least the minimum wage or the appropriate prevailing wage, which ever is higher, in compliance with all legal requirements on wages, along with any fringe benefits required by law or contract.

 6)     Provide full supply chain transparency. Prior written consent from Loeffler Randall must be provided for materials or any other portion of the product that is vendor sourced or subcontracted. Any subcontracted suppliers will be required to follow the same standards of procedure as our direct vendor partners.

We realize our responsibility to track water, energy and chemical consumption to establish a baseline for improvement and to create and implement efficiency programs in collaboration with manufacturers.

 Our business partners are required to comply with all applicable environmental laws, rules and regulations at their facilities and in the communities in which they operate, especially in relation to water, energy, hazardous chemicals, air quality and waste.

 To ensure this, we partner with SgT to assess our vendors for environmentally responsible practices in relation to all their activities in business with us, including but not limited to the following items which we ask factories to provide:

 -       A formal environmental policy visible to and understood by employees.

-       A designated team of employees responsible for the facility’s environmental management, waste management and chemical management.

-       Records tracking annual consumption from all relevant sources of energy.

-       Records tracking annual water consumption from all water sources, as well as the volume of industrial waste water generated and discharged.

-       Inventory records of air emissions.

-       Monthly inventory of hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated.

-       Inventory of all chemicals used and purchased at the facility.

-       Material safety datasheets (MSDS) and training for all relevant chemicals.

-       Procurement plan for selecting and purchasing chemicals.

-       Spill kit and emergency response plans.

-       Chemical hazard signage and safety handling devices.

-       Chemical storage area in compliance with all requirements, including personal protective equipment(PPE), proper ventilation and proper containers, secondary containers and labels.

-       Training for all workers on the importance of using PPE’s.

 In addition, we ask that finished goods are restricting or banning chemicals and substances as defined in the Restricted Substance List (RSL) published by the American Apparel & Footwear Association’s (AAFA’s) Environmental Task Force.

 Finally, we expect our vendors’ and suppliers’ practices to conform to the Five Freedoms of animal welfare.

 We believe that all animals should have the right to:

-       Access to fresh water and food (Freedom from hunger and thirst)

-       Access to a suitable environment with shelter and area to rest (Freedom from discomfort)

-       Access to preventative measures to protect themselves from injury or disease, and access to diagnosis and treatment should they become sick (Freedom from pain, injury or disease)

-       Access to animals of their own kind and proper facilities (Freedom to express normal behavior)

-       Access to conditions and treatment which deter any mental suffering (Freedom from fear and distress)

Craft and creativity is at the heart of all we do, and is what moves us forward; it is integral in driving sustainable solutions. We celebrate global workforce inclusivity and preservation of cultural traditions around the world.

Production, including home-based and piece rate production, must be tracked and completed within cumulative hours of work that are in full compliance with all local laws and regulations, with an appreciation for the ebbs and flows of both a worker’s demand for work and the irregularity of the production calendar.

The compliance policies must be communicated to all handworkers in a manner that is intended to provide them with an understanding of their rights, in the local language, and with provisions for illiteracy. Production records must be kept documenting the accurate production of piece rate workers. Records from production elements must clearly demonstrate the businesses’ operations, employment, subcontractor processes.

Handworker businesses must demonstrate commitment to transparency by keeping accurate and up-to-date records of their policies, operations, wages, and production site locations. Handworker production elements must comply with all statutory requirements—including legal status when required. These records must be kept onsite and, to the greatest extent possible, these records and policies should exist in digital format.

Children under lawful age of employment, consistent with ILO guidelines, should never participate in production. While Loeffler Randall recognizes and appreciates that the home is a place where parents may pass down craft skills to preserve endangered cultural traditions, children below the statutory minimum age must not participate in production.

Workers must be paid in a timely manner and are aware of the pay system and process for receiving wage payments.

Workers must be paid the equivalent of or above the statutory minimum wage relative to the amount of labor contributed for all production. Wages for production should constitute a living wage and homeworker businesses should work toward such wage levels. Guidelines for deductions and higher-rate overtime wages must be clearly defined and stated to the workers.

Businesses should utilize a system of incentives to promote meeting quality criteria, as opposed to penalizing with deductions or non-payment for substandard product. However, if deductions for quality are taken, then quality expectations must be standardized and clearly communicated to workers prior to the acceptance of a production order. If wage advances are provided to workers, they are properly documented.

When applicable, workers must be provided all statutory benefits. Workers should have access to benefits, helping them to best provide for themselves and their families.

Production site—whether a small workshop or home-based site—must be a clean and safe working environment in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Vendor businesses must take a proactive approach to caring for the physical and mental health, and safety, of the people who work within the business or its subcontractors. The same care and consideration must be extended by retailers and brand employers when working with sole proprietorship homeworker businesses.

Workers must be educated on the importance of safety; trained on proper procedures for machinery and chemical use when warranted; and have access to Personal Protective Equipment, safe machinery, sanitation, and emergency procedures. Nest understands that larger structural or physical workshop alterations are costly and will take time to resolve but are sometimes critical to ensuring the safety and health of workers.