We are committed to Human Rights and Responsible Sourcing
HanesBrands’ commitment to our guiding principles means that we only do business with suppliers who also abide by the highest standards of ethical business behaviour.
Reviewed and updated annually, our Global Standards for Suppliers (GSS) call for all our suppliers to conduct themselves with honesty and integrity and to fully comply with the law and HanesBrands policies. Our GSS applies to all facilities involved in the production of HanesBrands products anywhere in the world including our owned facilities.
All finished goods facilities must undergo a GSS assessment before production begins. It is then followed up with ongoing annual assessments. To ensure accuracy and integrity, the initial and annual assessments are conducted by third-party auditors who measure the facilities’ performance using a detailed, scored set of more than 225 questions across five key areas:
1. Management Practices
2. Health, Safety & Social
3. Responsible Labour
4. Environmental Practices
5. Security
Based on their audit score, we grade and rank our suppliers into four categories. The lowest-scoring facilities are placed on our Alarm List for flagged issues that need immediate action. We have a zero-tolerance policy against issues such as child labour, forced labour, wage violations, serious health and safety violations (especially fire safety), sexual or physical harassment or abuse, rejection of an audit, unauthorized subcontracting and attempted bribery of an auditor. These may lead to us immediately terminating our business relationship.
Embedded within the HanesBrands group regional operations is a dedicated team of internal compliance staff who ensure strong oversight of the GSS program and the corrective action process. Our HBI Compliance team visits facilities on an unannounced basis to confirm adherence to corrective action requirements. To support the entire GSS process, we use a centralised software tool, our Global Vendor Management System (GVMS), which tracks and manages all supplier audit data and the corrective action process.
Many stakeholders are interested in our position on wages – in particular on whether we support a “living wage.” In short, we believe in fairly compensating our workforce so that they live in households that more than meet their basic needs – and have discretionary income.
Further information on our global responsible sourcing program can be found as follows:
• Detailed audit scorecard
• Global Standards for Suppliers performance data
• Our position on living wages
• Our Global Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) survey responses
• Our Hanes Australasia Modern Slavery Statement
• Disclosure of the locations of our owned facilities and finished goods suppliers here