What We Do
The FLA brings together colleges and universities, civil society organizations, and socially responsible companies in a unique multi-stakeholder initiative to end sweatshop labor and improve working conditions in factories worldwide. The FLA holds its participants – those involved in the manufacturing and marketing process – accountable to the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct. At its core, the FLA is built on four pillars:
Collaborative Action
The FLA’s broad makeup provides a unique power and effectiveness to improve the situation of workers in factories across the globe. In all of its programs and initiatives, the FLA leverages the strength of its diverse membership to effect positive change in working conditions. The FLA’s project work involves governments, labor and human rights groups, other NGOs, and local trade unions.
Monitoring, Transparency, and Public Reporting
Companies that join the FLA commit to establishing internal systems for monitoring workplace conditions and maintaining Code standards, being part of a rigorous system of Independent External Monitoring (IEM), and public reporting on the conditions in their supplier factories. To ensure transparency, the results of the IEM audits are published on the FLA Web site in the form of tracking charts. Since 2003, the FLA has conducted over 800 IEM audits in factories around the world used by affiliated companies. The FLA is the only labor rights initiative to publish the results of its systematic monitoring efforts. The FLA accredits independent third-party monitors and engages them to conduct unannounced audits annually of a group of randomly selected factories that supply products to FLA-affiliated brands and universities. The FLA also publishes an Annual Public Report that provides a comprehensive overview of IEM data and offers insight into global labor rights trends.
Ensuring Remediation
The FLA requires that companies work with the factories to ensure that violations of the Code are corrected through the development and implementation of a remediation plan. The FLA reports on remediation efforts through the tracking charts. In addition, the FLA conducts verification audits to confirm ongoing progress in a sample of audited factories.
Third Party Complaints
The FLA also responds to workplace labor violations through its Third Party Complaint mechanism. Anyone – a worker, advocate, company, or individual – can contact the Fair Labor Association to report Code violations at a factory supplying products to an affiliated company. Complaints are kept confidential and rigorously investigated. When violations are found, the Fair Labor Association publicly on reports them and works with all stakeholders to find sustainable solutions.
A Strategy for Innovation in Labor Compliance
The FLA applies its understanding of regional and global trends in labor rights and compliance to develop lasting solutions. The FLA brings workers, factory managers, companies, and NGOs together to develop sustainable change founded in respect for workers’ rights. The FLA uses knowledge gained through monitoring to develop special projects that target persistent regional or sector-specific Code violations. For example, the Central America Project was developed in response to repeated IEM findings related to violations of the discrimination, harassment and abuse, and freedom of association Code elements. Through the project, the FLA has trained brands, factory managers, and workers throughout the region on the best industrial relations practices on non-discrimination in recruitment, hiring, grievance procedures, and termination.
The FLA recognizes that monitoring alone cannot create lasting Code compliance. An approach that comprises more than simply exposing and correcting violations is required for sustained protection of worker rights. In 2005, the FLA launched FLA 3.0 [link to FLA 3.0 intro page], a new labor compliance methodology designed to create sustainable compliance at the factory level. FLA 3.0 gives factories the tools they need to assess their compliance capacity, fill compliance gaps and address root causes of noncompliance, and report on ongoing progress. FLA 3.0 goes beyond monitoring to allow factories to manage labor compliance on a self-sustaining basis.
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