Fair Labor Association named a 2021 Classy Award winner

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) announced today its Living Wages for All program was named a 2021 Classy Award Winner for Social Innovation.

The award recognizes FLA’s living wage tools, comprised of a Wage Data Collection Toolkit and Fair Compensation Dashboard, that help businesses in the fashion industry use technology to calculate what workers are earning, illustrate the gap between actual and living wages, and measure progress over time.

“Every worker has the right to earn a living wage and the FLA’s living wage tools are a practical way to support companies that want to ensure factory workers are fairly compensated,” said FLA President & CEO Sharon Waxman. “We are excited that these tools have won a Classy Award for Social Innovation and we hope this award will help us spread the word about the importance of fair compensation for workers and raise awareness so more companies can participate.” 

The Leadership Council, a prestigious group of social sector leaders with representatives from organizations such as City of Hope, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Feeding America, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Oxfam America, Rockefeller Foundation, Skoll Foundation, and the UN Development Programme, determined the Social Innovation winners from among 1,400 nonprofits and social enterprises participating in the process this year.

“The Classy Awards began in 2009 to shine a spotlight on outstanding programs run by social impact organizations around the world,” said Pat Walsh, Classy co-founder. “Each and every day we are humbled by the hard work and tenacity of our nonprofit customers, and the Classy Awards serve as our way to honor the sector we serve. Congratulations to Fair Labor Association who joins a prestigious group of 2021 Classy Award winners who are embracing new ideas and solving today’s toughest challenges.”

Recently, the FLA published a report based on the organization’s living wage tools. The report, Reaching Living Wage for Garment Workers (pdf), documents significant increases in net wages – ranging from 29 percent to 57 percent over a three-year period – that allowed factory workers in China and Vietnam to earn a living wage without working overtime.

The FLA believes that every worker has a right to compensation for a regular workweek that is sufficient to meet the worker’s basic needs and provide some discretionary income. The organization’s efforts to forge a path toward living wages for workers in global supply chains are based on standards on Compensation and Hours of Work in the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct and its Fair Compensation Strategy.

To learn more about the FLA’s award-winning entry, visit the FLA Classy Awards profile or contact us to find out how your company can utilize the FLA living wage tools.  

About the Fair Labor Association

The Fair Labor Association promotes and protects workers’ rights and improves workplace conditions by facilitating collaboration among businesses, civil society organizations, and colleges and universities. The FLA, established in 1999, conducts independent monitoring to ensure that rigorous labor standards are upheld wherever its affiliates source their products by identifying the root causes of labor violations and proposing solutions to workplace problems.

About Classy

Classy is a B Corp Certified Public Benefit Corporation and giving experience platform that enables nonprofits to connect supporters with the causes they care about. Based in San Diego, CA, and trusted by thousands of nonprofits, Classy’s platform provides the formats and flexibility to activate donors by creating relevant connections to their causes. The Classy Awards is one of the largest awards ceremonies of its kind, recognizing excellence in social innovation.

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