FLA board places Participating Supplier Hey Tekstil on special review

On July 24, 2012, the Fair Labor Association Board of Directors adopted a resolution to place Participating Supplier Hey Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (“Hey Tekstil”) on Special Review.

As outlined in the FLA Charter, an affiliated company may be placed on Special Review if it fails to achieve or maintain compliance with FLA labor standards, and a company’s affiliation status may be terminated if the company does not address the issues prompting Special Review status.

The Board vote comes following the permanent shutdown of six Hey Tekstil factories and suspending operations at a seventh.  Hey Tekstil employed about 4,000 workers when the company joined FLA as a Participating Supplier in September 2010.  When the shutdowns occurred, roughly in the first quarter of 2012, company-wide employment was under 2,000 workers. At the time of the retrenchment, 2,038 workers were owed 4.7 million euro in back wages and unpaid severance benefits they were due under Turkish law.

It is the expectation of the FLA Board that Hey Tekstil meet wage and severance obligations owed to all its workers. Hey Tekstil must make good faith efforts during the 90-day Special Review period to reopen the factory where operations have been suspended and eventually make full payment of wages and severance owed to workers.

A vote by the FLA Board of Directors to put a company on Special Review is the most severe sanction reserved for companies found to be failing to achieve or maintain compliance with FLA standards. View the Board resolution below. For details on the Special Review process, view the FLA Charter.