In early 2015, at the request of affiliated companies Outerstuff and College Kids, the FLA engaged labor rights expert Katya Castillo to conduct a special investigation of the labor rights situation at the Style Avenue factory in El Salvador.
Previously, in 2011, the FLA had conducted a similar investigation at Style Avenue, and in mid-2012, the FLA engaged a third-party monitoring organization to verify the implementation of the remediation plan established the year before. Â The issues that required further attention were addressed through a new remediation plan (available here). Â Â
The new verification exercise found improvement in the establishment of regular work-week hours and holidays consistent with the Labor Code in El Salvador but found incomplete remediation actions related to freedom of association, policies, and procedures governing instances of harassment or abuse, high temperatures inside the factory, payment of workers’ benefits, accommodations for pregnant workers, and other issues. Further information on each finding appears below in both the full investigation report and the summary reports. Outerstuff and College Kids have worked closely with Style Avenue to develop a new remediation plan to address each of the most current findings.