Umbro Suppliers Code of Conduct
WORKING CONDITIONS

1. Employers will provide safe working conditions for all employees and will not subject them to dangerous working practices. Where local industry standards are higher than the legal requirements then these should apply.

2. Employers shall not employ forced, bonded or prison labour in their operations.

Workers are not required to lodge “deposits” or their identity papers with their employer and are free to leave their employer after reasonable notice.

3. Employers should recruit, train and promote employees on equal terms on the basis of their ability to do their job.

4. Accommodation, where provided, shall be clean, safe and meet the basic needs of the workers.

5. There is no discrimination in hiring, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on race, caste, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, union membership or political affiliation.

6. Physical abuse or discipline, the threat of physical abuse, sexual or other harassment and verbal abuse or other forms of intimidation shall be prohibited.

7. Employers will respect the right of employees to join and organise associations of their own choosing. Employers adopt an open attitude towards the activities of trade unions and their organisational activities.

Workers representatives are not discriminated against and have access to carry out their representative functions in the workplace.

8. Employees will be paid at least the minimum legal wage or a wage that is consistent with local industry standards, whichever is the greater. In any event wages should always be enough to meet basic needs and to provide some discretionary income.

9. Wages will be paid directly to the employee. Information relating to wages will be available in an understandable form.

Deductions from wages as a disciplinary measure shall not be permitted nor shall any deductions from wages not provided for by national law be permitted without the expressed permission of the worker concerned. All disciplinary measures should be recorded.

10. Working hours comply with national laws and benchmark industry standards, whichever affords greater protection.

In any event, workers shall not on a regular basis be required to work in excess of 48 hours per week and shall be provided with at least one day off for every 7 day period on average.

Overtime shall be voluntary, shall not exceed 12 hours per week, shall not be demanded on a regular basis and shall always be compensated at a premium rate.

11. Children below the age of 15 (or 14 in countries with insufficiently developed economies and education facilities) will not be employed.

12. Children and young persons under 18 shall not be employed at night or in hazardous conditions.

13. There shall be no new recruitment of child labour.

Employers shall develop or participate in and contribute to policies and programmes which provide for the transition of any child found to be performing child labour to enable her or him to attend and remain in quality education until no longer a child; “child” and “child labour” being defined in Appendix A.

14. Lighting, heating and ventilation systems should be adequate in the working environment, and clean sanitary facilities should be available at all times.

15. Obligations to employees under labour or social security laws and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship shall not be avoided through the use of labour-only contracting, sub-contracting, or home-working arrangements, or through apprenticeship schemes where there is no real intent to impart skills or provide regular employment, nor shall any such obligations be avoided through the excessive use of fixed-term contracts of employment.

Appendix A: Definitions

Child: Any person less than 15 years of age unless local minimum age law stipulates a higher age for work or mandatory schooling, in which case the higher age shall apply. If however, local minimum age law is set at 14 years of age in accordance with developing country expectations under ILO Convention No. 138, the lower will apply.

Young Person: Any worker over the age of a child as defined above and under the age of 18.

Child Labour: Any work by a child younger that the age(s) specified in the above definition of a child, except as provided by the relevant ILO standards, and any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

16. The company will comply with all relevant laws and regulations regarding the protection and preservation of the environment.

17. The company will carefully monitor discharges and waste which could pollute the local environment, including the prohibition on the use of chloro-fluro carbons (CFCs). The release of which could contribute to the depletion of the earth’s ozone layer.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

18. Employers will recognise the economic and social impact of their work and be committed to improving conditions in the wider community.

SUPPLIERS

19. The company will endeavour to ensure that their suppliers follow the standards of the supplier code of conduct.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

20. The companies will comply with any international directives concerning such as but not limiting to Azo Dyes, Nickel etc.

21. The Company guarantees that all the products manufactured will meet UMBRO specifications and be free from any defect that is likely to cause harm to the consumer such as but not limiting to needles, tacks etc.

COMPLIANCE

22. The Company should take steps to ensure compliance with these standards in their own operations and those who supply them

23. The Company should consider requiring suppliers to provide legally binding contractual assurances of their compliance with these standards and develop mechanisms to monitor their own performance and that of their suppliers.

UMBRO Corporate Responsibility
 

UMBRO recognises that its business activities have an impact on people and the environment in which it operates. We have a responsibility for the social, ethical and environmental impact of our activities and are committed to measuring, monitoring and improving standards as an integral part of our core business activities.

UMBRO products are manufactured in factories that are owned and operated by other companies. We take these companies’ compliance with our values seriously, and have a rigorous code of conduct to ensure that all UMBRO manufactures comply with strict standards of working conditions. All manufacturers are required to demonstrate compliance with the code before being authorised to manufacture UMBRO product for UMBRO and its international licensees. Compliance is then monitored on an on-going basis through announced and unannounced visits. In the event of a breach, UMBRO’s policy is to work with the manufacturer to resolve the issue. However, UMBRO stands ready to terminate manufacturer contracts in the event of a serious breach and sustained non-compliance.

All UMBRO supplier factories are authorised by UMBRO centrally. Suppliers are required to sign a Manufacturer Authorisation Agreement (“MAA”), which sets out the terms of their appointment, including the code of conduct. UMBRO keeps a central database of factories listing details of latest visit records, agreed improvement plans and any breaches of the code.

UMBRO and its licensees have dedicated expert resource who are responsible for implementing a programme of announced and unannounced visits to all suppliers to monitor compliance with the code of conduct and review progress. Together with our international licensees, UMBRO continually reviews how we monitor ethical compliance throughout our business and supply chain.