The fashion industry is often associated with problems such as precarious employment contracts and worker exploitation and this is exactly why we pay such close attention to the transparency and social responsibility of all players making up our supply chain. In this section, the topics covered during the audits will be explored, examining aspects such as forced labour, immigrant workers, working conditions and the presence of dormitories, sub-supplies, interviews and documents required.

 

Forced labour:

We believe that forced labour is an essential topic and must not be tolerated at any time and under any circumstances; indeed, this is why we strive constantly to combat it in all phases of our supply chain. During audits, the auditors check that our suppliers do not employ any workers who have not chosen freely to work or who have been forced to do so against their will.

To guarantee this, we ask suppliers for a series of documents and information, including:

1. Contracts of employment: we ask for a copy of the contract of employment of a sample of workers employed by the suppliers. This document must specify the working conditions, salary, services, hours of work envisaged and any breaks.  We also check that each employee has received a copy of its contract of employment at the time of stipulation.

2. Employee registers: we ask to view the registers of employees that contain the data of each worker hired by the suppliers, including personal data, data relating to their hire and data on the work carried out.

3. Company policies: we ask for a copy of the company policies governing workers’ rights, safety and conditions. These documents should explain how the company addresses these matters and what measures it takes to guarantee respect of workers’ rights.

4. Monitoring systems: we ask to examine the monitoring systems adopted by suppliers to identify and prevent any situations of forced labour.

 

Immigrant workers:

Oniverse undertakes to guarantee that the rights of immigrant workers are respected and there are no language barriers that can lead to a misinformation of the immigrant workers. The auditors verify if immigrant workers have access to the same working conditions as other employees and if they are informed of their rights and employment laws. We also make sure that there is no discrimination based on worker nationality or origin.

 

Working conditions and dormitories:

Working conditions and the presence of dormitories are equally important topics for our company. The auditors check to see if our suppliers provide safe, healthy workplaces, respecting rules of health and safety at work. The presence of dormitories and other housing supplied to workers is also verified and whether or not these are compliant with local standards and guarantee the necessary hygiene and safety to ensure comfortable living arrangements for the employee.

 

Subcontracting:

The topic of sub-supply is stressed during audits insofar as, at times, the companies use secondary suppliers for production, who may be unknown or difficult to monitor. Our policy envisages that suppliers shall be responsible for the respect of all principles accepted in the Oniverse Code of Conduct by their sub-suppliers too.

 

Interviews:

The auditors hold interviews with workers to verify their working conditions and identify any problems not highlighted by the previous document control. All interviews take place within the scope of the production site, without the workers' direct supervisors. Questions may regard safety at work, salary, overtime pay conditions, working hours, the possibility of trade union representations and breaks given. The auditors also interview trade union representatives and the company management to better understand the policies and procedures in place.

 

Upon completion of the audit, a report is issued highlighting all non-conformities found during the inspection. Depending on the severity of the default and the danger for workers and the environment, a deadline is set by which to solve the problem.  If the supplier should fail to collaborate with the requests made, Oniverse reserves the right to review its commercial relations with the supplier.