What’s the issue?

We sell thousands of different products which come to us from all around the world and which are created by many different people along the way. These supply chains are complex, with products or components often being manufactured in countries where laws designed to protect workers’ rights are not sufficient or adequately enforced. We believe that all workers have the right to a safe and healthy work environment, and that taking care of employees is better for people, and the businesses they work for.

What are we doing?

We already have a well-established ethical sourcing program which all suppliers of goods and services are required to comply with. This program is designed to protect and uphold workers’ rights and reassure our customers that we source our products ethically. This year we reviewed 489 independent ethical sourcing audits and worked with suppliers to resolve 33 critical breaches.

We know that relying on audits alone does not necessarily provide the full picture of working conditions and employee concerns, which is why we have complemented our risk-based, audit-centric approach with an outcome-focused program aimed at improving worker wellbeing and engagement within our direct supply chain.

This year, we reviewed results from worker voice surveys we arranged to enable employee voices to be better heard and more often. This involved 949 workers at six factories completing surveys to share their concerns. Through this process, we identified issues such as deficient internal grievance channels, poor relationships with supervisors, workers not understanding their pay and workers wanting to work less or more hours. Using this information, we were then able to work with the management teams so that they could take appropriate action and embed positive change. In many cases this involved additional training or investing in new machinery to reduce excessive working hours.

Following our initial surveys, and the initiatives implemented, we conducted follow up surveys and were really pleased to see an improvement in worker satisfaction of 18 per cent. Through this program, this year we have enabled positive change for the 1,876 workers that work at the six factories involved in these surveys.

Focus for FY2022

As this program continues to evolve, we will work closely with our suppliers to focus not only on identifying risks – but creating real, positive impacts on workers' lives. We will share the insights we have gained with more suppliers and encourage them to take more action based on their workers feedback, ultimately to provide better conditions for workers and better outcomes for their business.

Learn more about another 2025 commitment