ISTANBUL — October 23, 2024 — The Fair Labor Association (FLA) announced today that its board of directors has voted to award Fair Labor Accreditation to BELLA+CANVAS, a leader in contemporary fashion headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
The decision by the FLA board follows a rigorous, multi-year review of BELLA+CANVAS’ business systems for compliance with international labor standards designed to protect workers in its global supply chains. BELLA+CANVAS sources from eight self-operated facilities and two contract facilities across three countries.
“From the time they joined FLA, BELLA+CANVAS has been in the vanguard of responsible purchasing practices, with company leadership taking an active role in decisions that have an impact on workers,” said FLA President and CEO Jeff Vockrodt. “We welcome BELLA+CANVAS to the ranks of Fair Labor Accredited members and congratulate them on this significant achievement.”
“In my 25 years in the apparel industry, I have found it widely recognized that FLA is the penultimate North Star regarding fair labor policies, sustainability in manufacturing, and ethical business practices,” said BELLA+CANVAS President Norm Hullinger. “I am so proud to be a part of an organization that has earned Fair Labor Accreditation and look forward to working closely with the FLA team to create a path of continuous improvement for BELLA+CANVAS.”
Since becoming an FLA member in 2019, BELLA+CANVAS has continuously improved its social compliance program and kept pace with the changes to FLA standards enacted over the intervening years. The accreditation report details FLA’s evaluation of BELLA+CANVAS’ social compliance program through September 2024.
Highlights of BELLA+CANVAS’ Fair Labor Accreditation include:
- Company-wide commitment: BELLA+CANVAS’ commitment to ethical and sustainable business extends throughout the company, beginning with the company’s co-founders and owners, who remain involved with the key production decisions that impact workers’ lives. Company leadership is actively involved in upholding workplace standards for factory workers, receiving frequent updates from the compliance team and supporting their efforts. A cross-functional leadership team collaborates to ensure that both contract and owned production remains in line with BELLA+CANVAS’ commitment to responsible purchasing.
- Factory monitoring: BELLA+CANVAS has developed an extensive assessor manual and audit tool that are fully aligned with FLA’s expectations for high-quality factory assessments. BELLA+CANVAS works with a qualified audit service provider and has provided extensive training to assessors on gathering and verifying information at the factory level, including using highly effective worker interviews to gain insight into factory conditions. BELLA+CANVAS’ auditing procedures, assessor manual, and audit tool are all aligned to ensure that assessments meet the company’s needs without reducing the quality of the audits or placing undue burden on assessors and factories.
- Supplier relationships: With social compliance staff located close to key production centers in Central America, BELLA+CANVAS provides oversight and support to both contract and owned factories. Compliance staff pay frequent visits to factories to provide training, follow up on the remediation of audit findings, and understand factory management’s perspectives on compliance topics. BELLA+CANVAS’ sourcing and production leaders also emphasize in-person factory visits as a crucial element of the supplier relationship, and the company maintains stable and mutually beneficial brand-factory relationships that advance the principles of responsible sourcing.
Fair Labor Accreditation helps investors and consumers make informed choices by showing that a company is actively fulfilling the highest standards in labor rights.
It is the only comprehensive program of its kind that is based on international standards and frameworks such as the International Labour Organization, UN Guiding Principles, the OECD, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Fair Labor Accredited companies are evaluated on an ongoing basis and must demonstrate continuous improvement in addressing working conditions and protecting workers’ rights. To see a list of Fair Labor Accredited companies and to learn more, please visit www.fairlabor.org.
Posted: October 23, 2024
Source: The Fair Labor Association (FLA)
