LS&Co. Unzipped

Ken Beebe (not verified) - Nov 13 2011
Thank you for your detailed response to my posting. Thanks for pointing out my error in the reading of the Terms of Engagement, where I apparently got the number of allowable weeks of work over 60 hours backwards. Your explanations are helpful. I appreciate all you at Levi's are trying to do to ensure that those who make our jeans are well-treated and paid fairly. I will enjoy investigating the links you mention.

Ken Beebe (not verified) - Nov 02 2011

I applaud Levi's efforts to care for its workers worldwide. And I'm impressed by the many ways that Levi's undertakes these efforts. I came to the levistrauss.com website for the first time today to see if Levi's and Dockers are producing apparel that is fair to its factory workers. In general, I am extremely impressed. In fact, I was amazed to see online the "Terms of Engagement" adopted by Levi's in its Social & Environmental Sustainability Guidebook, providing the details of Levi's expectations for its factories. However, I've found myself really disappointed and discouraged about a portion of that Guidebook, most specifically the allowable work hours of employees. Factory workers producing Levi's can regularly be asked to work 60 hour workweeks (which in itself seems really high), but then there is a HUGE loophole to that requirement - where factories only have to maintain the 60-hour worker maximum for eight weeks each year. In other words, if I'm reading it correctly, there is no maximum number of work hours per week for the other 44 weeks of the year. Similarly, employees must be allowed one day off each week, but if they "volunteer" to work on their day off, that's ok. This seems a system ripe for coercion by factory managers. And one final frustration is the wage requirement. Again, if I'm reading correctly, factories have to comply with their local minimum wage laws, but nothing beyond that. Therefore, in countries which legally allow "sweatshop" wages, Levi's isn't setting a higher standard of ethics. It's therefore disappointing to me to see Levi's get so close to being socially-responsible in the treatment of its workers, but falling short. The mechanism is there for a wonderful "fair trade" system. I hope that in the years ahead, future editions of the Terms of Engagement might be tightened up to truly ensure fair working conditions for Levi's employees. I love my Levi's and Dockers, and would be willing to pay extra for them. I would absolutely love to see a "Fair Trade" label on your apparel. I think there are millions out there who would join me in purchasing them. Thanks for letting me share my hopes and concerns.

Editor's note (Updated): Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Ken. In 1991,we were the first company to establish a code of conduct for our suppliers, which we refer to as our Terms of Engagement.  Many of our requirements are based on internationally accepted conventions established by the United Nations’ International Labor Organization. Among those are our standards related to work hours and rest days. If you’d like to read more about these standards, this link will provide you with additional information. 

In accordance with ILO standards, our Terms of Engagement work week maximum is 60 hours. Due to the realities of fluctuating business needs, we do allow factories to exceed that maximum eight weeks out of the year. Our Social & Environmental (SES) Guidebook states: "Working hours must not esceed 60 hours per week, more than eight (not continuous) weeks per year."

We do require one day off in seven in accordance with international standards. If there is a business need and workers choose to work, they may work on their day of rest.  However, there are limits to the amount of times this may occur.  Our SES Guidebook states that workers may not work on their rest day “more than once in every two weeks and no more than 8 consecutive weeks per year.”  Regarding your concern related to corruption in practice, each of our factories is assessed each year. As part of that process, workers are interviewed and asked about their ability to deny overtime work. If it were determined that workers were unable to refuse to work overtime, we would work with factories to correct this practice as quickly as possible.

To your comments on wages in the apparel supply chain, we recently adopted a new wage policy that acknowledges that everyone who works has the right to wages ensuring a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of themselves and their family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services. That said, we believe this can best be achieved through engagement and collaboration with governments, unions, other brands and retailers, suppliers and other stakeholders. There is currently no Fair Trade system for apparel workers, but we are implementing an approach that engages all these stakeholders, as well as addresses our own business practices to improve worker well being. Please refer to the speech given by our CEO for more detail about our new approach.