Ethical Policy
ETHICAL POLICY
Regine Limited Ethical Code of Conduct
When we manufacture clothing and footwear for our customers, we are ensuring that these have been manufactured in an absolutely safe and hygienic working environment for our workers. Hence, this encompasses the production process of our goods being—
- Compliant with the laws of fair and honest trade
- Unexploited for the workers who contributed and are associated in their manufacturing
- Made in acceptable and optimal work environment
- Aware of the fact that the process is not causing any harms to animals or the environment
At Regine Limited, we ensure implementing the ethical codes of conduct all across our departments as well as for every stakeholder, such as the manufacturers, suppliers, managers and agencies associated with us in the process. For easy comprehension, it can be said that our ethical policies are based on the nine ETI Base Codes.
At our organisation, we have instructed all our employees to abide these codes of conduct strictly and to ensure that they self-check their activities at regular intervals, to make sure that they have not faltered from following these at any given point of time. The best part is that since our company’s ethical policy is based on the ETI Base Code; therefore, we are also in alignment with the norms of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). This necessitates all the clothing and footwear items to be manufactured only in registered and referred factories, which are clearly mentioned while the order is placed.
Regine Limited follows the below-mentioned norms—
Manufacturing Procedures: Factories, which are involved in manufacturing the goods of Regine Limited, must ensure that the premises, they use for our manufacturing process, as well as the domestic areas, they use for working from home, all should be abiding these ethical standards. In fact, if they are choosing to manufacture from elsewhere, then also they must inform our management beforehand.
Animal Products Usage: If any animal products are used, then they are ensured to be sourced ethically, without harming any animals and after complying with the “Declaration of Ethical Compliance for Animal Products”.
Legal Requisites: Our legal requisites are in line with the labour laws of the United Kingdom (UK) and all our labours must abide by that. If our employers recruit any immigrating labour, then they have to refer to the immigrating laws of the UK and then take the decision of employing that individual.
Transparency Requirements: We ensure maintaining Tier-1 transparency, by providing the names and addresses of each of our sites where CMT (Cut, Make and Trim) takes place. We inform our suppliers on the importance of sharing this information with our customers and their cooperation helps us to maintain this transparency.
Maintaining Chemical Compliance:. We comply with REACH, which is under the European Union (EU) legislation and prohibit the use of certain chemicals in our products. We also ask our suppliers to provide us with chemical compliance statements of the materials, which they have supplied to us, along with lab reports as evidences for the same.
This implies that our suppliers must fulfil the following requisites—
- They must fulfil the Animal Welfare Policy
- They must not supply any materials, which have been made from the skin of the endangered species [listed under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) list], bones, shells, teeth, feather, cashmere, silk, horn or pearl.
- If any product looks similar to the abovementioned materials, then the suppliers must label them clearly as “faux” and “animal safe”
- If any material requires fur to be made, then only cowhide, goatskin or sheepskin can be used
- Leather and feathers from live animals cannot be taken to be used for making any products
- Waste disposal and hygiene of the animals must be maintained carefully
Employment Codes of Conduct as per the ETI Base Code:
- Employment is freely chosen
1.1 There is no forced, bonded or unwilling prison labour.
1.2 Workers are not needed to lodge deposits or their identity papers with their employers and they are free to leave the organisation at any point of time after serving a justified notice period.
- Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected
2.1 The workers shall have the right to join or form a trade union as per their choice or bargain collectively without distinction.
2.2 The employers shall have to be open-minded and tolerant towards the unions and their activities.
2.3 Worker representatives shall be allowed to execute their respective functions in the organisation whatsoever, without any discriminations.
2.4 In case of legal restrictions for collective bargaining, employers shall support independent association and bargaining.
- Working conditions are safe and hygienic
3.1 The employer shall provide a safe and hygienic work environment to the employees to protect against workplace hazards, accidents and injuries related to work activities. They can do so by minimising the risks and causes of these hazards in the working environment to the maximum extent possible.
3.2 Each employee shall be provided with adequate, recorded and consistent training for their health and safety, irrespective of whether they are newly recruited or are existent.
3.3 The employer shall provide the employees with clean toilet facilities, potable water and if possible, then food storage facilities as well.
3.4 If accommodation is provided, then that shall be clean, well maintained, safe and standard as per worker needs.
3.5 A senior management representative shall be entrusted with the responsibility of looking after the compliance of these health and safety norms from the company’s end.
- Child labour shall not be used
4.1 There shall be no recruitment of children as labour in our organisation under any circumstances.
4.2 The company shall take responsibility of developing, participating in or contributing towards any programme, which helps the restoration of a child labour, from their employment condition of being a child labour to a state of being educated so that the state of child labour can be eradicated.
4.3 Children and young persons under 18 years of age shall not be employed in night shifts or in hazardous conditions.
4.4 These policies shall be in line with the relevant ILO standards for child labour.
- Living wages are paid
5.1 The wages and non-monetary benefits, which would be payable for a working week, shall be in line with the minimum national legal or industrial standards, whichever is higher. Under all circumstances, their wages should be able to meet their fundamental requirements and be discretionary income.
5.2 All employment conditions shall be informed in written and comprehensive form to all the employees, in terms of wages and pay periods, before they start their employment course with the company.
5.3 Wage deductions as disciplinary measures shall not be permitted and even if required to be done, then the concerned worker must be asked first.
- Working hours are not excessive
6.1 Working hours shall comply with national laws and industry standards.
6.2 No workers shall be allowed to overtime beyond 48 hours per week and they shall be provided with at least 1-day off for every 7-day work period.
6.3 Overtimes shall not be compulsory, forced or on regular basis and should be only when there is excess workload in comparison to the available work time.
6.4 Even if it does, then also it shall be as per national laws, with premium compensation and for the quantity of excess work done.
- No discrimination is practised
7.1 No discrimination shall be practised while providing recruitment, compensation, training, promotion opportunities, termination or retirement to any employee, on grounds of their religion, caste, nationality, race, ethnicity, cultural background, age, gender, presence of any disability, sexual orientation, marital status, political affinity or union membership.
- Regular employment is provided
8.1 Employment relationship shall be recognised as per national laws for making the employees work in the organisation.
8.2 Under no circumstances, be it sub-contracting, labour-only contracting or home-working arrangements, shall the regular employment relationships be compromised, which would otherwise compromise the obligations employers have towards their employees.
- No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed
9.1 Any forms of physical abuse, threats of physical, sexual or verbal abuse and or other types of harassment shall be prohibited strictly. If encountered, strict measures shall be taken against them.
Definitions
Child and Young Person: Any person below 15 years of age, until the national law permits even higher age of employment or if local age is set at 14 years, while a young person is aged below 18 years
Child Labour: Labour conducted by any person aged below the age specified in above definitions, as per ILO standards, which can harm their health, physical, mental, moral, social, spiritual or educational development
Animal Welfare: The programme through which animals are safeguarded and their products are not implemented in the manufacturing processes
Our Code will be provided to factory workers translated in their own language on the ETI website: https://www.ethicaltrade.org/eti-base-code and if anyone is illiterate, then the Code will be communicated to them verbally with the help of the ETI Base Code Posters available at: https://www.ethicaltrade.org/resources/eti-base-code-poster.
Regine Limited understands that many ethical and trading issues cannot be solved overnight and therefore, we strongly believe in the fact that, only an incessant endeavour towards attaining the positive change can make our organisation a better place to work in. We are striving towards attaining this change through sustainable methods, significant steps and gradual attempts with collaborative efforts from all our stakeholders. Every individual effort would be counted towards bringing in this greater influential change.