Labor Relations at Levi Strauss & Co: A Force for Positive Change

Levi Strauss & Co. has been making jeans for over 155 years and has also been a pioneering company when it comes to ethical employment standards since 1991.

Levi's Tag Through Shop Window - Lee Agas Guang

If you are a fan of Levi's jeans, you already know they feel good when you wear them. The part you might not know, is you can also feel good about wearing them because they represent a company committed to being a force for positive change. Levi Strauss & Company joined the positive labor relations effort before it was the popular thing to do, setting the benchmark high by being the first multinational company to step forward with a comprehensive code of conduct.

Levi's Social and Environmental Sustainability Guidebook

According to Levi Strauss & Company, all Levi's product suppliers are provided with the code of conduct information, formally titled the Social and Environmental Sustainability Guidebook, and are expected to comply. The labor relations portion of Levi's code of conduct, referred to by the company as Terms of Engagement, details labor, health and safety, and environmental requirements, and was originally based upon the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ILO's Core Conventions.

Levi's Employment Standards

Twelve standards are addressed in the Levi Strauss and Company's Terms of Engagement (ToE.)

1. No child labor is acceptable: Levi's ToE defines children as anyone under fifteen full year's of age.
2. No prison labor and forced labor is acceptable under Levi's code of conduct.
3. No corporal punishment and no mental or physical coercion will be tolerated by the Levi's company's or in the company's supply chain.
4. No breaking the law: suppliers cannot have tax evasion judgments against them and must understand and obey Rules of Origin laws.
5. Compatible ethical standards are required for individuals and partner businesses. This means material suppliers have to agree to: no bribery, no unauthorized subcontracting, no faking the books to hide excessive over-time, consistency is required in plant disciplinary procedures, and no firing employees just to get out of paying vacation wages.
6. Working hours - Levi's contractors cannot require employees to consistently work in excess of sixty hours per week and are expected to give workers at least one day off each week.
7. Wages and benefits: In order to partner with Levi's, suppliers are required to honor local wage and benefit laws.
8. General labor practices and Freedom of Engagement: Levi Strauss & Company is committed to a policy of non-interference when it comes to worker's rights to join labor organizations and bargain collectively. Supply chain members are expected to adhere o the same policy of non-interference.
9. Discrimination: Workers at Levi Strauss & Company are to be employed based only on the ability to perform the job rather than any personal characteristic or belief. The same non-discriminatory approach is required of suppliers.
10. Community involvement: Levi's supports communities through grants and by allowing employees to use company time to participate in community betterment activities. Suppliers with the same approach are favored over less philanthropic suppliers.
11. Dormitories: Safe living conditions must be provided by those suppliers offering housing to workers. Things like an available first aid kit, hot and cold running water, and dry floors are noted in the Levi's ToE.
12. Permits: Levi's stands behind local laws in stating that all Levi's factories and all supplier facilities must have all the required legal permits.

The Levi's list of employment standards is part of a larger package of positive business ethics, created and published by a company willing to lead the march for positive change in the world.

Referenced sources:

• The Levi Strauss & Co. Social and Environmental Sustainability Guidebook, 2010
• Levi.com: About Levi's: What Levi's Believe In
• Levi Strauss: Product Suppliers

Copyright Laure Justice

I was impressed when I came across information about the Levi's companmy's desire to be a force for positive change, and the steps they go to in order to achieve that goal.

Levi Strauss & Co has the impressive honor of being the first multi-national company to develop a comprehensive code of conduct for its facilities.

While all of the 12 standards detailed in the ToE are noteworthy, one I found truly unique was the encouragment of the use of company time to go out and do community service.
Business partners all the way through the Levi's supply chain are expected to comply with the company's Terms of Engagement.

Suppliers operating outside of the ToE will have a chance to comply based upon charts included in the ToE, and the business partnership will end should Levi's find out about continued non-compliance.