Ethical Code Of Conduct

Maxwell Style Ltd.’s business culture is based on building long-term, meaningful, and mutually beneficial relationships, with both employees and suppliers. We are committed to safeguarding the rights of workers involved in the supply and manufacture of our products. We wish all workers associated with our suppliers to be always treated with fairness, and this includes the use of sub-contractors and third parties in the manufacturing and supply of our goods

We have a fundamental and established commitment to ethical trading, based upon the firm belief that business can be both profitable and responsible.

Communicating our brand values, ways of working and expectations to all our partners is important now more than ever. We need to ensure that all our suppliers are fully complaint with this policy and accept that any departure from it will be at risk of their business relationship and entitle Maxwell Style Ltd to cease trading with them. We must also strive to comply with the most up to date legislation and regulations in every country we trade in.

This document outlines the Maxwell Style Ethical Policy which is at the heart of how we do business.

Ethical Policy

It is a key obligation of employees, suppliers, and anyone else who may work with our brand to comply with our Ethical Policy.

Both employees and suppliers who understand and adhere to our ethical policies and work proactively to achieve and improve standards are an asset to our business.

We will not work with those who do not adhere to our Ethical Policy or who are not honest towards nor fail to take responsibility to meet/improve these standards.

Ethical Standard

We have adopted the ETI Base Code as the minimum standards that should apply to workers in our supply chain, as set out below. If local law sets higher standards than the base code, then these legislative requirements should be met.

  1. Employment is freely chosen
    • There is no forced, bonded, or involuntary prison labour.
    • Workers are not required to lodge & ‘deposits’ or their identity papers with their employer and are free to leave their employer after reasonable notice.
  2. Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected
    • Workers, without distinction, have the right to join or form trade unions of their own choosing and to bargain collectively.
    • The employer adopts an open attitude towards the activities of trade unions and their organisational activities.
    • Worker’s representatives are not discriminated against and have access to carry out their representative functions in the workplace.
    • Where the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining is restricted under law, the employer facilitates, and does not hinder, the development of parallel means for independent and free association and bargaining.

 

  1. Working conditions are safe and hygienic
    • A safe and hygienic working environment shall be provided, bearing in mind the prevailing knowledge of the industry and of any specific hazards. Adequate steps shall be taken to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, associated with, or occurring in the course of work, by minimising, so far as is reasonably practicable, the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment.
    • Workers shall receive regular and recorded health and safety training, and such training shall be repeated for new or reassigned workers.
    • Access to clean toilet facilities and to potable water, and, if appropriate, sanitary facilities for food storage shall be provided.
    • Accommodation, where provided, shall be clean, safe, and meet the basic needs of the workers.
    • The company observing the code shall assign responsibility for health and safety to a senior management representative.
  2. Child labour shall not be used
    • Child labour shall not be used.
    • There shall be no new recruitment of child labour.
    • Companies shall develop or participate in and contribute to policies and programmes which provide for the transition of any child found to be performing child labour to enable her or him to attend and remain in quality education until no longer a child; "child" and "child labour" being defined later in this section.
    • Children and young persons under 18 shall not be employed at night or in hazardous conditions.
    • These policies and procedures shall conform to the provisions of the relevant ILO (International Labour Organisation) standards.
  3. Living wages are paid
    • Wages and benefits paid for a standard working week meet, at a minimum, national legal standards or industry benchmark standards, whichever is higher. In any event wages should always be enough to meet basic needs and to provide some discretionary income.
    • All workers shall be provided with written and understandable information about their employment conditions in respect to wages before they enter employment and about the particulars of their wages for the pay period concerned each time that they are paid.
    • Deductions from wages as a disciplinary measure shall not be permitted nor shall any deductions from wages not provided for by national law be permitted without the expressed permission of the worker concerned. All disciplinary measures should be recorded.
  4. Working hours are not excessive
    • Working hours must comply with national laws, collective agreements, and the provisions of 6.2 to 6.6 below, whichever affords the greater protection for workers. Sub-clauses 6.2 to 6.6 are based on international labour standards.
    • Working hours, excluding overtime, shall be defined by contract, and shall not exceed 48 hours per week. *(* International standards recommend the progressive reduction of normal hours of work, when appropriate, to 40 hours per week, without any reduction in workers’ wages as hours are reduced.)
    • All overtime shall be voluntary. Overtime shall be used responsibly, taking into account all the following: the extent, frequency and hours worked by individual workers and the workforce as a whole. It shall not be used to replace regular employment. Overtime shall always be compensated at a premium rate, which is recommended to be not less than 125% of the regular rate of pay.
    • The total hours worked in any seven-day period shall not exceed 60 hours, except were covered by clause 6.5 below.
    • Working hours may exceed 60 hours in any seven-day period only in exceptional circumstances where all of the following are met:
      • This is allowed by national law;
      • This is allowed by a collective agreement freely negotiated with a workers’ organisation representing a significant portion of the workforce.
      • Appropriate safeguards are taken to protect the workers’ health and safety; and
      • The employer can demonstrate that exceptional circumstances apply such as unexpected production peaks, accidents, or emergencies.
    • Workers shall be provided with at least one day off in every seven-day period or, where allowed by national law, two days off in every 14-day period.
  5. No discrimination is practiced
    • There is no discrimination in hiring, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on race, caste, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, union membership or political affiliation.
  6. Regular employment is provided
    • To every extent possible work performed must be on the basis of recognised employment relationship established through national law and practice.
    • Obligations to employees under labour or social security laws and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship shall not be avoided through the use of labour-only contracting, sub- contracting, or home- working arrangements, or through apprenticeship schemes where there is no real intent to impart skills or provide regular employment, nor shall any such obligations be avoided through the excessive use of fixed-term contracts of employment.
  7. No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed
    • Physical abuse or discipline, the threat of physical abuse, sexual or other harassment and verbal abuse or other forms of intimidation shall be prohibited.

 

 

 

Further standards Maxell Style Ltd implement and expect.

  1. Transparency
    • Sub-contracting of any part of production without the knowledge and approval of Maxwell Style Ltd will not be tolerated. Sub-contractors must meet all the requirements set out in this Code of Conduct.
  2. Business ethics
    • Maxwell Style Ltd will not tolerate corruption and/or bribery throughout its supply chain.
  3. Wages and benefits
    • All women and men have the right to be compensated for a regular work week that is sufficient to meet employees’ basic needs and provide some discretionary income. Suppliers and their sub-contractors must pay at least the legal minimum wage on a timely manner, and all the legally mandated benefits including holidays and leaves, and statutory severance when employment ends. Disciplinary deductions from pay are not tolerated. Maxwell Style Ltd will prefer suppliers who provide wages and benefits that exceed legal requirements, through both individual or collective labour agreements.

Definitions

Child - Any person less than 15 years of age unless local minimum age law stipulates a higher age for work or mandatory schooling, in which case the higher age shall apply. If however, local minimum age law is set at 14 years of age in accordance with developing country exceptions under ILO Convention No. 138, the lower will apply.

Young person - Any worker over the age of a child as defined above and under the age of 18.

Child labour – Any work by a child or young person younger than the age(s) specified in the above definitions, which does not comply with the provisions of the relevant ILO standards, and any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's or young person's education, or to be harmful to the child's or young person's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

 

Our Code should be displayed to factory workers in their own language. Translated copies are available on the ETI website: http://www.ethicaltrade.org/resources/key-eti- resources/eti-base- code.

If any workers are illiterate, the Code should be communicated to them verbally.