The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is a non-profit collaborative effort of universities, civil society organizations, and businesses.
It describes its mission as promoting adherence to international and national labor laws.
History
The FLA was established in 1999 and evolved out of a task force created by President Bill Clinton following a series of child labor and other sweatshop scandals involving major apparel and footwear brands. The apparel and footwear companies and labor and human rights groups involved in the initial task force formed a loose organization known as the Apparel Industry Partnership (AIP) in 1996. In 1999, the AIP’s charter document was amended to establish the FLA.
From 2001 to 2013, Auret van Heerden was the president and CEO of the FLA. Since 2015, the FLA has been led by Sharon Waxman, previously the vice president for public policy and advocacy at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and formerly the senior national security advisor to U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA).
Initiatives
Monitoring and verification
Companies that join the FLA commit to upholding the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct, which is underpinned by "International Labour Organization standards and internationally accepted good labor practices", and to establishing internal systems for monitoring workplace conditions and maintaining code standards throughout their supply chains. The FLA conducts independent and unannounced audits of factories used by FLA affiliates to evaluate compliance of all code elements and verify companies' internal compliance efforts.
The FLA monitors factories all over the world, including the Americas; Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); South Asia; South East Asia; and East Asia. There are currently over 4,500 facilities subject to FLA independent monitoring. On average, FLA accredited monitors conduct approximately 150 proactive, announced assessments and verification visits per year. FLA affiliates are responsible for working with the facilities following an inspection to develop a corrective action plan (CAP) to address any violations of the code and for conducting follow-up visits to ensure the plan is implemented. The FLA also conducts follow-up visits for a select group of audits to verify the actions taken by the FLA affiliate and supplier.
The FLA external monitoring system promotes transparency. The FLA posts the results of factory audits on its website, as well as the actions plans that FLA-affiliated companies develop with their suppliers to correct any issues that are found.
The FLA also promotes a complaint channel for third parties in cases where there is a persistent or serious labor violation in a production facility used by any FLA-affiliated company, and where other grievance mechanisms or lack of procedures have failed workers. Any person, organization, or company may file a complaint with the FLA, as all stakeholders have a role in improving corporate accountability for labor rights. When merited, the FLA oversees investigations and corrective action for any violations found.
Worker’s wages
In 2019, the FLA created a dashboard to organize global wage data. The dashboard was completed in part because of a €15,000 commitment from ASN Bank, and allows organizations to input wage data and see it visually compared with international standards. The dashboard measures the average worker's wage within a given facility by collecting data from several categories, including base wages, incentives, and benefits. The dashboard is intended to help businesses, governments, NGOs, and others track global wages and identify where workers are not earning fair wages. The dashboard will be part of ASN Bank's 2019 Living Wage Report.
In April 2018, FLA released a report that garment workers in Bangladesh are among the worst-paid in the world. The report found that workers would need an 80% pay raise to earn wages close to the report's most conservative living wage benchmark, 13,620 taka per month. In September 2018, Bangladeshi unions rejected an increase in the minimum wage (raising it to 8,000 taka or $95.50 a month) demanding more be done.
In 2019, the FLA was part of a group of global trade associations representing garment, footwear, and travel goods buyers who sent a joint letter to the Cambodian government, urging it to improve labor and human rights conditions. The letter came as the EU and U.S. were reviewing trade agreements with Cambodia over perceived human rights and democratic setbacks.