H&M has covered almost one million garment workers with ‘fair living wage’ strategy

Desk Report: H&M has revealed that more than 930,000 garment workers located in its supply chain are now covered by a “fair living wage” approach, with 84% of the company’s product volume now produced in factories that are improving wage standards and human rights approaches reports Eide.

H&M launched its fair living wage strategy in 2013, aiming to ensure that all supply chain workers received a wage that was enough to support a family and be earned during legal working hour limits.

The company has this week revealed that it has surpassed its first milestone target of implementing improved wage management systems for all strategic suppliers by the end of 2018. Since 2013, the number of factories supplying to H&M covered by the strategy has increased from three to 655. More than 930,000 workers are located in these factories, which account for 84% of product volume.

“I’m so proud of the dedicated work hundreds of colleagues around the world have done these past five years. We’re doing something that nobody has ever done before,” H&M Group’s head of sustainability Anna Gedda said.

“The results of our work in creating the foundation for fair living wages are exceeding our expectations, reaching close to a million garment workers. Now, the work continues – together with the rest of the industry.”

As a buyer, H&M’s strategy focuses on the management process of wage standards, rather than imposing specific wage levels for suppliers. The fashion retailer is working with factories to embed fair negotiating processes between governments, employers, worker representatives and the wider labour market.

H&M does have a time-specific target to ensure that worker representatives cover 100% of factories that H&M works with across Bangladesh. The company revealed that all tier 1 factories in Bangladesh had these representatives in place by December 2017. Globally, 73% of H&M’s product volume is located in factories that have democratically elected worker representation – covering 840,000 workers.

More than two-thirds of H&M’s product volume is sourced from factories that are implementing improved wage management systems – covering 635,000 workers.