Vancouver City Council |
Recommended Supplier Code of Conduct
INTRODUCTION
The Supplier Code of Conduct (SCC) sets the minimum performance standards for the City of Vancouver’s Ethical Purchasing Policy. The goal of our SCC is to ensure safe and healthy workplaces for the people who make products for the City of Vancouver; where human and civil rights conditions are in compliance with the core labour conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The City will apply its SCC as one of the criteria used in its selection of business partners and suppliers for apparel and certified fair trade agricultural products. It is a requirement that all City suppliers and their subcontractors/suppliers follow this code.
The EPP establishes an avenue whereby complaints of abuses in workplaces that are involved in the manufacture of apparel and agricultural products purchased by the City can be made to the City. The City will determine the level and the degree necessary to investigate and act upon complaints.
The policy is not intended to interfere with the City’s collective agreements. The SCC is one of the evaluation criteria used in the award of contracts. It is the supplier’s responsibility to ensure subcontractors are compliant with the SCC.
1 Legal and Ethical Requirements
City suppliers and their sub-contractors will comply with national and other applicable law of the country of manufacture of products including those laws relating to labour, worker health and safety, and the environment. Where the provisions of law and the SCC address the same issue, the provision that is most stringent will apply.
2 Child Labour
City suppliers and their sub-contractors:
· will not hire people under the age of 15, unless local minimum age law stipulates a higher age for work or mandatory schooling, in which case the higher age would apply, as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 138.
· acknowledge that according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a person is a child until age of 18. In keeping with ILO Convention 182, COV suppliers and their sub-contractors will ensure young workers in the age group 15-17 are employed according to the protective restrictions prescribed by local laws. Where local laws do not exist or where they set lower standards than the ILO, the ILO standards shall prevail.
3 Forced Labour
City suppliers and their sub-contractors will not:
· use forced, illegal, or prison labour, including indentured or bonded labour, or any form of compulsory labour to manufacture our products. (ILO Conventions 29 & 105)
· require workers to lodge deposits or their identity papers as a condition of employment, or financially penalize workers for resigning.
· will not require any foreign contract worker to remain in employment for any period of time against his or her will and will pay any required agency recruitment commissions.
4 Disciplinary Practices
City suppliers and their sub-contractors will:
· treat workers with respect and dignity and ensure workers are not subjected to any form of physical, sexual, psychological, or verbal harassment or abuse.
· ensure workers are free to express their concerns about workplace conditions without fear of retribution of losing their jobs. Workers should have access to a formal avenue to express concerns directly to factory management or City representatives.
5 Freedom of Association
City suppliers and their sub-contractors will recognize and respect that workers, without distinction, have the right to form or join trade unions of their own choosing and to bargain collectively. (ILO Convention 87)
Where the right of freedom of association and collective bargaining is restricted under law, the supplier facilitates and does not hinder the development of parallel means for independent, free association and bargaining (ILO Convention 98).City suppliers and their sub-contractors will ensure that workers representatives are not discriminated against and have reasonable access to carry out their representative functions in the workplace.
6 Wages and Benefits
City suppliers and their sub-contractors:
· will meet national and legal requirements, whichever is higher for wages and benefits within the country of manufacture, irrespective of special status granted to a company, worksite, or geographic area that permits the organization to compromise applicable standards.
· meet industry standard benchmarks for prevailing wages and benefits where such benchmarks are readily available.
· recognize that wages are essential to meeting employees' basic needs and will make every effort to ensure that workers receive wages that meet basic needs by local standards.
· will pay workers directly and provide workers with clear, written accounting of hours worked, deductions, and regular and overtime wages in a language they can understand.
· will not make direct wage deductions from employee pay as a disciplinary measure. Where an employee is temporarily suspended without pay, infractions must be proven openly and promptly.
7 Working Hours
Hours of work:
City suppliers and their sub-contractors will:
· ensure regular working hours do not exceed forty eight (48) hours per week, and that the combination of regular hours and required overtime hours do not exceed sixty (60) hours per week except in emergency circumstances.
· ensure that overtime hours are compensated either according to the law, or where the law is silent, at premium rates for hours in excess of forty eight (48) hours and that hours worked in excess of sixty (60) hours per week are on a voluntary basis.
· ensure workers are provided at least one day off during every seven (7)day period.
8 Discrimination
City suppliers and their sub-contractors will:
· consider employees for positions on the basis of their qualifications and abilities. The City will not work with suppliers who discriminate on the basis of race, gender, political or religious beliefs, social, ethnic or national origin, marital status, age, union affiliation, sexual orientation, or disability. (ILO Conventions 100 & 111)
· ensure pregnant workers are assigned work tasks appropriate for, and not threatening to, their condition.
9 Health and Safety
City suppliers and their sub-contractors will:
· provide their workers with safe and healthy work environments, which, as a minimum standard, is in compliance with country and local health and safety laws and regulations.
· take adequate steps to prevent accidents or injuries to health arising out of, associated with, or occurring in the course of work.
· ensure that any living facilities provided for personnel are safe and clean and meet the basic needs of personnel.
10 Environmental Commitment
City suppliers and their sub-contractors will:
· ensure all waste materials, as a by-product of production, are disposed of properly in an environmentally responsible manner, and according to the local and international laws and regulations.
COMPLIANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION
1. The City expects all its suppliers to respect its SCC and to actively do their utmost to achieve the City’s standards. The City believes in cooperation and the City is willing to work with its suppliers to improve performance where necessary.
2. The City will require that suppliers provide details on factory and production facility locations of suppliers and subcontractors and will make this information publicly available (i.e. annual reports, web site postings, etc).
3. The City reserves the right to ask for proof of compliance with all applicable labour, health, safety, and environmental laws, and may inspect working conditions, at any time (or request independent verification of compliance). Suppliers must maintain current and sufficiently detailed records to substantiate their compliance with the SCC and the City may ask that they are independently verified at the supplier’s expense.
RELATED POLICIES
Ethical Purchasing Policy