Ethical Sourcing
The present statement is made pursuant to the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes a comprehensive statement made by The ALDO Group Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries, including but not limited to, Aldo UK Limited (collectively, the “ALDO Group”). It communicates the steps taken by the ALDO Group to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains.
Approved by the Board of Directors of the ALDO Group on May 30, 2019.
ABOUT THE ALDO GROUP
With over 45 years of experience, the ALDO Group is a world-leading creator and operator of desirable footwear and accessory brands. Founded and headquartered in Montreal, Canada, the ALDO Group is one of the world’s leading fashion retailers.
With 3,000 points of sale in over 100 countries around the world, the ALDO Group operates under two signature brands, Aldo and Call It Spring, and a multi-brand retail concept, GLOBO. In order to serve a worldwide network of stores, the ALDO Group has set up offices and distribution centres around the globe, and works with factories from all over the world.
The ALDO Group places a premium on being a good corporate citizen by working to enrich local communities. It is this simple, yet powerful philosophy that has fuelled the constant innovation of the ALDO Group.
MODERN SLAVERY STATEMENT / ETHICAL SOURCING POLICY
The ALDO Group is aware of the risks of slavery servitude, forced labour, human trafficking and other methods of modern slavery in the retail business and its associated supply chain, and is therefore committed to ensuring that our business decisions support social welfare and positively impact the countries in which we operate.
Our Code of Conduct and our vendor manual specify the requirements and best practices by which all of our vendors and their own factories must abide, including, such as, employment standards, legal requirements and environmental protection. The ALDO Group’s Code of Conduct expressly prohibits the use of child or forced labor and any form of coercion, abuse or harassment. It further specifies that manufacturing partners must associate with factories that comply with legal requirements in any country in which their business is conducted and which meet or exceed our standards.
FACTORY MONITORING
The ALDO Group conducts regular audits of active factories based on the conditions outlined in our Code of Conduct and our vendor manual. These take place in the form of announced and unannounced on-site inspections, as well as on-site and off-site discussions with factory workers conducted by independent monitoring firms and our Social Compliance team. Any non-compliance is detailed in a corrective action plan.
The ALDO Group takes pride in the following:
• In 2018, a total of 338 audits were conducted from which 71% were semi-announced
• Every new factory undergoes a pre-approval process against the Code of Conduct and must be able to prove compliance for production orders to be placed.
• Investigating for forced labour is part of our audit methodology.
• Confidential factory worker and management interviews are mandatory during any audit
• Recruitment and compensation practices are reviewed during the factory audit.
• Findings that are considered a severe threat to factory workers’ lives or safety, including forced, trafficked, and compulsory or prison labour, are dealt with for immediate remediation and action for all stakeholders involved.
As part of our monitoring and verification programs, the Social Compliance team is trained on preserving the mission, values and principles found in our Code of Conduct. Their visits to factories ensure that the Code of Conduct’s requirements are integrated and preserved, and that all questionable behaviours are reported.
The ALDO Group prioritizes a collaborative approach to help them when implementing any required corrective actions. In the event a satisfactory resolution is not reached within the agreed upon time frame or is not possible, the ALDO Group can terminate the business relationship with the non-compliant vendors.
ENGAGING FACTORIES
Our efforts to ensure that factories adhere to legal requirements, respect our standards and provide a safe and healthy work environment to all their factory workers go beyond factory monitoring and on-site audits. The ALDO Group encourage factories to take ownership of their sustainability performance by providing guidance, training manuals and facilitating workshops that address modern supply chain challenges.
In 2018, 111 factories were trained by the ALDO Group’s social compliance team and external consultants in various subjects such as working hours, wages and benefits and modern slavery through regular face-to-face workshops held throughout the year.
MULTISTAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION
The ALDO Group is a proud and active member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition whose focus is building the Higg Index, a standardized supply chain measurement tool for apparel and footwear industry members to understand the environmental, social and labor impacts of making and selling products and services. By measuring sustainability performance, the ALDO Group wishes to address inefficiencies, resolve damaging practices, and achieve the environmental and social transparency demanded by consumers. By joining forces with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, we can address the urgent, systemic challenges that are impossible to change alone.
The ALDO Group is constantly looking for ways to tackle this important global and multi-sector issue. We continue to advance our current initiatives in modern slavery prevention and to tackle the issue by providing further guidance and assistance to our supply chains.
To learn more about our social and environmental partnerships, policies, commitments and progress, we invite you to visit responsibility.aldogroup.com.
Last update: April 29th, 2020