Outdoor clothing brand Mountain Equipment has been awarded ‘Leader Status’ by Fair Wear Foundation, the highest of their performance benchmarking categories.

Together with Fair Wear Foundation (FWF), Mountain Equipment are working to achieve fair working conditions worldwide. Mountain Equipment has been a member of FWF since 2012 and has developed a close partnership with FWF, working together with them continuously over the past 4 years.

In order to reach Leader status, Mountain Equipment achieved a monitoring percentage of 93% and a score of 80 in the FWF Brand Performance Check for 2016. In these annual reviews, FWF verifies member brands regarding their progress in implementing labour standards and improving working conditions. This marks a significant achievement by the business as only around 10% of FWF member brands manage to fulfil the requirements to be awarded Leader status.

“Mountain Equipment has made significant steps into monitoring their supply chain. The company has in-depth knowledge about its production sites and has effectively implemented action plans wherever issues have been found”, says Kees Gootjes, brand manager at FWF. “Mountain Equipment has worked hard to better integrate social compliance into its purchasing practices.”

FWF is an independent, non-profit, multi-stakeholder organisation that works with brands and producers to improve labour conditions in the garment industry worldwide. FWF has over 90 member brands with representation in 11 production countries in Asia, Europe and Africa and keeps detailed track of progress made by all the partners it works with.

As a member of FWF, Mountain Equipment is committed to implementing the strict 8-point FWF Code of Labour Practices, which is based on UN and ILO principles, in all production facilities and so meets the highest standards for socially equitable working conditions. These include, among others, the payment of living wages, reasonable working hours, safe and healthy working conditions, prevention of child labour and many more.

"We have been working hard for the last 4 years to ensure the working conditions in the production facilities we use meet acceptable welfare standards. Being recognised by FWF as a leading brand in this respect is greatly rewarding and helps to encourage us to continue in this important and challenging work" says Hamish Dunn, Brand Director of Mountain Equipment.

In regularly scheduled audits, FWF monitors working conditions and social standards in individual production facilities. During the audit, employees are questioned both inside and outside of the manufacturing plant without the presence of management. Where standards are found to be below FWF requirements a "Corrective Action Plan" is produced which sets out what must be done by the brand, within a clear timeframe.

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About Fair Wear Foundation

More than 90 companies representing 120 brands are members of FWF, an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to improving conditions for garment workers around the world. FWF’s unique approach acknowledges that ‘100% Fair’ clothing does not yet exist, and places an emphasis on practical steps brands can take to reducethe risk of problems in factories. Members must sign the 8-point FWF Code of Labour Practices, which is based on UN and ILO principles. Each year FWF reports publicly on members’ progress towards implementation of the code in their supply chains.

www.fairwear.org