The Fair Wear Foundationis a Dutch institution that works with brands, factories, trade unions, NGOs and sometimes governments to verify and improve working conditions in 11 production countries in Asia, Europe and Africa.

FWF keeps track of the improvements made by the companies it operates, and through the sharing of skills, social dialogue and the strengthening of industrial relations, FWF increases the effectiveness of the efforts made by companies. More than 80 FWF member companies are over 120 brands based in Europe. The Fair Wear Foundation is financially independent. An institution that wants to monitor its members carefully should not depend on their money. Only a small part of FWF's finances are the membership rights.

If a company is reported for abuse, FWF not only looks at corporate management but gets its information from local NGOs and employees surveyed outside the factories.

The standards of work identified by the Fair Wear Foundation include:

  • Voluntary work (no forced labor, ILO 29 & 105 conventions)
  • No discrimination on grounds of sex, race, color, age, religion, trade union membership, nationality, social origin, disability or handicap (ILO Conventions 100 and 111)
  • No child labor, the age for admission to employment must not be less than the compulsory school age and in any case not less than 15 years (ILO Convention 138)
  • Freedom of association and right to collective bargaining (ILO Conventions 87, 98, 135, 143)
  • Payment of a decent salary sufficient to meet the basic needs of workers and their families and to provide some discretionary income (ILO Conventions 26 and 131)
  • Reasonable working hours complying with industry law and standards. In any case, workers should not be regularly required to work for more than 48 hours a week and must have at least one day off for each seven-day period. The surplus must be voluntary, not exceed 12 hours a week, is not required regularly and will always be offset at a premium rate (ILO Convention 1)
  • Safe and healthy working conditions
  • Legal employment relationship

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