Answer:
It's difficult for any apparel company to make a definitive statement about
sweatshops because, unfortunately, they are a very real issue in the garment
industry. However, we believe it doesn't have to be that way. That's why we've
created one of the most comprehensive factory-monitoring and labor-standards
programs in our industry.
We strive to do business with manufacturers that share our commitment to
improve industry labor standards. Our
Social Responsibility
team works hard every day to improve factory conditions and the lives of
workers. We'll continue to enhance our own efforts and engage interested
stakeholders in ongoing, constructive dialogue about how best to bring about
industry-wide change and improve conditions for garment workers worldwide.
Answer:
We do not tolerate child labor. It's one of the most serious violations of
our Code of
Vendor Conduct. To gain and keep our business, vendors must commit to
employing factory workers who meet the minimum legal age requirement in that
country or the minimum age in our Code, whichever is higher. We are very strict
about enforcing this policy.
In the rare instances in which we do find an underage worker, we require
that the worker be removed from the factory immediately, given access to
schooling, paid an ongoing wage, and guaranteed a job at the factory as soon as
he/she reaches the legal minimum working age.
Please see the legal working age case study from
Cambodia for an
example of how we address this issue.
Answer:
Because we don't own the factories that produce our clothing, workers' wages
are determined by law and the factory that employs them. As one of many
customers of a factory, we negotiate prices for finished products. However, our
Code of Vendor
Conduct requires that factories pay workers the local legal minimum, or
prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher. We monitor payment of wages to
ensure that workers are consistently being paid the wages they are entitled to
for the hours they've worked, including overtime. In instances where we've
discovered non-compliance, we have forced payment of back wages and required
factories to improve record keeping. To earn and keep our business, factories
must compensate workers appropriately for all hours worked.
Answer:
As members of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and Social Accountability
International (SAI), Gap Inc. is committed to the principle that wages for a
standard working week should meet the basic needs of factory workers and
provide them with discretionary income. While there is no universally
agreed-upon calculation for a basic-needs wage, we require that workers'
earnings at least match minimum legal standards or local industry benchmarks,
whichever is higher. We continue to work with ETI and SAI to define and
determine a basic-needs wage in the regions in which we work with
factories.
Answer:
We maintain a diverse sourcing base across approximately 50 countries. While
the cost of finished products — which is what we negotiate with factories — is
certainly one factor we consider when deciding where to have our products made,
it's absolutely not the only one. A manufacturer's capabilities, quality,
dependability and track record on complying with labor standards are also
critically important.
Each of our brands has different production priorities at different times.
Sometimes the price of finished goods is the most important consideration.
Other times, speed of delivery or the quality of the product is more important.
Regardless of which factors led to the selection of a particular manufacturer,
we require factories to comply with our
Code of Vendor
Conduct.
Answer:
We don't want to place orders in a factory with poor working conditions. We
recognize that internal checks and balances are important, to ensure that business pressures don't
inadvertently cause unacceptable factory conditions to go unresolved. That's
why our Global
Compliance team operates independently of our sourcing and production
functions.
Factory compliance with our
Code of Vendor
Conduct isn't just mandatory at the outset of production — it's an ongoing
requirement for doing business with us. A factory that produces Gap Inc.
branded products must be inspected and approved by our team before we'll place
any orders, and a compliance officer can revoke a factory at any time if
serious violations are found.
Answer:
We believe every worker has the right to representation by a union of their
own choosing and we make this clear in our Code of Vendor
Conduct. We buy our products from both union and non-union factories around
the world. Our code states that factories are not permitted to interfere in any
way with workers who wish to lawfully and peacefully associate, organize or
bargain collectively.
We actively investigate all allegations of violations of workers' freedom of
association or wrongful termination of employees for union activity. When we've
determined that workers were wrongfully terminated, we have insisted they be
reinstated with payment of lost wages. Another way we work to protect the right
to free association is by facilitating dialogue on this issue between unions
and factory management.
Please see the freedom of association case study from
Lesotho for an
example of how we address this issue.
Answer:
If we discover a compliance issue in a factory, our preference is always to
work with factory management to address the issue and prevent it from occurring
in the future. However, if the violation is a serious one, or if we note a
pattern of non-compliance at the factory, we may decide to pull production or
terminate business with the vendor altogether.
We feel that if garment manufacturers believed Gap Inc. business was
guaranteed — that we would never pull out regardless of conditions in their
factories — we would send a mixed message about our commitment to enforcing our
Code of Vendor
Conduct. Factories that produce Gap Inc. branded products agree to abide by
our standards when they do business with us, and they understand that code
violations may result in termination.
Answer:
In January 1999, a U.S. federal class-action lawsuit was filed against 18
apparel retailers, including Gap Inc., that purchased merchandise made in
Saipan. The lawsuit alleged poor factory conditions and mistreatment of
workers.
We strongly believe that the allegations against us were without merit. One
of our primary objections was being included in a class action lawsuit that
treated all retailers and all factories the same. Every factory is different,
in Saipan and elsewhere. The lawsuit was brought against many companies — some
(like Gap Inc.) were actively monitoring factories and others were doing little
or no monitoring. We ultimately settled the case, because we were able to work
constructively with plaintiffs to develop Saipan's first independent factory
monitoring program.
Please see the foreign contract workers case study from
Saipan for more
information on how we addressed this issue.
Answer:
We don't list specific factories for a variety of reasons. First, the
factories producing our goods constantly change based on seasonal production
needs. At any one time, we are working with approximately 2,000 factories.
Second, we strongly believe that our sourcing base of approved factories is
proprietary information. We invest a lot of time, effort and money in
identifying factories that meet our product-quality and vendor-compliance
standards. We also invest a lot of time in working with factories to
continually improve conditions. Any factory has limited production capacity,
and we are in a very competitive business. We believe it would be unwise to
provide a complete list of approved factories for our competitors to use.
However, when working with non-governmental organizations, labor unions or
others to address factory conditions or specific issues in a city, region or
country, we do provide information about whether we have production in specific
factories and what we are doing to resolve issues.
Please see
Where
Our Clothes Are Made for a list of countries where we source our
products.
Answer:
Good and bad garment factories exist everywhere. That's true in the United
States and Mexico, as well as Bangladesh and Cambodia. Emerging nations have
challenges that don't exist elsewhere, such as political unrest, poor
infrastructure and lax enforcement of laws and regulations. But these issues
don't necessarily translate into poor working conditions. Whether a factory is
in Los Angeles or Phnom Penh, we believe the attitudes and actions of factory
management are most important in determining whether workers are consistently
treated with dignity and respect.
Answer:
Garment manufacturing is a global industry, and one that increasingly is
based outside of the United States. We maintain a diverse, global sourcing base
to meet the broad product needs of our brands. We source our products from
approximately 50 countries, including the United States. Regardless of where
our products are produced, we enforce our Code of Vendor Conduct equally in
every factory.
Answer:
Customer safety is a top priority for Gap Inc., and we strive to ensure our
products are safe for our customers, their children and pets. We have a long
history of setting safety standards that meet or exceed legal requirements for
the products we offer. We require that our suppliers submit our products to
testing by independent, Gap Inc.- approved laboratories to ensure compliance
with Gap Inc.'s safety standards prior to their sale to our customers. Our
Product Safety team focuses on managing our testing program, and continually
reviewing our program for conformity to international safety and regulatory
standards. Gap Inc. restricts several chemicals, including formaldehyde, lead,
and carcinogenic dyes.
Answer:
Our Global Compliance department has a multimillion-dollar budget that
supports one of the most comprehensive factory-monitoring programs in the
apparel industry. Worldwide, we employ more than 80 full-time
employees who are dedicated to monitoring factory compliance with our
Code of Vendor Conduct and improving the lives of garment workers. In 2007, our
team conducted approximately 4,000 inspections in more than 2,000 garment
factories around the world.
Our global compliance network also gives us the ability to partner
effectively with local non-governmental organizations to help drive lasting
change in factories and worker communities. We're engaged in a variety of
initiatives, including management and worker training and community-based
health programs.
Please see the
Partnerships section
for more information on these efforts.
Answer:
We believe that greater industry collaboration is one of the most effective
ways to bring about meaningful, lasting change in garment factories. Achieving
widespread collaboration is no easy task, however. For one thing, different
companies place different levels of importance on monitoring and enforcing
labor standards in garment factories. Not everyone takes this as seriously as
we do. Also, companies place different requirements and demands on
manufacturers as a condition of gaining their business. For example, we enforce
minimum wage and overtime laws; some companies do not. Similarly, we are clear
about supporting workers' rights to unionize, while other companies are
not.
Regardless of the challenges, we're committed to working toward greater
industry collaboration. We're currently working with other companies on a
variety of formal and informal initiatives. Additionally, we actively support
ongoing factory monitoring by all companies, equal levels of enforcement and
common approaches to resolving issues.
Please see the
Partnerships section
for more information on these efforts.
Answer:
We understand that how we operate our stores, distribution centers and
offices and how we use natural resources affects the environment. Our top
environmental priorities are
conserving energy
in our operations,
reducing waste and
exploring sustainable design opportunities.
Answer:
We are constantly exploring ways to increase the amount of recycled paper we
use in all aspects of our operations. We don't publish catalogs, but Old Navy's
circulars, for instance, use 80 percent post-consumer paper. Our shopping bags
and office paper also contain recycled content. Learn more about our recycling
efforts in
Reducing
Waste.
Answer:
Gap Inc. does not conduct or endorse animal testing on any personal care
products. We require our vendors and testing laboratories to use other means to
verify the safety and stability of these goods.
Answer:
Gap Foundation makes significant contributions through strategic
partnerships with select community organizations in San Francisco, New York,
Chicago, and headquarters locations in Canada and the U.K. In the developing
world, we achieve a long-term, meaningful impact by supporting organizations in
our vendor communities. Additionally, through employee committees located in
our remote corporate and Distribution Center locations, Gap Foundation is able
to extend our support to organizations in those communities.
Gap Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for grants and event
sponsorships. We identify organizations and programs that embrace our youth
development and women's advancement principles. Our strategy is to seek out and
build strong partnerships with a limited number of national, regional and local
community-based nonpolitical, nonreligious and nonprofit organizations.
Answer:
Gap Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. Our strategy is to
seek out and build strong partnerships with a limited number of national,
regional and local community organizations in line with our target causes.
Answer:
Gap Foundation donates a limited number of Appreciation Cards (gift
certificates) to nonprofits that are aligned with our target causes of
underserved youth or women. These nonprofits must be public charities with
tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Learn more
about the Foundation's Appreciation Card donation program to find out if your
organization is eligible and how to submit a request.
Answer:
Gap Foundation typically does not make merchandise donations by
request. We do, however, partner with Gifts In Kind International (GIKI)
to process all merchandise donations that become available. Interested
nonprofit organizations may sign-up with GIKI to potentially receive donations
from Gap Inc. and all of GIKI's other clients. Gifts in Kind is the largest
product philanthropy organization in the world, and manages all Gap Inc.
in-kind donations, such as product samples, office furnishings and equipment,
merchandise and fabric that is no longer needed by the company. Please note:
There is no guarantee of receiving merchandise from Gap Inc. Any interested
organizations can go to
www.giftsinkind.org
for further details.
Answer:
Gap Foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for sponsorships. Our
strategy is to sponsor a select, limited number of events in our headquarters
communities where we have high employee participation.
Answer:
Gap Foundation makes contributions directly to charitable organizations and
specific programs. Grants to individuals, including scholarships and
exchange/travel programs, are ineligible for support.