Frequently Asked Questions — Social Responsibility

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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 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.