Fair Wear Foundation

Non-profit OrganizationsAmsterdam, Netherlands51-200 Employees

Fair Wear Foundation (Fair Wear) works with garment companies to improve labour conditions in the garment industry.

Members of Fair Wear - European garment companies - work towards improving the labour conditions in factories that produce their garments. The basis of the collaboration between Fair Wear and a member is the Code of Labour Practices. 

Fair Wear verifies whether companies comply with the Code of Labour Practices, by keeping track of the improvements made by the companies it works with. 
The truth is that most garments and sewn products are not (yet) made in fully compliant conditions. For this reason, Fair Wear does not claim that its members’ products are produced in full compliance with labour standards. Fair Wear does however verify that members are working hard, step-by-step, in this direction. Every year, Fair Wear publicly reports on the companies’ progress through the Brand Performance Checks.

Fair Wear's verification system exists at three levels: Fair Wear verifies at the company level to check whether companies implement the Fair Wear Code of Labour Practices in their management systems effectively and Fair Wear verifies at factory level. Finally, Fair Wear implements a complaints procedure in all countries where it is active. This enables the workers at the factory to bring to light (anonymously) any abuses related to labour conditions.

Fair Wear joins together business associations, trade unions, and NGOs as equal partners at every level of Fair Wear activity – from decision-making at the Board level to workplace verification. Each stakeholder group has an important role to play in improving working conditions, and the impact is that much greater when they all work together.

Fair Wear's more than 80 member companies represent over 120 brands, and are based in Europe; member products are sold in over 20,000 retail outlets in more than 80 countries around the world. 

Further information can be found on www.fairwear.org.

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