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www.hess-natur.info

Headquarters: Butzbach
Country: Germany
Founded in: 1976
Total points of sales in Europe: 4 shops, but sales are mainly via mail order
Owned by: KarstadtQuelle AG
Name of CEO: Katrin Kinza, Wolf Lüdge
Description of offer: Natural textiles (for men, women and babies), shoes
Producer countries: 31
General remarks: n.a.

Marie-Curie-Str. 7
35510 Butzbach
rolf.heimann(at)hess-natur.de

Comments from CCC and proposals for action

After a pilot project with the CCC-Germany, Hess became a member of the Fair Wear Foundation in 2005. In 2008, Hess remained the only German member of the FWF.Membership of the FWF means that Hess had to review its supply chain management systems. It is unclear what effective steps have been taken to raise wages towards living wage standards.

In 2008, Hess received the "Positive Award" of the Public Eye of Davos.

The following evaluation of the company’s performance in terms of , code implementation and monitoring of labour , is based on research conducted by the CCC - Germany in 2008

Transparency

At the annual meeting of the German Multi Stakeholder Body of the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF; members are the Christliche Initiative Romero, the IG Metall-union for CCC-Germany and Hess Naturtextil), Hess and the FWF report to the CCC about the implementation of the Hess / FWF CoC. The CCC then makes this information public.

The company produces in 189 factories in 16 EU and 15 non EU-countries. The list of suppliers is available to the FWFThe FWF publishes Hess' annual social report at its website, which includes information on monitoring and verification activities. In this report, general targets for monitoring and labour rights improvements are set for 2008.

Formal commitment on labour standards

Hess has adopted its own code of conduct and is committed to complying with the code of the FWF. The ILO Core Conventions are included in the code of conduct. The company’s code of conduct applies to all workplaces where its products are made. The code of conduct includes measures to implement the code and monitor labour conditions in the facilities used. The code contains provisions for living wages. Working hours are limited to 48 hours (60 with overtime) and there is one free day per week. The code contains provisions for a safe workplace, and a regular employment contract is an obligation.

Code implementation and purchasing practices

The code of conduct is translated into 23 languages

Monitoring and Verification

Hess is a member of the Multi Stakeholder Initiative FWF and Jo-In In. In 2006 3 factories were audited by the FWF independent audit teams. Corrective action plans have been formulated together with the FWF

Violations of labour rights and public conflicts

In the 2006 FWF report violations of labour rights have been found They concerned working hours, wages, and health and safety. Together with the FWF audit team, the company formulated corrective action plans. During the same year, no complaints were received through the complaints system.

Recent developments

n.a.