Suppliers must not use child labour below the age of 15, even if permitted by national law. All legal limitations regarding young workers between the age of 15 and 18 must be followed and young workers are only permitted to carry out light work at reduced hours.

This means that they must be protected from any hazardous work, night shifts, and any kind of work that might hamper their physical and psychological development or impose any harm. If child labour is detected at a facility, the supplier is responsible for developing, participating in, and contributing to policies and programmes that provide for transitional arrangements to enable the child to remain in quality education until no longer a child.

Employment must be freely chosen. Suppliers must not use or support any form of slavery and forced and bonded labour. Employees must not be subject to recruitment fees or deposits, withholding of salary and benefits, lodging of personal documents by the employer, or forced to overtime.

At Konges Sløjd, we ensure fair treatment of migrant workers by conducting thorough social audits during the onboarding process for all suppliers. These audits verify compliance with our standards, including ethical recruitment, fair contracts, and equal pay. We check that working conditions are safe, accommodations meet proper standards, and workers retain access to their passports and documents. Confidential interviews help confirm that workers’ rights are respected, and wage records are reviewed to ensure fairness. By auditing suppliers at the outset, we ensure our values of dignity, equality, and respect for migrant labor are upheld from the start.

Obligations to employees under international conventions and social security laws and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship must not be avoided by using short-term contracts, such as contract labour and casual labour. All employees, including temporary and casual workers, must have written and legal employment letters in a language they understand, specifying conditions of employment and termination.

Suppliers must not engage in or support discrimination in recruitment and in employment. Decisions about hiring, compensation, access to training, advancement, discipline, termination or retirement must be solely based on the ability to perform the job and not on the grounds ofgender, marital or parentalstatus, pregnancy, race, caste, colour, age, sexual orientation, religion, political opinion, union membership, function as worker representative, nationality, ethnic origin, health status, or disability.

All workers must be treated with respect and dignity. Suppliers must prevent, not engage in nor support the use of bullying, intimidation, violence, threats of violence, corporal punishment, or physical, sexual, psychological and verbal harassment or abuse. Procedures to ensure punitive measures in cases of harassment and/or discrimination must be put in place. Special measures must be put in place to protect female workers against gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace.

Suppliers must respect the rights of workers to join and organise associations of their own choosing and to bargain collectively with no interference or sanctions from employers. The supplier must implement mechanisms, such as worker participation committees, for resolving disputes, including employee grievances, and ensure effective communication with employees and their representatives.If the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining are restricted by national law, the supplier must allow workers to freely elect their own representatives, and alternative forms of worker representation must be supported.

Standard working hours must follow local regulations, collective bargaining agreements and industry standards, but must not exceed 48 hours per week, excluding overtime. All overtime must always be consensual and not requested on a regular basis. Weekly overtime must not exceed 12 hours. Employees must be allowed a minimum of 1 day off per week and paid annual leave. Maternity leave, sick leave, and other types of leave must be provided to all employees in accordance with relevant local regulations.

Wages for a standard working week must at a minimum meet the legal minimum wage, industry standards or negotiated wages, whichever is higher. Wages must be paid regularly and in a timely manner. Suppliers should work towards providing a fair living wage, im plying that wages are enough to meet the basic needs of employees and their families and provide some discretionary income. All overtime work must be compensated at a premium rate which is recommended to be no less than 125% of the regular pay rate. Deductions are only permitted if and to the extent prescribed by law or fixed by a collective agreement. It may not be used as a disciplinary practice.

A safe and hygienic working environment must be provided for all employees. To prevent accidents and injuries and promote a healthy and safe work environment, suppliers must – at a minimum –ensure that below listed initiatives are in place. The list is not exclusive but outlines the most critical aspects of a health and safety management system. Special measures must be put in place to ensure a gender-sensitive approach.

• Management representatives for occupational health and safety.
• Incident and risk management procedures proportionate to the type and size of business.
• Health and safety training on occupational risks. This includes training in firefighting and handling hazardous materials and chemicals.
• Provision of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), free of charge and in good condition. Training in the proper use of the PPE must be provided.
• All premises on site, including company-provided dormitories, restrooms, changing rooms and canteen, shall uphold appropriate standards on hygiene, health and safety.This includes adequate equipment for fire safety.
• Access to clean drinking water and access to sanitary facilities for employees at all times.
• Safe and healthy buildings. All relevant permits and certificates regarding building safety should be kept for review.
• Safe electrical installations installed and maintained by competent personnel.

Suppliers must conduct their operations in accordance with below requirements on chemicals:

• The European Union REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 Annex XVII and later amendments;
• The “substances of very high concern” (SVHC) i.e. the European Union REACH Regulation (EC) no. 1907/2006 Candidate List. Suppliers are requested to check the list on a regular basis as this list is continuously updated;
• The ZDHC Manufacturing Restricted Substance List https://mrsl.roadmaptozero.com/MRSL3_0
• Country specific regulations on export markets.

Local laws must be followed in the sto rage, handling, use and disposal of all chemicals and must comply with the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for each chemical product.

Suppliers must carry out all operations in full compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and industry guidelines on water conservation, water quality, and wastewater. Measures must be put in place to clear wastewater. Suppliers should work towards minimising the use of water during production processes, including introducing water saving techniques and waste- water recycling. This is particularly pertinent for suppliers with wet processing. Suppliers without wet
processes are also expected to manage and measure water consumption.

Suppliers should work towards measuring the impact of their operations on the local/regional water supply to avoid negatively contributing to water stress.

Suppliers must reduce and control emissions to air according to applicable regulations. This includes noise, odour, and dust emissions.Suppliers should work towards mitigating negative impact on climate change by carrying out the following measures: implementing energy efficiency measures in the value chain, starting with high-impact processes, using renewable energy sources if available; and calculating emissions and setting targets to reduce the emissions using recognized standard-setting tools.

All waste must be managed responsibly and as a minimum according to applicable regulations. Hazardous waste must be handled by an authorized company/organisation. Suppliers should minimize waste during production processes going to landfill, facilitate collection of waste to be re-used, reduce use of virgin raw materials, and optimize use of recycled materials. The goal should be no waste to landfill. Local laws must be followed in the storage, handling, use and disposal of all chemicals and must comply with the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for each chemical product.