Detail on Workers Rights 

Wages

Laura Ashley’s code commits suppliers to paying ‘at least the minimum’ wage or ‘a reasonable sum’ if none exists.  We asked about a living wage, but the response we received did not address this issue at all, and in fact by not referring to prevailing or industry benchmarks, Laura Ashley sets a lower standard than most other retailers.

Freedom of Association

Laura Ashley’s code states that, “no worker should be discriminated against or prevented from joining a trade union or business association,” and that in countries where this is not permitted, “suppliers should strive to foster parallel means of workers’ representation.”  Again, we asked about promoting access to this right, but the response we received did not address this.

Monitoring and verification

Laura Ashley’s website states that, “[t]he company has met with various suppliers over the year and reinforced our commitment to Ethical Supply Chains...This work will continue and will be monitored as site visits take place.”  The company sent us a copy of the guidelines for its representatives inspecting factory premises, which made no mention of checking rates of pay, freedom of association, or interviewing workers.  From this limited information, Laura Ashley seems to be a long way behind even the weak social auditing model used by most companies.

Its 2007 clarification set out that,

We currently have 2 internal technologists who carry out factory audits for fashion. Most recently they have carried out audits in Turkey - during December 2006.

Clearly, therefore, audits are not carried out by workers’ rights specialists and are very infrequent.

Our conclusion

Unchanged from 2006.  We hope it was only our questions that Laura Ashley did not take very seriously, and not the issues about which we asked.  The responses we received indicated a lack of real engagement on Laura Ashley’s part.  A company with a £200 million turnover can and should have a lot more to say about its policies on  workers’ rights.