As businesses increasingly prioritise responsible practices, it's crucial to work with suppliers who share the same values. This guide outlines key labour rights criteria you should look for when choosing suppliers and highlights how Ansell leads by example. By making informed decisions, you not only protect workers but also contribute to a fairer, more transparent global supply chain.
Things Customers Should Look For:
Protecting migrant workers
Migrant workers are more vulnerable due to their impermanent migration status, language barriers, limited access to social infrastructure and recourse, and reliance on their employer for the legal right to work.
❑ No recruitment fees paid to agents by migrant workers❑ Transparent hiring practices
❑ Freedom – e.g., no restriction of movement, ownership of travel documents/IDs
❑ No forced overtime without rest
❑ Accommodation is regularly audited
Actions Taken by Ansell:
✔ Ethical Recruitment Program with periodic check-ins during employment to protect migrant workers✔ Policies and contracts in their native language
✔ Labour agents are vetted and asked to sign our Supplier Code of Conduct
✔ Zero Recruitment Fee Policy – no agent can charge fees, and those who historically have must reimburse workers
✔ Bringing migrant workers under direct employment where possible
✔ Audited accommodation provided
Monitoring working hours and overtime
The manufacture of consumer goods is often shift-based to maximise production, leading to exploitation via long hours and excessive overtime.
❑ Regulated, reasonable hours❑ Adequate rest
❑ No fear of discipline if overtime is refused
Actions Taken by Ansell:
✔ Compliance with local laws on working hours and rest days (at least 1 in every 7)✔ Overtime is voluntary and monitored
✔ Shift planning, flexible labour strategy, supervisory training
Access to grievance mechanisms
Crucial for mitigating risks, empowering businesses to listen to their employees, and upholding labour standards.
❑ Formal, structured, transparent grievance mechanisms❑ No fear of retaliation by workers reporting issues
❑ Processes to ensure meaningful action on grievances
❑ Unionisation or advocacy groups permitted to raise collective concerns
Actions Taken by Ansell:
✔ Multiple grievance channels, including secure and anonymous options, with no-retaliation policy✔ Hotlines managed by impartial third-parties in workers’ native language to ensure objectivity and fairness
✔ More than 78% of workers covered by unions, collective bargaining and/or worker committees/representatives
✔ Suppliers are required to establish effective non-retaliative grievance mechanisms and audited to check
Audits and supply chain transparency
Essential to ensure ethical standards, identify risks early, and provide insights on opportunities to improve conditions.
❑ On-site audits of own premises and workers, and third-parties such as labour agents and suppliers' sites❑ Transparency on audit processes and the mechanisms to continually identify issues
❑ Remediation action taken if issues are found, with processes to terminate relationships as a last resort
Actions Taken by Ansell:
✔ Two different types of audits carried out – SMETA and comprehensive FLI audits of high-risk sites✔ Supplier Management Framework to onboard and manage suppliers on an ongoing basis
✔ Suppliers categorised on risk – high-risk are audited and assessed, with a corrective action plan put in place
✔ Our goal: 100% of direct suppliers meeting Ansell’s labour, health, and safety standards by 2027
Ansell also demonstrates (as should all suppliers):
✔ Zero tolerance for all forms of modern slavery✔ Wages at or above local laws and regulations
✔ Robust health and safety strategy with job-specific safety instructions provided to workers