H&M launched its fair living wage strategy in 2013, aiming at ensuring that all supply chain workers receive a wage that is enough to support a family and is earned during legal working hour limits. A large number of garment workers located in H&M’s supply chain get a living wage. A huge proportion of the company’s product volume is now produced in factories that have improved on wage standards and human rights.
More than two-thirds of H&M’s product volume is sourced from factories that are implementing improved wage management systems – covering 6,35,000 workers. The company has a time-specific target to ensure that worker representatives cover 100 per cent of factories that H&M works with across Bangladesh. Globally, 73 per cent of H&M’s product volume is located in factories that have democratically elected worker representation.
Since 2013, the number of factories supplying to H&M covered by the strategy has increased from three to 655. More than 9,30,000 workers are located in these factories, which account for 84 per cent of product volume. As a buyer, H&M focuses the management process of wage standards, rather than imposing specific wage levels for suppliers. The fashion retailer is working with factories to embed fair negotiating processes between governments, employers, worker representatives and the wider labor market.
