Commitments

We endeavour to maintain long-term relations with suppliers who share our commitment in terms of respect for fundamental human rights at work.

Established in 2002, our Supplier Charter is a basic policy for the control of social conditions.  It is based on the rules of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and more specifically on the conventions aimed at eliminating child labour, slavery and forced or compulsory labour.
Our commitment is extremely clear: the Supplier Charter considers child labour and forced labour as "an unacceptable practice in all commercial relations between our company and a supplier".
There are also requirements concerning health and safety, remuneration and working hours, freedom of association, compliance with all applicable environmental laws, non-discrimination on racial, ethnic or sexual grounds, non-harassment and the disclosure of our Supplier Charter to employees and sub-contractors.

The charter has been translated into English, Chinese, Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada and Sinhalese. Our suppliers are required to communicate it to their employees.  This charter is now part and parcel of the standard contract entered into with all new suppliers.
 
Social conformity audits make it possible to check on site that the principles of our Supplier Charter are being complied with: they are conducted by an independent external firm.  In the event of non-compliance, the supplier, in coordination with us, implements corrective measures which are then checked through a verification audit.  We have set out clear rules and criteria making it possible to assess a supplier's social performance, and adapt the amount of time granted for the implementation of corrective measures depending on the infraction reported.
Social audits are carried out within the scope of a dynamic and progressive relationship with our suppliers, founded on long-term partnership and co-operation.  For these audits, we rely on the common database compiled by the Social Clause Initiative launched by the Federation of Commerce and Distribution, of which PPR is member.
 
Our network of seven dedicated purchasing offices guarantees better control of the conditions under which our products are manufactured: our buyers have better visibility, in terms of quality as well as social ethics.

Social Stakes

Within the scope of a partnership with the Max Havelaar France association (hypertext link), we help to develop a new fair-trade cotton channel in Africa for our textile products.

For the first time ever, a line of 12 different T-shirts bearing the fair-trade label was included in La Redoute's 2005-2006 Autumn-Winter catalogue, coming from Mali, Senegal, Burkina-Faso and Cameroon. This label guarantees the 3,000 small producers concerned a minimum purchase price 20 to 30% higher than the international market price and a development bonus is given to producer organisations.  This bonus will be used to sponsor general-interest work: drilling of wells, road work, etc.

The customer at the heart of the CLIO programme

Launched in 2002 by PPR, and deployed in each PPR company, the CLIO  (CLIent Obsession) programme places customer satisfaction at the heart of our jobs.
The second phase of the programme – CLIO 2 – launched in 2004, asserts our wish to pursue this commitment over the long term.