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3-P Initiative: (People - Social Compliance)
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Socially Compliant Products
Today’s modern supply chain is global and sprawling. Behind every product we sell are hundreds of people from all over the world who helped make and decorate it. I.D. Me College pushes supply chains to know that these people are respected and work in a safe working environment.
The Challenge: Transparency
The starting point for any corporate social responsibility program is to disclose the companies that are involved in a supply chain by tracing suppliers as far upstream as possible. Having this lens into the supply chain is called transparency. Once transparency is established, measurements can be put into place to verify how well each supplier understands their supply chains.
The challenge in the promotional products industry is that most of our supply chains are hidden and not transparent. Without transparency it is impossible to verify that products are truly socially compliant. We can trust our suppliers, but we can’t necessarily verify it.
It is our aspirational goal that one day we will be able to not only trust that we are working with best-in-class suppliers, but verify that through transparency into their suppliers’ suppliers.
Today’s Solution: CSR for Promotional Products
Given these limitations, I.D. Me College has developed a preferred suppliers list. We currently work with fewer than 3% of the 3,000 industry suppliers. We work closely with these suppliers to scorecard their involvement in social compliance issues, affiliations with outside groups, their dedication to on staff compliance officers and their CSR policies and procedures. Only suppliers that meet our scorecard expectations for social compliance standards can be part of the I.D. Me College program.
We want suppliers that demonstrate through participation in industry events and in some instances where we can rely on input from outside non-governmental organizations, suppliers that demonstrate ethical behavior. We look for suppliers that just don’t comply with applicable laws, but are actively involved with CSR and have policies and procedures that are consistent with international norms of behavior.
Our suppliers’ commitments can be found on the product pages of our website. There you will find a compliance tab where we post information such as signed Supplier Compliance Agreements, a Code of Conduct, factory site disclosure, country of origin and many other areas that outline their efforts to uphold our expectations for providing products that are made in socially compliant facilities. Our Meet Our Suppliers page expands on this information with individual stories (see Meet Our Suppliers).
Code of Conduct
The foundation of the social compliance program is our Code of Conduct. This document is a list of minimum, mandatory requirements that must be met to be part of the I.D. Me College program. The areas covered by the Code of Conduct are expectations that all workers in a product’s supply chain are treated fairly and are safe.
All suppliers who provide products under the I.D. Me College program have signed an agreement to follow our Code of Conduct. They also agreed to implement our Code of Conduct up their supply chain.
I.D. Me College continues to work with suppliers to emphasize the importance of regular audits, corrective action plans, remediation and follow-through monitored by an independent third party to verify that the Code of Conduct is being adhered to and meaningful.
The I.D. Me College Code of Conduct is based on the most contemporary standards of the industry. We meet or exceed the standards of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), the Promotional Products International Association (PPAI) and many other leading companies and organizations that advocate for worker safety.
To view our Code of Conduct, click here.
Please let us know if you’d like more information on what we are doing to push for social compliance in the promotional products industry and how we work to improve the working conditions across our industry.