As of May 2019 Mountain Equipment have been awarded ‘Leader Status’ by Fair Wear Foundation, the highest of their performance benchmarking categories, for a third year running.

Together with Fair Wear Foundation (FWF), Mountain Equipment are working to achieve fair working conditions worldwide. Mountain Equipment has been a member of FWF since 2012 and has developed a close partnership with FWF, working together with them continuously over the past 7 years.

In order to reach Leader status, Mountain Equipment achieved a monitoring percentage of 90% in the FWF Brand Performance Check for 2018. In these annual reviews, FWF verifies member brands regarding their progress in implementing labour standards and improving working conditions. This marks a significant achievement by the business as only around 10% of FWF member brands manage to fulfil the requirements to be awarded Leader status.

Mountain Equipment has been able to maintain its leader status over the past years. The company has in-depth knowledge about its production sites and effectively implements action plans wherever issues are found” – Anne van Lakerveld, Brand Liaison Fair Wear Foundation

“Mountain Equipment has worked hard to better integrate social compliance into its purchasing practices.” FWF is an independent, non-profit, multi-stakeholder organisation that works with brands and producers to improve labour conditions in the garment industry worldwide.

FWF has over 90 member brands with representation in 11 production countries in Asia, Europe and Africa and keeps detailed track of progress made by all the partners it works with.

As a member of FWF, Mountain Equipment is committed to implementing the strict 8-point FWF Code of Labour Practices, which is based on UN and ILO principles, in all production facilities and so meets the highest standards for socially equitable working conditions. These include, among others, the payment of living wages, reasonable working hours, safe and healthy working conditions, prevention of child labour and many more.

“We have been working hard for the last 7 years to ensure the working conditions in the production facilities we use meet acceptable welfare standards. Being recognised by FWF as a leading brand in this respect is greatly rewarding and helps to encourage us to continue in this important and challenging work” says Kevin Offer, CSR Manager OSC Ltd.

In regularly scheduled audits, FWF monitors working conditions and social standards in individual production facilities. During the audit, employees are questioned both inside and outside of the manufacturing plant without the presence of management. Where standards are found to be below FWF requirements a “Corrective Action Plan” is produced which sets out what must be done by the brand, within a clear timeframe.