Worker Wellbeing

We’ve developed a multi-faceted approach to help us assess worker wellbeing through our supply chain. As a B Corporation (B Corp), we are committed to balancing profit with our impact on people and planet. Our approach focuses on collaboration, transparency, and stakeholder engagement. While our methods aren’tperfect, they’re constantly evolving. Let’s dive in.

B Corp, run by nonprofit B Lab, is a nonprofit network transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. In a nutshell, B Corp aims to make business a force for good. We take this certification seriously, considering the impacts our decisions have on our customers, our wider community, the environment, and the workers in our global supply chain. Learn more about our B Corp certification here.

• We’re committed to taking meaningful action on living wages within our supply chain and recognise that addressing low wages is part of our responsibility to protect and respect human rights. In 2024 we’re focusing on identifying where the risks of wage gaps in our supply chain are greatest. Once data is collected, we’ll develop an engagement plan with priority suppliers and publicly report on our findings and planned actions. You can find more details on the KMD Brands Fair Compensation page

• We provide channels to encourage workers in our supply chain to communicate with us where needed. We invest in a direct hotline via email and QR code and worker surveys as part of social assessments. In 2024 we are investigating the effectiveness of our grievance mechanism in detecting human rights violations. Kathmandu has also partnered with New Zealand company, Ask Your Team, to offer a real-time survey to workers relating to worker wellbeing and engagement. In 2023, we extended the use of workers surveys to suppliers in Vietnam. More than 4,500 office and production workers completed the survey, mostly on their own smartphones. We asked for feedback on a range of topics, from human rights to workplace health and safety, remuneration to worker aspirations. We will expand the use of these surveys in China in 2024

All Kathmandu suppliers must recognise and respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining. This is a contractual requirement, as is training workers on these rights. To further support freedom of association in Bangladesh KMD
Brands is a signatory to the International Accord (Signatories - International Accord).  

Our Workplace Code of Conduct is based on the International Labour Organisation’s standards and on internationally accepted good labour practices. The code outlines our expectations from suppliers including working hours, safe working conditions, sufficient compensation, and environmental standards we expect them to meet. All our manufacturing partners must sign and abide to our Code of Conduct, or we won’t do
business with them.

Read our Code of Conduct, here.

Facilities are provided a Code of Conduct translated into the language/s their workers speak.  

Making our own supply chain more transparent is a central part of our overall strategy. We share our supply chain via the Open Supply Hub, an open-source, neutral, and publicly accessible database of yarn and fabric mills, textile dye houses, finishers and garment manufacturers worldwide. Every facility that makes our products is identified and located on a global map, via GPS coordinates.

Filter by Contributor List using "Kathmandu" and view the exact locations of our apparel facilities. 

This is a complete (100%) list of the group’s tier 1 suppliers. It also includes key traced tier 2 suppliers. This list is updated every 6 months. 

Kathmandu is engaged in several multi-stakeholder initiatives that are valuable in generating ESG-related dialogue. We also have strategic partnerships that support collaboration on remediation with shared suppliers. 

The FLA is a collaborative effort of universities, civil society organizations, and socially responsible companies dedicated to
protecting worker’s rights around the world. The FLA provides transparency and accountability for our internal program and ensures we are complying with international labour standards and best practices throughout our supply chain.  Kathmandu was the first company in Australasia to become an accredited member of the FLA in 2018 and our Code of Conduct and supplier assessment framework is aligned with and based upon the 2020 FLA Compliance Benchmarks. 

All Kathmandu tier 1 manufacturing suppliers and nominated tier 2 suppliers are subject to risk assessments that include human rights criteria. We recognise the limitations of audits in relation to facilitating long-term improvements and use them as one tool within our monitoring program. Our focus for audit assessments is on transparency, worker voice and the participation of union and/or worker representatives. 

We publish our Modern Slavery Statement each year, in line with Australia’s Modern Slavery Reporting Requirement under the Modern Slavery Act 2018. This report describes our actions to assess and
address modern slavery risks.  

2023 Kathmandu Modern Slavery Statement

Forced Labour and Child Labour Policy

We participate in the Ethical Fashion Report produced by Baptist World Aid Australia each year. The Ethical Fashion Report grades fashion companies on ethical practices in their supply chains, giving consumers the power to shop ethically.  The report scores companies on the levels of visibility and transparency across their supply chain with regards to policies, transparency and traceability, auditing and supplier relationships, worker empowerment, and environmental management. 

Find the latest report, here.

For suggestions or feedback on our Worker Wellbeing approach, please contact our ESG team.