C& A Requirements

C&A - Our Supplier Code of Conduct
What we expect of suppliers is clearly laid out and communicated through

our Supplier Code of Conduct and checked using regular audits by our
Sustainable Supply Chain (SSC) team, which comprises over 100 people
worldwide, including 42 auditors and 29 development officers. In 2017,
we updated the standards expected within the Supplier Code of Conduct
on fire safety, environment and working hours, making them more
stringent. When there are breaches of our Supplier Code of Conduct we
invite suppliers, C&A employees and workers in our suppliers' factories
to let us know through our Fairness Channels, where breaches can be
escalated to management in an anonymous fashion.
How we rate suppliers
When it comes to rating our suppliers on sustainability, our first guiding
principle is transparency, supported by our commitment to capacity
building. This is reflected in our ratings. Sustainability criteria makes up
20% of our overall supplier ‘scorecard’ rating and has the same weight as
price, quality, delivery and product execution. Each production unit is
rated from A to E based on a set of assessment criteria for the elements
of our Supplier Code of Conduct.
Production units rated A and B are those that have no serious violations
as rated against weightings that correspond to each element of our
Supplier Code of Conduct. As an example, the discovery of a serious
issue like insufficient firefighting equipment or repeatedly missing fire drill
will result in a D rating, while the discovery of any zero-tolerance issue
will result in an E rating.
A supplier’s overall rating is calculated as the average of the total number

of production units used for C&A production. However, if a supplier has
one E-rated production unit, the overall supplier rating will become E. It is
our policy not to place production orders with E-rated suppliers – although
we work closely with them to address these issues and improve their
rating over time so they are able receive new orders in the future. New
suppliers and production units must be able to demonstrate that they meet
our sustainability criteria, and if needed, make improvements before they
can start working with us.
Relationship termination
In cases where suppliers and the factories are on-compliant with our Code
of Conduct, we seek to work with the supplier, factory management and
our internal teams to improve. Unless the non-compliances are serious
and of a zero tolerance nature, we maintain our business relationship to
avoid unintended consequences to workers.
If a supplier maintains a non-compliant factory (E-rated) for longer than 6

months, the relationship with the supplier and associated factories is
suspended. Because every situation is unique, potential exit strategies
must be tailered to each situation. In all cases, we ensure that the
workers are not adversely impacted by a potential termination of our
business relationship – at a minimum, by following the local laws.
Our zero-tolerance criteria

To continually improve our auditing process and drive the right behaviour,
we update our audit protocols every year to raise the bar on our standards
over time. For example, C&A's code for underage workers is set at the
ILO standard (16 years of age) that can be above national regulations (14
years of age). In 2018, we will work with a new set of zero-tolerance
issues to keep improving working conditions in our supply chain.
The box below shows the complete list of our zero-tolerance issues and
their rationale:
Category Description
Forced, bonded, Forced work – by actual or perceived threat

indentured or prison labour
Serious forms of child A worker under 16 years old who is subject
labour to slavery, forced or compulsory labour,
prostitution, pornography, drug trafficking or
other work which is likely to harm the
worker’s health, safety or morals
Child labour/underage Workers who are below 16 years old

workers
Abuse Any evidence of physical, sexual, verbal or

mental abuse
Failure to pay minimum If less than 50% of sampled workers do not

wages receive the legal minimum wage
Failure to pay probationary If >50% of sampled workers do not receive

wages the legal probationary wage
Foreign or migrant workers Workers do not have the right to work or

without legal work permits have a valid work permit
Unauthorised Production which is placed in an

homeworking unauthorised home production unit
Denied audit Not granting unrestricted access to workers,

records, all areas of the production unit and
dormitories, without unreasonable delay for
a second time
Working hours
Paid overtime Any case where workers work over 91

hours/week and are not paid for all overtime
hours worked in accordance with legal
requirements and at a premium rate
One day off per week Any case where workers work 31 days or
more consecutively
Workplace Health & Safety
Sandblasting The use of manufacturing practices that

propel very fine bits of material at high
velocity to clean or etch a surface. This
process often uses sand with crystalline
silica that could lead to silicosis
Building safety
Production unit located in a Minimum criteria:

multi-tenant building where
1. The entire building has a valid fire licence
four minimum criteria are
not met 2. The entire building has a valid building
certificate
3. A common fire drill has been conducted for

the entire building
4. A centralised fire alarm system is installed

and operational for the entire building
No legal building certificate A building certificate/permit allowing legal
or permit use and occupancy is not available, not valid
or does not cover the entire building and/or
the building does not have approval for
industrial use
Structure and use of the For example, items like incorrect or addition
building are not aligned of floors, number of buildings included in the
with the legally approved legal approval and the roof of the building is
building plan not constructed or used in accordance with
the legally approved building plan.
Business licence not valid The production unit address does not match
the address on the business licence
Fire safety
No fire licence Fire licence is not available, not legally valid

or does not cover the whole building
Dormitory or living area is

not clearly separated from
the production area and/or
warehouse
Industrial generators
and/or boilers are not
isolated from the
production area
In our Supplier Code of Conduct we describe in more detail what C&A
expects from our suppliers regarding legal compliance, labour practices,
environmental performance, and anti-corruption. The provisions in the
Code constitute the minimum, never the maximum standards. These are
different to the zero tolerance issues outlined above. For instance, in the
Supplier Code of Conduct when we outline our expectations for working
hours, our suppliers should meet the following minimum standards :
 Suppliers must define standard working hours by contract, at a number that

is in line with national law or collective agreements, with a maximum of 48
hours per week including overtime.
 Suppliers must make use of overtime work responsibly, not request overtime
work on a regular basis, and accept that overtime is voluntary, and therefore
not coerce workers to work overtime.
 Working hours must not exceed 60 hours in any seven-day period, except in
truly exceptional, unforeseeable circumstances. And only if all the following
conditions are met: 1) allowed by national law, 2) allowed by collective
agreement, and 3) safeguards are taken to protect workers’ health and safety.
 Suppliers must allow workers to take breaks, to have a least on day off in
every seven-day period, and to take statutory holidays.

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C&A - Our Supplier Code of Conduct

What we expect of suppliers is clearly laid out and communicated through

A supplier’s overall rating is calculated as the average of the total number

If a supplier maintains a non-compliant factory (E-rated) for longer than 6

Our zero-tolerance criteria

Forced, bonded, Forced work – by actual or perceived threat

Child labour/underage Workers who are below 16 years old

Abuse Any evidence of physical, sexual, verbal or

Failure to pay minimum If less than 50% of sampled workers do not

Failure to pay probationary If >50% of sampled workers do not receive

Foreign or migrant workers Workers do not have the right to work or

Unauthorised Production which is placed in an

Denied audit Not granting unrestricted access to workers,

Paid overtime Any case where workers work over 91

Workplace Health & Safety

Sandblasting The use of manufacturing practices that

Production unit located in a Minimum criteria:

3. A common fire drill has been conducted for

4. A centralised fire alarm system is installed

No fire licence Fire licence is not available, not legally valid

Dormitory or living area is

 Suppliers must define standard working hours by contract, at a number that

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