California Transparency in Supply Chains Act
In 2010, California enacted the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act to become effective January 1, 2012. This Act was in response to the concern over forced labor in international markets. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), when the Act became effective, close to 21 million people were victims of forced labor globally. The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act is an effort to help consumers make more informed decisions about their purchases. The Act requires retailers and manufacturers to disclose specific efforts aimed at ensuring their supply chain does not support forced labor.
Outdoor Cap is dedicated to both protecting and promoting the rights of factory workers and improving factory working conditions worldwide. Our customers can be confident that Outdoor Cap products are manufactured in factories that are committed to advancing sustainable social compliance.
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Outdoor Cap has an extensive onboarding process for new factory partners, which includes a broad review of geographical concerns of possible violations of Outdoor Cap’s Workplace Code of Conduct or national and international laws and regulations, in addition to a more specific factory review. One of the possible violations of the Code or law is the use of forced labor. Part of the review includes an audit conducted by an independent third party to determine whether forced labor exists in the factory. Outdoor Cap considers forced labor to be a zero tolerance violation, and Outdoor Cap will not onboard a factory where forced labor exists.
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Outdoor Cap has a dedicated Global Compliance Team that works closely together with 100% of our factory partners to identify and evaluate areas of concern and risk through auditing, monitoring and remediation. One of the areas of concern is that of forced labor. The auditing, both unannounced and announced, is conducted by in-house compliance team members and by independent third party certified auditors.
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Outdoor Cap requires 100% of its factory partners to undergo an annual supplier certification. The certification includes each partner signing that they comply with Outdoor Cap’s Workplace Code of Conduct. The Workplace Code of Conduct specifically prohibits forced labor throughout the supply chain, which includes materials. Additionally, the Workplace Code of Conduct requires strict compliance with both national and international labor laws and regulations.
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Outdoor Cap maintains a Worker’s Confidential Reporting Channel with a local hotline number in each factory. Additionally, multiple suggestion boxes are maintained in each factory. Further, Outdoor Cap has a confidential email address that is provided to all factory workers and is posted throughout each factory that enables the workers to communicate directly with Outdoor Cap. Outdoor Cap’s Workplace Code of Conduct explicitly prohibits retaliation against anyone who reports a possible violation of the Code or law. Our factory partners’ grievance mechanisms are audited on an annual basis, at a minimum. The adequacy of the grievance mechanisms is reviewed, as well as, the responsiveness of management and the maintenance of confidentiality and non-retaliation.
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All Outdoor Cap team members and the management and workers of Outdoor Cap’s factory partners receive training on forced labor at least once annually.