At KOOKAILAB, we are committed to conducting business ethically and expect our manufacturing partners to share the same commitment. That’s why we have developed a global ethics program called Ethical Trading Standards to prevent abusive, exploitative or illegal conditions in the workplace and to prevent human trafficking and slavery. The Ethical Trading Standards include a Supplier Workplace Code of Conduct and all agents, suppliers and factories are required to participate in the Ethical Trading Standards program as a condition of doing business with our brands.

Verification: We evaluate all direct manufacturing suppliers annually to verify that they are not at risk of violating anti-slavery and human trafficking laws. Our own in-house Ethical Trading Standards team leads the verification process using an in-house developed assessment tool. We also rely on the opinions of independent factory auditors to assess these risks and vulnerabilities.

Supplier Audits: We monitor supplier conduct and compliance with Ethical Trading Standards through unannounced audits and ongoing monitoring through our independent contractors.

Certification: To ensure that our suppliers respect and enforce our Trading Ethical Standards, the commercial agreements that govern our contractual relationships generally provide that our suppliers must comply with our Trading Ethical Standards or the contractual relationship will be terminated. More specifically, we require that our suppliers agree to provide workers with a safe and healthy working environment; allow workers freedom of association and collective bargaining; conduct business in compliance with applicable environmental, labor and employment laws; avoid corrupt practices; and prevent human trafficking and slavery. We also require our suppliers to certify that materials used in our products comply with applicable laws, including laws related to slavery and human trafficking in the countries in which they operate.

Internal Responsibility: Failure to comply with our ethical trading standards may result in a corrective action plan, under which our employees and contractors are expected to take a series of steps to correct their violations so that they can continue to work as active employees or contractors. Otherwise, they face dismissal. Throughout the evaluation process, facility management will receive education and assistance regarding any noncompliance issues encountered during the applicable audit.

Training: As part of our efforts to ensure compliance with  standards and to prevent abusive, exploitative or illegal conditions in the workplace, our ETH department provides training to employees and management on our Code and human rights issues, including human trafficking and slavery tiers of ongoing internal training related to our supply chain. This training specifically covers mitigating human trafficking and slavery risks in the supply chain of our brand products and is mandatory for brand employees and management directly responsible for supply chain management.