Equal opportunity in the supply chain

Equal opportunity is a concern for us not only at our company headquarters in Tettnang, but also in our Asian production facilities. The composition of the workforce at the management level tells us a lot about gender equality. Fair Wear Foundation audit reports on the gender distribution in the two categories „Management & Staff" and „Production Workers".

Gender dispersion in Vietnam

In the facilities in Vietnam audited in 2014, a total of 75 percent of employees in „Management & Staff" were female and 25 percent male. In the category „Production workers" 83 percent of the workforce were female and 17 percent male.

Gender dispersion in China

In the category „Management & Staff" in China, 57 percent were women and 43 percent men. In the „Production workers" category, 73 percent were women and 27 percent men.

Gender dispersion in Turkey

In the category „Management & Staff" in Turkey, 50 percent were women and 50 percent men. In the „Production Workers" category, 27 percent were women and 73 percent men.

Gender dispersion in Myanmar

In the category „Management & Staff" in Myanmar, 82 percent were women and 18 percent men. In the „Production Workers" category, 99 percent were women and 1 percent men.

As a rule of thumb, we have established that the proportion of women in the production facilities for the clothing industry lies between 68 and 75 percent. Many of our producers, therefore, either have their own child care or plan to set one up.

With regard to wage discrimination, the Fair Wear Foundation addresses this issue with the creation of the Wage Ladders. If there are problems, they will be listed in the comments under the Wage Ladder.

In our major production centers China and Vietnam, this is hardly ever a problem.

The Fair Wear Foundation evaluates indirect discrimination and explores the question of whether a company has some departments in which the wages are generally higher, or in which men are preferably employed even though women could also do the job.

There was one complaint regarding the equal treatment of employees for our VAUDE producers in 2014 during the Fair Wear Foundation audits in Vietnam. Female employees were required to agree to not become pregnant during the first six months of employment during the hiring process. This practice was discussed with the supplier and immediately stopped by VAUDE.