ETHICAL PRODUCTS

At Pamela Mann we believe that it is our responsibility to provide the best quality hosiery and accessories products possible, in a way that does not harm the environment. We do not believe in unethical trading. Pamela Mann products are manufactured in accredited audited factories. Our Hinckley Factory is Sedex accredited and all of our merchandise comes from Oeke-Tex accredited factories.

European Quality

All printing, embellishment and packing is undertaken in our UK warehouse, to the highest British standards of safety and quality. All of our items undergo a long detailed quality control process that ensures every item is tested and analysed to provide ultimate satisfaction.

Carbon Footprint

We are always striving to ensure our carbon footprint is kept as low as possible. All of our packaging is environmentally friendly and recyclable in almost all cases.

Our partner factories are always striving to reduce their impact on the environment, in Italy for example they re-use water to reduce waste, they use solar power and energy saving lights.

We also offer a range of hosiery made from recycled yarns, please take a look at our Recycled range.

OUR POLICIES

ETHICAL LABOUR STANDARDS POLICY

SCOPE

This Policy applies to all [Business]’s own premises and in particular to all staff that have a managerial or supervisory responsibility for employees.

All business partners, including suppliers, service providers, subcontractors and labour providers are also required to adhere to the standards set out in this Policy.

The requirements in this Policy constitute minimum and not maximum standards and should not be used to prevent the exceeding of these standards. Where the provisions of law and this Policy address the same issues, we and our business partners must apply whichever provision affords the greater protection.

CODE

This code is based on the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Base Code, the Fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), national and international laws, and the requirements of the Fast Forward labour standards improvement programme:

EMPLOYMENT IS FREELY CHOSEN

1.1. There is no forced, bonded or involuntary prison labour.

1.2. Workers are not required to lodge monetary deposits or their identity papers with their employer and are free to leave their employment after reasonable notice.

1.3. Jobseekers must not be charged, either directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, any fees or costs at any point in the recruitment or employment process.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION, THE RIGHT TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ARE RESPECTED AND ACCESS TO REMEDY

2.1. Workers, without distinction, have the right to join or form trade unions of their own choosing and to bargain collectively.

2.2. The employer adopts an open attitude towards the activities of trade unions and their organisational activities.

2.3. Workers’ representatives are not discriminated against and have access to carry out their representative functions in the work place.

2.4. Where the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining is restricted under law, the employer facilitates and does not hinder the development of parallel means for independent and free association and bargaining.

2.5. Workers shall be provided with appropriate and effective access to remedy in accordance with natural justice and without fear of detriment.

WORKING CONDITIONS ARE SAFE AND HYGIENIC

3.1. A safe and hygienic working environment shall be provided, bearing in mind the prevailing knowledge of the industry and of any specific hazards.

3.2. Adequate steps shall be taken to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, associated with, or occurring in the course of work, by minimising, so far as is reasonably practicable the causes of hazards inherent in the working environments.

3.3. Workers shall receive regular and recorded health and safety training and such training shall be repeated for new or reassigned workers.

3.4. Workers shall be provided with access to clean toilet facilities and to potable water, and, if appropriate sanitary facilities for food storage shall be provided.

3.5. Accommodation, where provided, shall be clean, safe and meet the basic needs of the workers.

3.6. The company observing the code shall assign responsibility for Health & Safety to a senior management representative.

CHILD LABOUR SHALL NOT BE USED

4.1. There shall be no new recruitment of child labour.

4.2. Companies shall develop or participate in and contribute to policies and programmes which provide for the transition of any child found to be performing child labour to enable her or him to attend quality education until no longer a child; “child” and “child labour” being defined in the appendices

4.3. Young persons under 18 shall not be employed at night or in hazardous conditions.

4.4. These policies and procedures relating to Child Labour shall conform to the provisions of the relevant International Labour Organisation (ILO) Standards.

WAGES

5.1. Wages and benefits paid for a standard working week meet, at a minimum, national legal or industry benchmark standards, whichever is higher. In any event wages shall always be enough to meet basic needs and to provide some discretionary income.

5.2. All workers shall be provided with written and understandable information about their employment conditions including information with respect to wages before they enter employment, and about the particulars of their wages for the pay period concerned each time they are paid.

5.3. Deductions from wages as a disciplinary measure shall not be permitted nor shall any deductions from wages not provided for by national law be permitted without the expressed permission of the worker concerned. All disciplinary measures should be recorded.

WORKING HOURS ARE NOT EXCESSIVE

6.1. Working hours must comply with national laws, collective agreements, and the provisions defined in the clauses below, whichever affords the greater protection for workers.

6.2. Working hours, excluding overtime, shall be defined by contract, and shall not exceed 48 hours per week.

6.3. All overtime shall be voluntary. Overtime shall be used responsibly, taking into account all the following: the extent, frequency and hours worked by individual workers and the workforce as a whole. It shall not be used to replace regular employment. Overtime shall always be compensated at a premium rate, which is recommended to be not less than 125% of the regular rate of pay, except where a consolidated rate of pay has been negotiated with worker representation.

6.4. The total hours worked in any 7 day period shall not exceed 60 hours, except where covered by the clause below.

6.5. Working hours may exceed 60 hours in any 7 day period only in exceptional circumstances where all of the following are met:

6.5.1. this is allowed by national law;

6.5.2. this is allowed by a collective agreement freely negotiated with a workers’ organisation representing a significant portion of the workforce;

6.5.3. appropriate safeguards are taken to protect the workers’ health and safety; and

6.5.4. the employer can demonstrate that exceptional circumstances apply such as unexpected production peaks, accidents or emergencies.

6.6. Workers shall be provided with at least one day off in every 7 day period or, where allowed by national law, 2 days off in every 14 day period.

NO DISCRIMINATION IS PRACTISED

7.1. There is no discrimination in hiring, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on race, caste, national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, union membership or political affiliation.

REGULAR EMPLOYMENT IS PROVIDED

8.1. To every extent possible work performed must be on the basis of recognised employment relationships established through national law and practice.

8.2. Obligations to employees under labour or social security laws and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship shall not be avoided through the use of labour-only contracting, sub-contracting and home-working arrangements, or through apprenticeship schemes where there is no real intent to impart skills or provide regular employment, nor shall any such obligations be avoided through the excessive use of fixed-term contracts of employment.

NO HARSH OR INHUMANE TREATMENT IS ALLOWED

9.1. Physical abuse or discipline, the threat of physical abuse, sexual or other harassment and verbal abuse or other forms of intimidations shall be prohibited.

ENTITLEMENT TO WORK

10.1. Only workers with a legal right to work in the country should be employed.

10.2. For all workers, original documents should be reviewed and then returned to workers to verify right to work.

SUPPLY CHAIN DUE DILIGENCE

11.1. Businesses shall demonstrate sound commercial procurement practices, prior to appointment, to establish that suppliers, subcontractors, service providers, labour providers and homeworkers operate in line with all required legal and ethical labour standards. In particular, for labour providers ensuring that:

11.1.1. Relationships with Labour providers are covered by a contract and Service Level Agreement which meets all national legal and ethical requirements.

11.1.2. Labour providers undergo an independent, third-party social compliance audit on a regular basis to ensure compliance with all legal and ethical requirements.

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

12.1. Businesses will operate to well developed and integrated ethical labour standards policies and procedures as stipulated in this Ethical Labour Standards Policy. In particular:

12.1.1. Ensuring an anti-bribery and corruption policy is in place, is constructed in accordance with globally accepted good practice and is applied and complied with in arrangements with potential and current suppliers, service providers and clients.

12.1.2. Ensuring key decision-making managers act at all times in a fit and proper manner;

12.1.3. Ensuring that the business has the competence, capability and management processes to enable it to comply with all applicable legislation and ethical standards related to the recruitment and employment of workers.

TAX

13.1. Businesses shall ensure that all employment and business taxes are accurately calculated and paid in accordance with national law.

ENVIRONMENT

14.1. At a minimum, companies must comply with the requirements of all local and international environmental laws and regulations including having necessary permits.

ACCOUNTABILITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

This Policy has been approved by Nicky Morgan, Business Manager and will be reviewed annually. The Policy Owner is Rob Morris who is responsible for creating this Policy and ensuring there are appropriate systems in place to manage compliance with the Policy and all relevant legislation, and maintaining records to monitor and demonstrate compliance.

IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING

Internal: Pamela Mann will implement supporting management systems to ensure this Policy is embedded throughout the business. We will undertake regular, internal audits and set necessary targets and objectives to monitor and measure our own progress on ethical compliance. We will undergo regular independent audits, commissioned by our customers, to monitor our own compliance with this Policy.
Labour providers: We expect labour providers to undergo an annual, independent third party social audit or equivalent external scrutiny through an independent, labour provider social compliance certification scheme.
Suppliers, service providers and sub-contractors: We expect all suppliers, service providers, sub-contractors and any other business partners to agree as part of their contract to adhere to the standards set out in this Ethical Labour Standards Policy and to all relevant legislation and international labour standards. Where necessary, we may request further evidence of compliance to these standards for example through an independent, third party social compliance audit.

COMMUNICATION AND GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS

This policy is available to view on our website www.pamelamannco.uk. We are committed to communicating to all relevant parties internally and externally, with appropriate training where necessary, all updates to this Policy.
Details of how workers may raise grievances in relation to this Policy or on any other matter related to Pamela Mann’s conduct are detailed in our guidelines.

DEFINITIONS

Child - Any person less than 15 years of age unless local minimum age law stipulates a higher age for work or mandatory schooling, in which case the higher age shall apply. If however, local minimum age law is set at 14 years of age in accordance with developing country exceptions under ILO Convention No. 138, the lower will apply.

Homeworker - Our definition of homework is based upon the ILO definition (1996, C177, Article 1) which states:

a) the term home work means work carried out by a person, to be referred to as a homeworker,
i) in his or her home or in other premises of his or her choice, other than the workplace of the employer;
ii) for remuneration;

iii) which results in a product or service as specified by the employer, irrespective of who provides the equipment, materials or other inputs used, unless this person has the degree of autonomy and of economic independence necessary to be considered an independent worker under national laws, regulations or court decisions;

b) persons with employee status do not become homeworkers within the meaning of this Convention simply by occasionally performing their work as employees at home, rather than at their usual workplaces;
c) the term employer means a person, natural or legal, who, either directly or through an intermediary, whether or not intermediaries are provided for in national legislation, gives out home work in pursuance of his or her business activity.

Labour provider - A term interchangeable with “labour recruiter” as expressed in the Forced Labour (Supplementary Measures) Recommendation, No 203, which refers to both private and public entities that offer labour recruitment services. Private entities may be formal (e.g. registered under commercial or other law) or informal (not registered, such as informal sub-agents), profit-seeking (e.g. fee-charging agencies) or non-profit.

Labour providers operating as private entities are defined by ILO Convention No. 181 Article. 1.1 as private employment agencies as “a natural or legal person, independent of the public authorities, which provides one or more of the following labour market services:

(a) services for matching offers of and applications for employment, without the private employment agency becoming a party to the employment relationships that may arise therefrom;

(b) services consisting of employing workers with a view to making them available to a third party, who may be a natural or legal person (referred to below as a "user enterprise") that assigns their tasks and supervises the execution of these tasks;

(c) other services relating to job-seeking, determined by the competent authority after consulting the most representative employers and workers organizations, such as the provision of information, that do not set out to match specific offers of and applications for employment.”

A labour provider may be referred to by various terms including but not limited to labour broker, labour recruiter, gangmaster, employment business, private employment agency, recruitment agency or agency.

Young worker - Any worker over the age of a child as defined above and under the age of 18.

DOCUMENT AND VERSION CONTROL

Amendments

Version No. Detail Date Approved

1 Original Pre 2018 Rob Morris

2 Review of policy as per FF standards April 2022 Nicky Morgan

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Pamela Mann Limited is committed to being an environmentally responsible manufacturer/supplier. We have introduced several initiatives recently which greatly reduce our general waste levels.

Whilst our product range has expanded we remain committed to reducing our environmental impact. Our aim is to operate in a sustainable manner, with focus on:

Our location to the workforce requires less than 50% to travel by car.
Our suppliers are committed to managing the environmental impact in a responsible way.
Our investment in waste management equipment.

ACTIVITIES

Purchase of 4.5 tonne compression ‘Bailer’.
LED lighting schedule throughout the warehouse and offices,
Waste separation into Cardboard/paper – plastic/polythene.
Bails ready for recycling are delivered in bulk to depot.
Waste volume reduced by 80%.
Re-use of export cartons for storage of print paper waste.
Use of recyclable products wherever possible.
Charitable contributions to ‘All Aboard’ of redundant products.
New filters regularly replaced above printing machines.

FUTURE

Pamela Mann Limited will continue to look at ways of reducing demand of raw materials such as cardboard and polythene. We will continually look at the reduction of consumables within the packing operations.

MODERN SLAVERY POLICY

DEFINITIONS

Pamela Mann Ltd considers that Modern Slavery encompasses:

a)    Human trafficking;
b)    Forced work, through mental or physical threat;
c)    Being owned or controlled by an employer through mental or physical abuse or the threat of abuse;
d)    Being dehumanised, treated as a commodity or being bought or sold as property;
e)    Being physically constrained or to have restriction placed on freedom of movement.

COMMITMENT

Pamela Mann Ltd acknowledges its responsibilities in relation to tackling Modern Slavery and commits to complying with the provisions in the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Pamela Mann Ltd understands that this requires an ongoing review of both its internal practices in relation to its labour force and, additionally, its supply chains.

Pamela Mann Ltd does not enter into business with any other organisation, in the United Kingdom or abroad, which knowingly supports, or is found to involve itself in slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.

No labour provided to Pamela Mann Ltd in the pursuance of the provision of its own services is obtained by means of slavery or human trafficking. In addition, Pamela Mann Ltd strictly adheres to the minimum standards required in relation to its responsibilities under relevant employment legislation in the UK and in many cases exceeds those minimums in relation to its employees.

STEPS

Pamela Mann Ltd carries out due diligence processes in relation to ensuring slavery and/or human trafficking does not take place in its business or supply chains, including conducting a review of the controls of its suppliers to seek positive assurance that they agree to comply with the principles of their Corporate Social Responsibility Policy.

Pamela Mann Ltd has not, to its knowledge, conducted any business with another organisation which has been found to have involved itself with Modern Slavery.

In accordance with section 54(4) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, Pamela Mann Ltd has taken the following steps to ensure that Modern Slavery is not taking place:

a)    measures are in place to identify and assess the potential risks in its supply chains;
b)    review of contractual arrangements with all suppliers as well as due diligence procedures to ensure suppliers are aware that they are obliged to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and provide confirmation that they have adequate measures in place to do so;
c)    key policies and employee handbooks have been updated in order to embed a zero-tolerance policy towards Modern Slavery to include Whistle blowing, Grievance and Disciplinary;
d)    additional training provided to all Managers around supply chains and how to identify when Modern Slavery is taking place within their teams.

SLAVERY COMPLIANCE

This statement is made in pursuance of Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and will be reviewed for each financial year.

RECRUITMENT POLICY & PROCEDURE

General steps & procedures;

Identify need for an opening
Decide whether to hire externally or internally
Review the job description and compose a job ad
Select appropriates sources (external or internal) for posting the opening
Decide on the selection stages and possible timeframe
Review resumes in company database/ATS
Source passive candidates
Shortlist applications
Proceed through all selection stages
Run background checks
Select the most suitable candidate
Make an official offer
Stages may overlap. Hiring managers may remove/add steps as appropriate. The first five stages are mandatory in every hiring process.

Posting jobs internally

Hiring managers can post a job opening internally before starting recruiting external candidates. If they decide to post internally, they can:

Set a deadline for internal applications

Communicate their opening through newsletters, emails, word-of-mouth or an Applicant Tracking System’s automated emails

Creating job descriptions

Hiring managers can create job ads based on full job descriptions of each role. Job ads should be clear and accurately represent the open position. They should include:

A brief description of our company and mission
A short summary of the role’s purpose
A list of responsibilities
A list of requirements

How to apply

The job ad’s style should be consistent with our company’s unique voice. It should be addressed to ‘you’ in a polite and engaging tone. Jargon, complicated phrases and gender-specific language should be avoided.

Employee selection stages

Our company has a standard hiring process that may be tweaked according to a role’s requirements. Our standard process involves:

Resume screening
Phone screening
Assignment
Interview

Hiring managers may choose to add/remove stages depending on the role they’re hiring for. For example, they can add the following selection stages/methods:

Interview feedback

Recruiters/ hiring managers should always inform candidates they interviewed that they decided to reject them. Leaving candidates in the dark can be damaging to our employer brand.

Also, we encourage hiring managers to send interview feedback to candidates. They should first though check with HR to make sure they won’t invite legal action. Being brief, respectful and keeping feedback job-related are the general rules for writing feedback emails to candidates.

Revoked offers

In case when a formal has to be revoked, the hiring manager and human resources department should draft and sign an official document. This document should include a legitimate reason for revoking the offer. Legitimate reasons include:

Candidate is proved to not be legally allowed to work for our company at a specific location
Candidate has falsified references or otherwise lied about a serious issue
Candidate doesn’t accept the offer within the specified deadline (deadline must have been included in the offer letter)
Hiring managers and HR must notify the candidate formally as soon as possible.

Recruitment agencies

Please see attached, along with Modern Slavery Policy prohibiting payment of fees from workers directly.

Policy on Alcohol, Drug and Substance Abuse at Work

This policy will apply to all staff employed by Pamela Mann LTD. Employees working on behalf of Pamela Mann on or off Pamela Mann LTD premises should use the policy and approach as best practice.

Introduction

Alcohol, drug or substance abuse affects performance, conduct and relationships at work and at home. Employees who develop a problem may cause harm to themselves or others.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), Pamela Mann has a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees and other persons, including visitors and contractors, using their own and other premises. The act places a general duty on employees to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and of any other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions whilst at work.
In addition to the health and safety responsibilities, the company is obliged to comply with the Misuse of Drugs Act and notify the police if an employee is found in possession of non-prescribed drugs or to be supplying or producing illegal substances.

Definition

Alcohol abuse is defined as a level of drinking which affects an employee’s ability to work safely.
Drug or chemical substance abuse is defined as the taking of an illicit substance into the body in an un-prescribed manner.

Policy

If an employee reports for work under the influence of non-prescribed drugs or alcohol, this is regarded as misconduct. The employee will not start work and will be suspended, at which a full investigation will take place.
Following the investigation, it may result in the employee being dismissed without notice.
The misuse of alcohol, drugs or chemical substances does not exonerate an individual from the results of their actions or from disciplinary procedures.
The company policy is that the consumption of alcohol, illegal drugs and chemical substance abuse or being under the influence of either whilst at work is a dismissible offence, irrespective of whether a specific incident or accident has occurred.

HEALTH & SAFTEY POLICY

Pamela Mann Limited is a company committed to the safety and well being of everyone involved in the business.

Whether you work directly for Pamela Mann Ltd or sub-contract to Pamela Mann Limited, your safety is our top priority.

Our Health & Safety Representatives are;

Nicky Morgan (Business Manager)

Lucy Trowell

Health and safety in our organisation is of paramount importance and we encourage open communication between all members of staff of the company when it comes to their safety. The Management is fully committed to be continually improving our systems and processes. If any member of staff feels at any time they are unsafe in the workplace they must report immediately to the line f communication.

We are as a company committed to maintaining a clean and hazard free workplace and to always look for new hazards to consider in the workplace. All members of staff and management are required to report any new hazards immediately, which will then be analysed and appropriate action to be taken company wide.

General policy guidelines;

To provide adequate control of the health & safety risks arising from our work activities
To consult with employees on matters affecting their health & safety
To provide and maintain safe plane and equipment
To ensure safe handling and use of substances
To provide information instruction and supervision for employees
To ensure all employees are competent to do their tasks and to give them adequate training
To prevent accidents and cases of work-related ill health
To maintain safe and healthy working conditions
To review and revise this policy as necessary at regular intervals

POLICY ON WHISTLE BLOWING

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0066/8237/8330/files/policy_on_Whistle_Blowing.pdf?v=1650962790

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION POLICY

Introduction

Pamela Mann Limited is committed to creating an ethical workplace, both in terms of how we treat our employees, and how our employees treat our customers.

Our customer led Ethical Policy includes our values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. We believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and a commitment to respecting the human rights and dignity of everyone. Pamela Mann Limited recognises the right of our employees to Freedom of Association and Assembly.

Purpose

We are committed to creating an ethical workplace, maintaining good industrial relations, communications and dialogue and ensuring that all colleagues are treated fairly and equally, in principle and practice. In doing so, we ensure compliance with laws that ensure freedom of association and the right to engage in collective bargaining.

Principles

Colleagues have the right to join a trade union and to bargain collectively.
Pamela Mann Limited adopts an open attitude towards the activities of trade unions and their organisational activities.
Colleague representatives must not be discriminated against and must be provided access and facilities to carry out their representative functions in the workplace.
Individuals who represent colleagues should do so willingly, and be freely and transparently elected, without influence from any other party.
No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law.

Our Policy and approach is applied in accordance with relevant labour laws and legislation, including the Human Rights Act 1998 and International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions.

Corporate Responsibility

ETHICAL PRODUCTS

OUR POLICIES