Responsible Sourcing and Human Rights in Food

As part of our risk assessment process for our supply chains, we map our exposure to high-risk areas with systemic risks in the areas of governance, security, human rights, or environmental challenges. To identify the countries with the highest risk, we use the following sources of information:

• the SEDEX Radar portal to understand country-level human rights-related risks
• information and intelligence from our projects on the ground, and impact assessments we may carry out
• the Food Network for Ethical Trade (FNET) product-specific risk assessment to drill down to the specific ingredients and raw materials per country to identify if material to M&S
• information received through our memberships including Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and FNET

In addition, we have identified several global issues as priority areas, and we will continue to monitor and review activity in relation to:

• Rising social inequality as a result of Covid-19 
• Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR)
• Brexit and shortages of low-skilled labour
• the movement of refugees following crises in Ukraine

Once we have the above information on territory, product and mitigating activities in place, we evaluate the overall level of risk. For all areas identified as higher risk, we review the programmes in place to understand where further activity is needed to mitigate this risk.

Our suppliers must have in place established and comprehensive management systems, as this is key to ensuring they are capable of complying with all legal and relevant M&S obligations. Within our supply chain, we require that all workers are paid at least the national minimum wage. Overtime work should always be compensated at a premium rate, and where piece work is used, suppliers must be able to demonstrate that the minimum wage is always met,

We expect our suppliers to engage their workers in line with legal requirements. They are required to check that all workers have a right to work in a particular country and are of legal working age. This applies even if workers are supplied through labour providers, agents or gangmasters. For example, in the UK suppliers are expected to ensure that labour providers they work with have a valid license from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).

We routinely carry out technical audits of suppliers to ensure our expectations on worker health and safety and integrity are met.  All suppliers are required to be audited frequently by M&S by approved independent third-party companies and they must commit to taking action as a result of any findings.

In addition to technical audits, we request that all high-risk suppliers (country and product area) undertake semi-announced SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audits) bi-annually and share them with M&S. Since 2021, we have been using the Sedex Radar Agricultural Risk Tool to determine high-risk countries, and we have determined our high-risk industries to be Protein, Horticulture and Produce.

We recognise that ethical audits are only one tool among several to identify areas where human rights may be at risk or best practices not followed.  Whilst ongoing monitoring of compliance is necessary and useful, solely focusing on individual non-compliances can result in underlying issues being missed. In addition, this approach may not identify emerging issues or support the development of a continuous improvement culture within our supply base.

As a result, in 2021, we developed a new M&S Food Human Rights Standard as a requirement for all our food supplier partners. It aims to protect the customer, maintain brand integrity, and uphold our human rights commitment. It also evolves how we work, by defining six demonstrable outcomes to be achieved by supplier partners in areas such as due diligence, enabling supplier partners to assume responsibility, and training those who need help. It encourages a ‘beyond compliance’ approach, with the aim of working with our suppliers to define areas of continuous improvement. It also sets out our ethical audit requirements for suppliers and several supporting policies and guidelines on ethical trade such as our robust procedure for managing instances of child labour if found within our supply chain.

The six demonstrable outcomes of our standard are:

Since 2021, we have implemented three key programmes to support our supply base to deliver our standard.

1. Due Diligence

A fundamental requirement of our new 2021 Human Rights Standard is the annual Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) process. While all suppliers are now expected to be undertaking their own HRDD, in 2021 we asked a nominated set of 56 suppliers to present their approach, activity and forward-looking plans to our teams at M&S. These reviews included our top 30 supplier partners of high-risk products from a human rights perspective. This work between supplier partners and our commercial, technical and human rights teams is transforming how M&S colleagues build human rights into business decisions. The first year of these due diligence review meetings focused on information-gathering and awareness raising, but already we see an increased appetite for further action, both internally and from our supplier partners. We have shared our learnings from our first year with our supplier partners to drive forward our programme next year, and will conduct a series of similar reviews each year.

To help all our suppliers on their HRDD journey, we have created specific guidance on human rights due diligence (HRDD) and remedy. Drawing on existing recognised resources and practices, this is freely available and easily accessible. We have also offered webinars, supplier partner networking, and direct support.

A supplier partner applying the guidance will understand and be able to adopt the six steps of HRDD in line with the requirements of the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) policy commitment, assessing and prioritising, preventing, reducing, and mitigating, tracking and monitoring, remediating and communicating.

2. Worker Voice

In order to try and address some of the gaps that a solely audit-focused approach to human rights may leave, we launched a worker voice programme for workers in our supply chain in 2021 in partnership with nGaje. Participation in this survey programme is now a mandatory requirement for suppliers in the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI).

We are clear that this does not replace supplier partners’ own surveys. The programme asks colleagues to agree or disagree with 13 statements to help us understand worker sentiment at our supplier partner sites. Surveys are completely anonymous and can be undertaken in multiple languages. We also offer the opportunity for workers to input their comments directly.

Since its launch, we have heard from over 30,000 workers.  Closer engagement with workers is providing insight into working conditions and worker sentiment in our supply chain. We are able to provide supplier partners with their overall score for each area of focus and we are using the survey results in our ongoing conversations with our supplier partners to identify any issues and encourage continuous improvement.

3. Capacity Building

We are working to build capacity and capability to understand, develop and implement good human rights practices both in our supply chain and our own business.

1. In our supply chain. We expect suppliers to take a progressive attitude to employee training and ensure that staff are competent to perform their duties. This also applies where temporary staff are used.  For example, we expect that basic training should cover general health and safety and fire safety, and induction training should cover worker rights and responsibilities.

We are committed to working with our suppliers to help them develop the necessary skills and competencies to meet our requirements by offering a range of training and development opportunities.  We have designed training programmes to educate suppliers about local laws, their rights at work, and our Global Sourcing Principles. We provide a range of capacity building tools and incentives to align our respective goals and objectives. This includes capacity in terms of resources, technical skills, knowledge, as well as research and development. In 2020/21 we focused on the conclusion of our previous supplier programme and launched three toolkits for suppliers on the issues of Ethical Trade, Environmental Sustainability, and Lean Manufacturing.

Over the past year we have offered various training sessions on our updated Standard, 3 training sessions on HRDD for all suppliers and 2 supplier ‘exchange’ conferences, where we have focused on bringing our suppliers together to share best practice and learn from each other.
 

2. Colleague training. In 2021, in response to an external evaluation of our supply chains by Oxfam, we committed to update the human rights training we provide to colleagues. The result was an online training module, ‘People Behind the Product’, sponsored by our senior executives and launched in January 2022. It has been completed by 95% of colleagues across our Food, Clothing & Home, International, Bank and Services, and Support Centre functions (Corporate Governance, Procurement, Digital and Data, HR and Property functions). The module will be completed every two years and will be part of the e-learning for any new joiners to the business.   

Building on the ‘People Behind the Product’ training, we have gone further with tailored training for our food buying teams on human rights risks in their day-to-day decisions. The first two-hour interactive course is sponsored by our Food Commercial Director and uses case studies from our own supply chain; it was attended by 65 of our commercial buyers. The training is part of a broader programme of responsible sourcing training that we will deliver over the next year, helping to make our colleagues more aware of how the buying decisions they make may impact on people’s lives further down our supply chain.

There is no place for modern slavery in any business. Employment must be chosen freely. We recognise that modern slavery is a growing global issue, and we understand the responsibility to prevent, mitigate and remediate as understood and carried out in accordance with the responsibility to respect human rights under the UNGPs. M&S colleagues and supplier partners play a major role in helping us to achieve this.

We work in partnership with the Ethical Trade Initiative Working Group on Italian Produce, Spanish Ethical Forums and The Issara Institute to adopt more robust labour practices and strengthen due diligence. We have a zero-tolerance approach to forced labour of any kind within our operations and supply chain. We take any incidents very seriously and work with the relevant authorities and experts to ensure that individuals are protected.

We also require our suppliers to take part in Stronger Together training, utilise the Responsible Recruitment Toolkit and sponsor of the Modern Slavery and Exploitation helpline and intelligence from the portal helps us to investigate live issues within our supply chains.

M&S is a founding member of the Modern Slavery Intelligence Network (MSIN), a pioneering non-profit collaboration in the UK food and agriculture sector created in response to the findings of Operation Fort, the UK’s largest ever modern slavery investigation. Members are coming together to achieve effective ways of working and to ensure, as far as possible, that robust mechanisms are in place to safeguard those who may be impacted by modern slavery and/or worker exploitation

At M&S, we are committed to inclusion and diversity and believe everyone should feel comfortable to come to work and be themselves. We have a zero tolerance approach to discrimination and unacceptable behaviour.

As part of our Human Rights Strategy in Food we have committed to undertake human rights impact assessments (HRIA), which provide an in-depth analysis of the salient risks to people in our supply chains. They include desk-based research and, most importantly, field research including interviews with stakeholders, rightsholders (workers and smallholders), and our own business.

In 2021 we undertook an HRIA within our Kenyan tea supply chains, working in partnership with our supplier partners and another retailer with whom we share the same Fairtrade-certified supply chains. The assessment particularly focuses on the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and women in Kenya. Field research took place at the end of 2021, with a validation workshop following in early 2022. We plan to work alongside key stakeholders in the Kenyan tea sector to develop actions that address the assessment’s forthcoming recommendations

M&S has a long history of working with NGO and development partners such as Emerging Leaders, across the globe with the aim of enhancing livelihoods in our supply chains. For example, when Covid-19 hit the Kenyan flower industry, we played our part to ensure that the people working within it would be able to make it through the pandemic.

CASE STUDY: KENYAN FLOWER INDUSTRY
The Kenyan flower industry is worth $1.15bn annually, employing 150,000 people and 2 million more indirectly. But the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the industry, with up to 50 tonnes of flowers a day being destroyed in March 2020. 50,000 people lost their jobs instantly, and had no financial safety net. Those who kept their jobs often lacked PPE and access to water. Women – around 65% of the workforce – were disproportionately affected. To support the industry, we worked alongside MM Flowers, the Fairtrade Foundation, Coventry University, Co-op and Tesco for 12 months to improve the situation. 68 farms were covered by this collaborative project, with 6,000 workers offered health packs that could protect them from Covid-19. The project also worked on improving food security and enhancing worker voice, and helped workers to diversify their farms and undertake other income-generating activities. Retailer roundtables included procurement and growers, and recommendations on policy were delivered to the Kenyan and UK governments, proposing action in four areas to build up the resilience of Kenya’s flower industry: emergency preparedness, living wages, climate change and gender equality
 

With the support of IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, we have begun reviewing our banana supply chain to understand wage levels. Our supplier partners in five countries of origin (Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Costa Rica, and Côte d’Ivoire) have completed a worker salary assessment. We will next verify this information and then use the information to understand the gap that we have per origin to reach the living wage.

We support a number of programmes that help improve working conditions in our supply base, in partnership with organisations such as Emerging Leaders and Fairtrade Foundation. 

Ethical Trade Initative (ETI): We are a member of the ETI, which is a leading alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs that promotes respect for workers' rights around the globe. As a member, we have adopted the ETI Base Code of labour practice, which is based on the standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)

Fairtrade: M&S are one of the UK’s leading Fairtrade retail supporters: we have worked in partnership since 2004 and were the first major retailer to switch all our coffee and non-speciality tea to Fairtrade in 2006.   

Fairtrade is a global certification system that aims to ensure a strict set of social and environmental standards are met in the production and supply of a product or ingredient. For farmers and workers, Fairtrade means workers’ rights, safer working conditions, environmental protection and fairer pay. For shoppers, it means high quality, ethically produced products. 

Across M&S Food, we sell a wide selection of Fairtrade wines, chocolate, flowers, as well as biscuits and jams made with Fairtrade sugar.  We have a commitment to 100% Fairtrade tea and coffee and sell more own-label Fairtrade tea and coffee than any other UK retailer.   

In 2021, M&S raised over £1.7 million of Fairtrade Premium for farmers and workers.  The Fairtrade Premium is an extra sum of money, paid on top of the selling price, that farmers or workers invest in projects of their choice.  Last year, for example, Fairtrade Premium raised by M&S funded projects such as housing, clean water, education and tree planting.   

Stronger Together: We continue to work with Stronger Together, a multi-stakeholder business-led initiative aiming to reduce modern slavery by providing guidance, training and resources in the UK, Spain, and South Africa. Through the programme this year, we have reached 1,370 individuals with 380 suppliers across the UK; 26 new sites became Stronger Together Business Partners and six became Advanced Business Partners.

Responsible Recruitment Toolkit: We are a founding sponsor of the Responsible Recruitment Toolkit, which provides support to our supply chains in ensuring responsible recruitment. We are committed to fair and transparent payment practices.

Emerging Leaders: We also worked with Emerging Leaders to provide leadership training to around 50,000 supply chain workers in Kenya, east Africa and South Africa, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The training takes participants on an incredible journey to a new mindset and empowers them to take others on the same journey as leaders in their communities. Many tell us that the programme has led to improved productivity, better retention of high quality, motivated employees, and less dependency on casual labour. 

Sedex: We were founding members of the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex), which aims to drive improvements and convergence in responsible sourcing practices.

Food Network for Ethical Trade (FNET)

FNET is a key vehicle to drive ethical trading down the supply chain and work with industry partners and suppliers on challenging ethical issues. It played a pivotal role over the last year during Covid-19 – M&S was a founding member.

Fair Labour Association

In collaboration with Fair Labour Association and other brands we are part of the Harvest for the Future programme aiming to support our sultana and raisin supply chain partners in Turkey to ensure good working conditions for their seasonal workforce. 

Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment

We are a member of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment and are committed to the Employer Pays Principle.

Operationally, we’re supported by several organisations including the Groceries Code Adjudicator, FSIG, SAI Global, and BRC Global Standards, and 3Keel to name but a few.

Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP)

We are committed to building strong relationships with our suppliers. This is reinforced by the systems and controls we’ve put in place to comply with the Groceries (Supply Chain Practices) Market Investigation Order (the Order) and the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP). 

We have reflected the requirements of GSCOP into our Terms of Trade which govern the trading relationship between M&S and our suppliers of food and household products. 

We have appointed a Code Compliance Officer who is supported by our in-house legal department. We also provide training on the requirements of GSCOP which includes refresher programmes and training for new starters. We believe we are in full compliance with the Order and GSCOP and work closely with our suppliers to resolve any concerns.

If you would like to know more about GSCOP, watch this brief video introduction from our Code Compliance Officer.

Each year we prepare an annual compliance report which we submit to the Competition and Markets Authority and Groceries Code Adjudicator. We include a summary of our compliance report in our Annual Report.

GSCOP Contacts

If you are an M&S supplier and have a GSCOP related query, please contact our Code Compliance Officer [email protected]

If you are an M&S supplier and have an invoice or payment related query please contact our Vendor Support help desk [email protected]

The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA)  

Contact details for the GCA and more information can be found on the GCA website Groceries Code Adjudicator