VS&Co believes that worker sentiment or worker voice is a fundamental right for everyone and integral to business success. We believe that giving workers a voice allows them to express matters that are important to them and is integral to good work. Worker voice and grievance mechanisms gives workers confidence that their concerns are being addressed, improves communication between workers and management, and increases staff retention and productivity.

VS&Co adopted the Worker Sentiment Survey (WSS) developed by Elevate LIMITED for all lingerie and apparel factories and core accessory factories. ELEVATE’s use of worker voice technologies is able to bridge some of these concerns by collecting anonymous viewpoints directly from workers. Thus, enabling companies to effectively pick up insight into potential violations directly from workers and expose hidden problems at factories and other facilities. This valuable data source provides companies with an extra layer of worker perception information and heightened supply chain transparency.  The WSS is a mobile phone-based survey that includes questions covering various topics such as:

• Grievance Mechanisms
• Gender Based Violence and Harassment
• Work Atmosphere
• Wages
• Work Hours
• Production Efficiency 
• Workforce Stability
• Demographics

In addition, we encourage suppliers to conduct worker engagement programs and projects to effectively build the relationship between management and workers in each facility. 

To read more about these and other initiatives some of VS&Co’s key suppliers are undertaking to improve the lives of their workers and greater communities, visit our Featured Partnerships section.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

We believe that women’s empowerment is key to advancing human rights protection globally, as women represent a large number of supply chain workers and vast majority of our associates. We participate in the Re-imagining Industry to Support Equality (RISE) program, a collaborative initiative that drives change for women globally by empowering women workers, embedding gender equity in business practice and catalyzing policy and systems change. Through the Pacific Links Foundation VS&Co sponsors the Girls Empowerment Mekong Scholarships (GEMS). In addition to supporting the scholarship program, VS&Co was the first partnering company to sponsor Pacific Links’ Factory Awareness to Counter Trafficking Program (FACT), which provides awareness and prevention workshops about trafficking among workers, managers and factory owners throughout the supply chain.