All Pulling Together Towards Ethical Trading.
All Pulling Together
We are committed to working with our employees, customers and global trading partners towards responsible and ethical trading.
UK Manufacturing
Where possible we manufacture products in the UK and we strictly adhere to UK employment law, trading standards and environmental regulations. We receive quarterly engineering inspections to ensure that our machinery is operating to regulation. All our employees are paid well over the living wage.
Our UK manufacturing facilities mean that all the products we supply could be made by our UK manufacturing team. Market forces and price sensitivity of the end user dictate where our products and components are ultimately made. In some instances we therefore use a blend of imported and UK made components to deliver products at a price point that enables our customers to make their desired margin.
Ethical Sourcing
Shaw Munster Group (SMG) and its group companies including Shaw Munster Ltd, Tyler and Tyler Ltd, R.E.V Gomm Ltd and Haskins Ltd centrally sources goods for use by the companies in the sale and manufacture of our products. This policy covers the approach taken by SMG in sourcing goods from overseas (or from UK based companies which themselves source from overseas). It does not cover the acquisition of services.
Shaw Munster Groups Supplies’ policy is to seek, source and purchase goods which are produced and delivered under conditions that do not involve the abuse or exploitation of any persons; encompassing the following aspects:
Child/forced labour
Conditions of work
Health and Safety
Discrimination
Wages
Hours of work
Environment.
We only work with a select few trusted global trading partners who have completed and hold current approved SMETA (SEDEX) audits. If at any point a SMETA audit is failed by one of these partners our policy is to suspend working with them until standards are improved and the audit is passed. The company aims to develop mutually beneficial long standing ethical relationships with all suppliers. These relationships facilitate the ongoing monitoring and review of the company’s supply chain.
We recognise that we are a comparatively small business with limited influence to drive significant change globally, but all purchasing decisions are made with this policy in mind to help maintain our reputation for high quality products and customer satisfaction.
Ethical Trading
We recognise that although we are a relatively small company with limited global influence, we endeavour to ensure that our suppliers operate ethically. Suppliers should ideally demonstrate their ethical practices through membership of SEDEX and having ethical processes and policies in place throughout their own supply chain.
Shaw Munster Group adopts the Ethical Trading Initative’s Base Code, which is founded on the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and is an internationally recognised code of labour practice.
1: Employment is freely chosen
1.1 There is no forced, bonded or involuntary prison labour.
1.2 Workers are not required to lodge "deposits" or their identity papers with their employer and are free to leave their employer after reasonable notice.
2: Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected
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 workplace.
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.
3: 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. 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 environment.
3.2 Workers shall receive regular and recorded health and safety training, and such training shall be repeated for new or reassigned workers.
3.3 Access to clean toilet facilities and to potable water, and, if appropriate, sanitary facilities for food storage shall be provided.
3.4 Accommodation, where provided, shall be clean, safe, and meet the basic needs of the workers.
3.5 The company observing the code shall assign responsibility for health and safety to a senior management representative.
4: 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 and remain in quality education until no longer a child; "child" and "child labour" being defined in the appendices.
4.3 Children and young persons under 18 shall not be employed at night or in hazardous conditions.
4.4 These policies and procedures shall conform to the provisions of the relevant ILO standards.
5: Living wages are paid
5.1 Wages and benefits paid for a standard working week meet, at a minimum, national legal standards or industry benchmark standards, whichever is higher. In any event wages should 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 in respect to wages before they enter employment and about the particulars of their wages for the pay period concerned each time that 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.
6: Working hours are not excessive
6.1 Working hours must comply with national laws, collective agreements, and the provisions of 6.2 to 6.6 below, whichever affords the greater protection for workers. 6.2 to 6.6 are based on international labour standards.
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.
6.4 The total hours worked in any 7 day period shall not exceed 60 hours, except where covered by clause 6.5 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:
this is allowed by national law;
this is allowed by a collective agreement freely negotiated with a workers’ organisation representing a significant portion of the workforce;
appropriate safeguards are taken to protect the workers’ health and safety; and
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.*
*International standards recommend the progressive reduction of normal hours of work, when appropriate, to 40 hours per week, without any reduction in workers’ wages as hours are reduced
7: No discrimination is practiced
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.
8: Regular employment is provided
8.1 To every extent possible work performed must be on the basis of recognised employment relationship 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, or 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.
9: 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 intimidation shall be prohibited.
Conflict Minerals Policy
Shaw Munster Group (SMG) and its group companies including Shaw Munster Ltd, Tyler and Tyler Ltd, R.E.V Gomm Ltd and Haskins (Giftware) Ltd centrally sources goods for use by the companies in the sale and manufacture of our products. This policy covers the approach taken by SMG in sourcing goods from overseas (or from UK based companies which themselves source from overseas).
As a leading manufacturer of products for the UK and international Heritage retail market, we support the efforts to eliminate the trade of “Conflict Minerals”, especially illegally mined minerals, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The UK Government outlines Conflict minerals as “ minerals mined in conditions of armed conflict and human rights abuses, and which are sold or traded by armed groups. This has for some years been a particular problem in the DRC. The DRC’s mineral wealth is enormous. It is estimated that the country contains between 65-80% of the world’s columbite-tantalite (coltan) reserves, 49% of its cobalt reserves, and 3% of its copper reserves. Gold and diamond deposits remain under explored. Industrial Diamond reserves are estimated at 25% of world reserves” (Source https://www.gov.uk/guidance/conflict-minerals: March 2019).
As manufacturers we follow the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) guiding principles and their flagship program, the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP), to audit our supply chain and make informed choices through ongoing due diligence, to ensure that all our products are produced from responsibly sourced minerals.
SMG and our suppliers have identified and verified the sources of minerals incorporated into our products to confirm that, to the best of our knowledge; they do not originate from DRC countries, and are therefore conflict free. The latest results of our findings using the RMAP process can be viewed below.
SMG will continue to regularly monitor and review our supply chain and perform ongoing reasonable due diligence to ensure that our products do not contain any “Conflict Minerals”. Should any organisation within our supply chain be found to be in breach of this policy, they will be immediately removed as a supplier and an alternative accredited supplier will be used.