California Supply Chains Act

California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (TISCA) Disclosure

Effective Date:  July 31, 2015

Savers, doing business as Savers, Value Village, and Unique thrift stores (collectively “Savers”), takes concerns of human trafficking and slavery in the supply chain very seriously. The majority of Savers’ retail products are gently-used clothing, accessories, and household goods that come to Savers’ store shelves through donations made to its nonprofit partners by consumers like you. For the limited new products that Savers imports for sale in its stores, such as Halloween costumes, holiday décor and seasonal apparel, Savers expects its suppliers to comply with all applicable laws, including laws concerning labor practices in countries where manufacturing occurs. If Savers learns that a supplier has failed to comply with its legal obligations and Savers’ own Social Accountability policy, Savers will take appropriate action against that supplier. 

Certification

Savers sources new goods and products from third-party suppliers (“Vendors”) and directly through manufacturers (“Direct-source Manufacturers”). Under Savers’ Social Accountability Policy adopted in 2015, all goods they produce for or sell to Savers are manufactured in compliance with the following:

  • Child, indentured, involuntary, or prison labor must not be used or supported.

  • Workers may not be exposed to unreasonably hazardous, unsafe, or unhealthy conditions.

  • The workplace must be free from harassment, which includes sexually coercive, threatening, abusive, or exploitive conduct or behavior or harassment because of one’s race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability or sexual orientation.

  • Workers must be treated fairly, with dignity and respect.

  • Wages paid to workers must meet or exceed the legal minimum wage in the jurisdiction where work is performed.

  • The Vendor/Direct-source Manufacturer and its contractors must maintain written records evidencing compliance with the provisions of this Social Accountability policy and must make those records available to Savers upon request.

Beginning with the adoption of its Social Accountability Policy, Savers is requiring that each of its Vendors and Direct-source Manufacturers review and certify their compliance with Savers’ Supplier Code of Conduct, which includes Savers’ Social Accountability policy.  Savers has no connection to the original vendors or manufacturers of the gently-used clothing, accessories, and household goods sourced by Savers through donations made to its nonprofit partners by consumers, and therefore cannot require any similar certification of those goods.

Verification

For the new goods Savers imports through Vendors and Direct-source Manufacturers, including products that are sold under the “Savers” name or sold under one of our trademarks, Savers works to engage only those reputable Vendors and Direct-source Manufacturers who are also engaged by large retail companies with high ethical standards in the evaluating and addressing the risks human trafficking and slavery in their supply chains. Savers does not currently engage third parties to verify a Vendor’s or Direct-source Manufacturer’s adherence to Savers Social Accountability policy. For the gently-used clothing, accessories, and household goods sourced through donations made to its nonprofit partners by consumers, Savers has no connection to the original vendors or manufacturers of these donated goods, and therefore cannot perform any similar verification for these goods.

Audits

At this time, Savers does not itself perform or engage third parties to perform audits of its Vendors or Direct-source Manufacturers’ facilities. Occasionally, Savers employees visit and tour some of its Vendors’ facilities. If Savers observes a violation of its Social Accountability policy during such a visit or becomes aware that a Vendor or Direct-source Manufacturer has otherwise failed to comply with the Social Accountability policy, Savers may suspend the Vendor or Direct-source Manufacturer until it can prove compliance or sever the relationship. For the gently-used clothing, accessories, and household goods sourced through donations made to its nonprofit partners by consumers, Savers has no connection to the original vendors or manufacturers of these donated goods, and therefore cannot perform any auditing or observation of the suppliers of these goods.

Internal Accountability and Training

For its employees responsible for sourcing of new goods from Vendors and Direct-source Manufacturers, Savers is developing a training program to educate these employees on human trafficking and slavery issues, how these issues may arise in the supply chain, and on Savers’ Supplier Code of Conduct and the practices described in this Disclosure. These supply chain management employees will be required to review the Supplier Code of Conduct and ensure that, to the best of the employee’s knowledge and ability, Vendors and Direct-source Manufacturers are complying with the Social Accountability policy. As part of this program, if a supply chain management employee becomes aware of a violation of the Social Accountability policy, the employee will be directed to either bring the violation to a manager’s attention or, in the case of a manager, take direct action to suspend the Vendor or Direct-source Manufacturer until it can prove compliance or sever the relationship. Savers’ employment manual sets out the process an employee should follow in bringing such an issue to the attention of the employee’s manager or team member relations representative. Savers has a strict “no-retaliation” policy for employees who in good faith report the violation of a company policy, including Savers’ Social Accountability policy.