Working Conditions in H&M's Supply Chain | H&M

Like many fashion brands, we don’t own the factories where our clothes are made. But we want everyone working in our supply chain to: 

• Feel safe at work, with their health and well-being protected.

• Be able to speak up and improve their working environment, especially if something is not right.

• Earn enough money to live on and ensure that their job is dignified and fair.

All suppliers working with us must sign our Sustainability Commitment, which is a set of requirements regarding impact on people and the environment, as well as collaboration and transparency. This is non-negotiable.

H&M Group have 135 dedicated sustainability staff in our worldwide production offices who make regular visits and audits to ensure that our suppliers live up to our agreement.

Together with our suppliers, we implement factory training programs to empower workers and improve wage management systems at the workplace. These systems help ensure that wages are set transparently and based on individual skills and performance. Our work on the factory level has also resulted in democratically elected worker representatives for over 1.1 million garment workers. 

Together with trade unions, NGOs and workers, H&M Group is working to improve grievance mechanisms and access to remedies. This means that workers can raise concerns and work together with management to fix issues. In 2023, we heard from over 205,000 workers, a representative sample of over 1 million people in our factories, about working conditions. We learned from this data that 75%+ of the workers at 90% of in-scope factories report feeling satisfied with their treatment at work. We could also see differences between countries and identify vulnerable groups. Based on the results, we are working with each country to improve grievance mechanisms, and we are tracking the progress in our monthly data collection from the factories.

H&M Group are a part of the Action Collaboration Transformation, an agreement between 20 global apparel brands and IndustriALL Global Union. We join forces to achieve living wages for workers in the textile and garment supply chain through collective bargaining. By demanding the same standards from our suppliers, we are a more powerful voice.