'DUE DILIGENCE
AUDIT AND REMEDIATION
During the reporting period, Myer reviewed audits from 275 suppliers across 423 factories. Our review identified one zero tolerance issue relating to falsification of an audit report, which resulted in the factory being terminated, and 54 high risk issues, which primarily related to excessive overtime hours and working conditions.' - 8
'ZERO TOLERANCE
Whilst reviewing a renewal audit for a womenswear factory, our ethical sourcing team identified that the audit report had the same working hours and issues to a previously received audit report but with a current report date. Further, the sample of the working hours were inconsistent with the period of review and the sampling method used deviated from standard practices.
After the inconsistency was flagged by the team, a full review was conducted and later confirmed that the report provided by the factory was the prior year’s report, where the date of the report was changed to a current year by the factory.
Myer has a zero tolerance to falsified and or fraudulent activities within our supply chain; as a result, we have terminated business with this factory.' - 9
'SUPPLIER QUESTIONNAIRE
As part of our review of a prospective vendor’s questionnaire response, the supplier indicated that they had a practice of withholding personal identity documents such as passports of workers in Australia.
As the withholding of documents is a possible indicator of bonded labour, immediate action was taken to confirm the conduct. Through discussions and verification with the supplier, it was later revealed to be a misunderstanding of the
word ‘withholding,’ and copies of identity documents were merely made to confirm workers eligibility to work.' - 12
However,
'Ongoing risk assessments allow us to better understand areas of focus and priorities. These assessments consider the relevant changes both internally and externally, accounting
for the nature of the relationship with the supplier and its network, the type and spend of goods or services, the geographic location, the level of human rights protection and vulnerability, and the ongoing monitoring of reputable media reports. It also reviews possible modern slavery risks and general human right issues, and assesses the adequacy of controls. In the reporting period, we did not have any instances of modern slavery within our operations or supply
chain reported.' - 6
Our review identified one zero tolerance issue relating to falsification of an audit report, which resulted in the factory being terminated, and 54 high risk issues, which primarily related to excessive overtime hours and working conditions. page 8