Protecting human rights across the supply chain is fundamental to ensuring sustainability and ethical conduct. Over the years, the Benetton Group has upheld these rights within its own operations and adopted procedures and initiatives to verify their effective implementation by suppliers. These procedures are based on the principles of transparency, traceability and accountability and aim to verify compliance with human rights and protection of the environment, promote responsible practices and mitigate risks.
Our tools
Code of Conduct
Any individual or company that establishes a business relationship with us undertakes to comply with the Benetton Group’s Code of Conduct, founded on compliance with human rights and protection of the environment.
Benetton Group’s Code of Conduct implements the most relevant international regulations with particular reference to the UN Business and Human Rights of June 2011 and the Communication from the European Commission on the Renewed Strategy on Corporate Social Responsibility of October 2011. Benetton Group’s Code of Conduct is annexed to the commercial contract, and, as such, our suppliers have to sign it.
For the benefit of active business partners worldwide, the Code of Conduct is available on our website in several languages. We ask to our suppliers to expose its version in local language in a space of their production building accessible to workers.
To help suppliers implement the Code of Conduct requirements, we have issued the Guidelines for Benetton Group Code of Conduct for Manufacturers, outlining expectations for fair, safe, and healthy workplaces, as well as environmentally responsible operations. The document aims to make the Code standards practical, provide guidance to suppliers, and support collaborative solutions to workplace challenges.
Higg Facility Social and Labor Module (FSLM)
As a member of Cascale, the global alliance for sustainable production, Benetton Group has adopted the Higg Facility Social and Labor Module (FSLM) as the key element in the process of verifying compliance of the working conditions across the supply chain with the Group’s Code of Conduct and international standards. Compared to proprietary tools, it reduces audit duplication, improves efficiency, and ensures data comparability.
The module implements the Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) developed by the Social and Labor Convergence Program (SLCP), which defines procedures and criteria, covering the following areas: recruitment practices, working hours, wages and benefits, worker treatment, freedom of association, health and safety, termination of employment, and management systems.
The FSLM assessment is mandatory for Tier 1 suppliers and is being progressively extended to Tier 2. Suppliers are required to complete a self-assessment, followed by verification by an accredited third-party audit body to ensure data accuracy. Verifications are mainly conducted with a semi-announced approach.
Benetton Group collaborates only with suppliers that complete and undergo FSLM verification. During onboarding, preliminary assessments may be conducted based on audit reports from recognized multi-stakeholder initiatives, such as Sedex SMETA and amfori BSCI, when provided by the supplier. Alternatively, a third-party audit may be carried out using an internally developed checklist. These are interim measures, pending full alignment with the FSLM procedure, except in countries where verification has not yet been implemented or in case of one-off productions.
Suppliers’ Social Compliance Analysis
The Operations Sustainability team analyses the FSLM (or equivalent) assessments to identify major risks, prioritize the mitigation actions and guide the suppliers in addressing any detected non-conformities.
The module questions have been internally mapped and classified into three risk levels:
- Zero Tolerance: refers to violations of human rights,mainly related to: child labour, forced labour, discrimination practices, physical or verbal abuse, prohibition of representation or association of workers, undeclared workers employment and serious circumstances posing an imminent risk to the health and safety of workers, such as poor structural conditions in the workplace;
- High Risk: represents sever social risks, which may significantly impact worker safety or rights if not addressed promptly;
- Medium Risk: applies to violations which have a lower impact than the categories above, but remain issues that should be remediated in order for the supplier to be in full compliance with our standards.
Based on this mapping, a scoring range reflecting the potential impacts was established. This enables to determine suppliers suitability for onboarding or continued collaboration. Moreover, thanks to this methodology, we can monitor the annual trends in identified non-compliances, providing insights to support continuous improvement.
International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry
In November 2023, Benetton Group adhered to the new International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, through which the brands and the international trade unions confirmed their three-year commitment made following the event that is universally remembered as “the Rana Plaza tragedy.” The document serves as a framework contract for the implementation of country-specific security programs (CSSPs), currently in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and possible future programs in other clothing-producing countries. The Accord, of which Benetton was one of the first signatories, is an independent initiative involving approximately 150 fashion companies worldwide and also involving international trade unions, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and various non-governmental organizations. Developed to make all clothing manufacturing factories safe, leveraging the successful outcomes of the program implemented in Bangladesh, the new Accord is expected to be expanded to other markets. The Accord helps ensure the safety of millions of textile workers by conducting independent inspections, providing training, requiring supply chain transparency and legally binding contracts. The main points are:
• an independent inspection program supported by the signatory companies, involving employees and trade union associations;
• transparent communication of the list of production facilities, inspection reports and corrective action plans;
• the commitment of the signatory companies to ensure the effective implementation of the corrective action plans and to maintain ongoing business relations;
• the establishment of democratically elected health and safety committees in all factories to identify the main risks related to workers’ health and safety;
• the enhancement of workers’ skills through a broad-based training program;
• the implementation of complaint mechanisms and the right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions.
The list of factories involved in Accord is available on Home - International Accord. They are classified according to their percentage of implemented corrective actions. Regarding Benetton’s active suppliers, in early 2026, 99% of them completed their remediation process. Compared to the initial non-conformities, 97% of the critical issues relating to the fire protection system, 100% of those relating to the electrical aspects, and 100% of those relating to the structural aspects have been resolved.
To know more about Benetton Group’s engagement for Bangladesh, read here Benetton for Bangladesh.
EIS project
In 2023, Benetton Group joined the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) project, promoted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Bangladesh and aimed at protecting workers and their families from the risk of becoming destitute as a result of work-related injury, illness or death. Thanks to the voluntary contribution of participating brands, it is possible to guarantee the payment of supplementary compensation to protect workers, which will be progressively included in regular pay.