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MAIER SPORTS

Fairness promise

We are committed to social responsibility. Sustainability starts with the fair treatment of our employees. "We want our employees all over the world to have good working conditions similar to those we expect here," Simone Mayer, the Managing Director at Maier Sports, affirms. To manage this ongoing process as well as possible with controls and improvements, we've been a member of the Fair Wear Foundation since 2011, a non-profit organisation with strict regulations.

The Fair Wear Foundation guidelines are considered the strictest in the world.

With this cooperation, we underline our sense of responsibility towards our production facilities and, above all, their employees, and we stand consistently and indispensably for fair working conditions.
 

A clear YES for the new supply chain law

“Supply Chain Due Diligence Law” is the name of a new bill the German Government recently introduced into parliament. We at Maier Sports strongly support the passing of this bill – though in some respects, we demand the bill include even more far-reaching due diligence regulation.

The proposed legislation is all about tracking the industry’s global supply chains. It would obligate German companies with more than 3,000 employees to ensure their suppliers and sub-suppliers comply with social standards, offer fair working conditions, and prevent child labour in their facilities. This would make manufacturers legally responsible for their own actions as well as the actions of their partners along the entire supply chain. And we fully approve of this!
However, we would like to see this bill apply to all German companies, regardless of employee numbers. Even better, we would hope such a law be introduced within the EU as a whole. Fortunately, the proposed German law is already set to also be applied to companies with 1,000 or more employees at some point in the future, so Germany might be able to pioneer such legislation within the European Union.

We at Maier Sports hope that laws such as this one will soon be rolled out at an EU level, increasing the legislation’s impact on the industry, especially with regards to transparency and fair competition.

 

Fair wear foundation standards

The FWF constantly reviews the improvements of its members through an annual performance review at the company headquarters, audits of production facilities and a complaint option for workers in the factories.

We are committed to implementing the following eight work guidelines in our production facilities in a controllable manner at all times:

1. Employment is freely choosen

There must be no use of compulsory labour, including bonded or prison labour.

2. Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining

The right of all workers to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively shall be recognised.

3. No discrimination in Employee

Recruitment, wage policy, admittance to training programmes, employee promotion policy, policies of employment termination, retirement and any other aspect of the employment relationship shall be based on the principle of equal opportunities.

4. No exploitation of child labour

There must be no child labor. The minimum age of access to gainful employment must not be below compulsory schooling age and generally not below 15 years of age.

5. Paymant of a living wage

Wages and benefits paid for a maximum working week of six days shall meet at least legal or indus-try minimum standards and always be sufficient to meet basic needs of workers and their families and to provide some discretionary income. 

6. Reasonable hour of work

Hours of work shall comply with applicable laws and industry standards. In any event, workers shall not on a regular basis be required to work in excess of 48 hours per week and shall be provided with at least one day off for every seven-day period.

7. Safe and healthy working conditions

A safe and hygienic working environment shall be provided, and best occupational health and safety practice shall be promoted, bearing in mind the pre-vailing knowledge of the industry and of any specific hazards. 

8. A legally binding employment relationship

Employment relationships must be legally binding and all obligations to employees under labour or so-cial security laws and regulations must be observed.

We manufacture only, where we could work

All requirements of the Fair Wear Foundation were communicated to our main suppliers and our own production plants.

The production facilities in which we produce are permanently and regularly checked. The Maier Sports production philosophy therefore not only includes sourcing conditions, but is also based on responsibility that we assume towards our partners. That's what we stand for, and we're working on it step by step, together with our suppliers.