L’Oréal refers to the definition of forced labour sets for in the Convention 29 of the International Labour Organisation. Forced labour is defined as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily”.
In certain regions of the world where L’Oréal operates, certain practices that violate internationally recognised Human Rights, such as holding the identity papers of migrant workers, are common.
Any form of forced labour is prohibited. As a result:
Employees must be free to move around their place of work, with the exceptions of areas to which access is restricted for confidentiality or safety reasons, and must have access to drinking water and bathrooms.
Whichever the region of the world in which L’Oréal operates, the working hours in Subsidiaries and Suppliers, including overtime, may not exceed 60 hours a week for employees whose working time is monitored.
All employees must also be granted at least one day of rest for every seven-day period, or two consecutive days of rest for every fourteen-day period. They must have reasonable breaks when they work.
Violations of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, such as discrimination against employee representatives, may occur in all regions of the world in which L’Oréal operates.
Employees’ freedom of association and right to collective bargaining must be respected:
In regions where freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are limited or discouraged, L’Oréal authorises its employees to meet independently in order to discuss their professional concerns. L’Oréal requires that its Suppliers do the same.
In addition to the actions resulting from the risk analysis on the activities of the Group and the Suppliers, L’Oréal conducts actions on Human Rights in addition to those implemented in the context of the French law on Duty of Vigilance, which are described in Chapter 4 “L’Oréal’s Social, Environmental and Societal Responsibility” of this document.
For example, L’Oréal set up actions with the aim to improve the working conditions of the Indian communities whose livelihood depends on the mineral mica. Since 2017, L’Oréal has been one of the 20 founding members of the Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI), joined by 74 other organisations that use mica. The RMI has three goals:
L’Oréal also participates in the development of the RMI audit standard in order to facilitate member collaboration and effectively deploy the collective actions necessary in cooperation with local authorities. L’Oréal also supports the establishment of a price calculated using the living wage approach in addition to diversified income contributing to a more resilient living conditions.
To complete this approach, L’Oréal requires that its suppliers have their own due diligence process in place on their scope of supply of Indian mica. In 2021, 99% of Indian mica used in the Group’s formulas came from suppliers committed to obtaining their supply from verified sources.