Toronto, Canada - March 04, 2019: The Roots storefront at the Bloor-Yorkville Business Area in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Roots Ltd. is a publicly held Canadian brand.

Brand Tracker:

Roots

How is Roots doing?

  • Making a commitment
  • Being transparent
  • Separating labour costs
  • Publishing Plans
  • Paying a living wage

Roots’ investor disclosures state that suppliers and manufacturers are subject to a code of conduct. However, the code of conduct is not publicly available on its website. As such, any wage provisions or other commitments are not verifiable.

What Roots claims on their website

Investor Page

How we measure progress

As a first step, we want brands to make a public commitment to pay a living wage within their supply chain within four years and publish it on their website. Oxfam is willing to help brands achieve that commitment on each step of their journey because we care about #WhatSheMakes.

Where do your clothes come from? Good luck finding out! Most brands don’t publicly disclose where they make their clothes. If they do, it’s vague at best.

We think brands should be transparent, disclose their entire supply chain, and publish the following information on their website:

  • Full name of authorized production units and processing facilities
  • Site addresses
  • Parent companies
  • Types of products made and the number of workers employed

This disclosure should include regular reporting to ensure all their factories uphold human rights.

Separating labour costs is a critical requirement in the journey towards paying a living wage. Separating labour costs during price negotiations helps to quickly identify if the wages being paid to garment workers are enough for a decent standard of living or not.  

We are asking brands to start their journey towards paying a living wage and publish the following information on their website/annual report: 

  • Separate labour costs in price negotiations with factories 
  • Periodically monitor and compare elements of labour costs, comparing them against price and living wage benchmarks.

Within 12 months of making a commitment to a living wage in their supply chain, we want brands to publish their plans on how they will make it happen.

Within four years of making a commitment, brands should be paying a living wage within their supply chains. Achieving this requires collaboration, consultation and public reports on their progress.

Take action now and show Roots that you care #WhatSheMakes

Hey @Roots, it’s nice that you share which countries my clothes are made in. Will you publish your factory list? It’s essential to ensure human rights are upheld in the making of your clothes.